The Pope issued a statement stating it is a grave sin to be a Freemason or to associate with this group and you will not be allowed to receive communion. I guess that means if you are Catholic and if you are a member or associate with a member you are going to the fires below when you die. Something about the Church disagreeing with the Freemason’s deistic, non-Christian teaching in divinity. I don’t know too much about this organization but I thought they did a lot of good.

Deists=heretics.

I did read somewhere the Freemasons are deists, like Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were said to be.

Jim

Don't believe all that you read.

Deists believe in a Creator that got the universe going, then stands back and watches things unfold by chance or free will of his creations.

Deists consider the Bible a book of fairy tales.

I'm not surprised at all the Pope chose to excommunicate them. Why are they church members to begin with?

Jim

Like I said, don't believe all that you read.

So our founding fathers were diests?

X2

Catholics are Knights of Columbus.
Freemasons are the proddys.
Good on the Pope.

Some of them were believed to be, if I remember right.

James obviously knows nothing of freemasonry and freemasons. I doubt he's ever heard of the Order of the Eastern Star, either.

Popes ok with associating with pedophiles though. LOL

Bhugo:

Some of them yes.

In those days most people thought the king was appointed by God. To be an Englishman and rebel against the king was unthinkable.

But if you believe only in a Creator deity, who doesn't bother appointing kings, that rebellion becomes thinkable. You would only be rebelling against a cruel and arbitrary king, not against God's will.

Jim

I admit I was going on reading I've done on the Founding Fathers, and things may have changed in Freemasonry.

Why don't you enlighten us?

Jim

The pope has washed the feet of Muslims and Jews in the Vatican. Not letting other Catholics associate with Free Masons seems hypocritical.

Maybe he just did the foot washing for show, with no true desire to get along with other religions.

Keith

James, you really do have a shaky but ideological grasp of history don't you?

No englishman believed in the Divine Right of Kings since parliament chopped off King Charlie's noggin in 1649 and knew full well that Georgie was a creation of parliament.

Type in the search term "Glorious Revolution".

Who in there right mind listen to the pope on anything.

Going out on a limb here.....Catholics?

If you knew then you would know.

Masons DO NOT believe the Bible is a book of fairy tails.

Gotcha. Interesting that so many people think we were founded by really religious people…..