Hatred, for the man who is not
engaged in it,
is a little like the odor of garlic for one who hasn’t eaten any.
Jean Rostand (1894–1977), French biologist, writer.
"Of the 8,759 hate crimes reported to the FBI in 1996, 63 percent were based on race, 14 percent were based on religion, 11 percent were based on ethnicity, and 12 percent were based on sexual orientation. Approximately 42 percent of the reported race-based crimes were against blacks, and the vast majority of reported hate crimes based on religion were against Jews and Jewish institutions, according to the FBI statistics." Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer |
These figures represent a very real "reaction" to Freemasonry whom, some contend, is wrong because (they claim) it is:
 | a religion |
| a group which "unequally yokes" those of different religions |
| 'religious in nature' |
| or a threat to their government. |
Freemasonry accepts men of every race and nationality thereby making it an excellent target for those who wish to hate according to racial and/or religious stereotypes. And finally, Freemasonry has many Jewish members, thus causing conspiracy theorists to speculate that it's all part of some over-arching world-domination organization.
We are reluctant to use the 'Hitler' card since doing so is often seen as an easy 'out': demonization rather than addressing facts. It is clear, however, that Freemasons have for centuries suffered persecution because of their membership in the fraternity. As one example, the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has devoted a section to Nazi persecution of Freemasonry. Those visiting the Museum’s Permanent Exhibition will find in "Technology and Persecution" how the Nazis compiled and used information on their "enemies." This segment’s text states:
"All governments gather information about their citizens. The Nazi regime, however, used such information to track political opponents, enforce racial policies, and, ultimately, implement mass murder. As early as 1934, various government bureaus began to compile card catalogs identifying political and racial enemies of the regime, such as Freemasons, Jews, Gypsies, and ‘genetically diseased’ persons."
On the same floor of the Museum, another segment, entitled Enemies of the State, uses text, artifacts, and photographs to discuss the Nazi pre-war persecution of political opponents, Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), homosexuals, and Masons. Here, visitors learn about Nazi views on Freemasonry and about the Nazi belief in a "Jewish-Masonic conspiracy" which planned to take over the world. In order to illustrate these fears, a film monitor shows photographs of an anti-Masonic exhibition that was organized by the Nazis. In a number of popular public exhibitions, the Nazis created mock Lodge rooms complete with skeletons of lodge officers. The Scottish Rite SMJ has recently printed an interesting article about the Museum's display about Freemasonry. It's very enlightening!
You can also read some of Hitler's materials linking the Jews and Freemasonry to his extermination programs. Right here is an example of one such horrid document.
With a background of hate - and the Nazi activities are just one such example - is it any wonder that Freemasons watching the irrational and deadly actions of those who oppose political and social issues, become concerned?
For a further interesting example of government-sponsored anti-Masonic hate, we have some interesting stamps here....
If someone feels persecuted or inferior, they can react to those feelings with exhibits of hate and anger. Freemasonry sometimes becomes an object of their strong feelings.
On the Internet, for example, one can find a U.K. resident who styles himself as VOMIT, an acronym for "Victims of Masonic Ill-Treatment". Interestingly, however, this person's hatred is just as strong for those of the Jewish faith. We must wonder which came first - and why....
Sometimes, those using a religious or conspiratorial argument are - in actuality - individuals or groups with pure and simple hatred.
Sometimes when Freemasons try to explain how anti-Masonry can effect them, their feelings are denigrated. 'My suffering is worse than yours.' seems to be a typical response. 'How can you compare anti-Masonic activity with racism or religious discrimination?' Our answer: we aren't trying to compare or to 'rank' levels of hate or discrimination - and we don't believe any positive purpose is served by those who want us to know that their suffering exceeds that of others.
The plain fact is that whether it's scorn from a misguided church member at a Sunday morning service or the type of hatred institutionalized by Hitler and others - hate of any kind is odious. In an enlightened society, it should not exist and when it is found, it should be rooted out and exposed. On our site, we name MANY of those with passionate and, it seems, obsessive hate. Are these people you would want deciding that YOU were the object of their attention - because of your hair color, your selection of foods, or your membership in a civic/fraternal organization? Think about it....
| A webmaster of an excellent web site dealing
with the issues of hate wrote to us saying, "I don't see how you could possibly feel
that (Freemasons) have suffered the same plight that minority citizens in this country
(the US) have." That response, frankly, surprised us. Apparently for him, hatred had a
'ranking order' - and Freemasons were not included in his ranking. We've also found it
interesting to note that of the fifteen sites which he names as being particularly heinous
'hate sites', 2/3rds of then had anti-Masonic material! Hate begets hate and it's sad when people opposed to hate fail to see that it needs to be eliminated wherever it rears its ugly head! |
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