On Sun, 11 May 2008 09:35:43 CST, Cable
yahoo.com> wrote:
>I discovered after joining masonry that roman catholics are
>"forbidden" from becoming masons. I am a roman catholic, but I have
>always had many disagreements with the church, and really have just
>been going thru the motions.
>
>My question would be, how many masons here are RC, or do you know of
>any at your lodge, and how do they balance this issue?
In our lodge we have (at least) one RC Mason, and one who was bullied by his
priest to demit. Very sad.
It always reminds me of the story told by Isaac Asimov in his autobiography. A
co-worker of his, with an Irish name, informed him that he was getting a
divorce. Asimov asked him, "But you're a Roman Catholic--how can you be
getting a divorce?"
The man told him, "Oh, I guess you haven't heard of the loophole!"
Asimov said, "No, I haven't heard of the loophole; I didn't know there was
one. What is it?"
The man said, "I'm a _bad_ Catholic."
>I am more tempted to join a different church, just afriad of telling
>my mother ;-)
While I would never presume to tell anyone, least of all a Brother, what to do
in the religion arena, I would say that when I moved from being a RC to being
an Episcopalian 20 years ago I found a spiritual home where you aren't asked
to check your mind or reason at the door of the church. I have been a happy
Anglican ever since (I am C of E now that I've moved to England).
Conversely, have you ever heard of or experienced anything in Freemasonry that
is or could be construed as being anti-Catholic or at odds with the teachings
of that denomination? I certainly haven't, and don't expect to. The reaction
(overreaction) of the Vatican to Freemasonry is in part due to some (what we
would call irregular) Freemasons centuries ago and their anti-clerical
attitudes.
I wish you well on your spiritual journey, wherever it takes you.
