SelfishReasons.com

To the outsider, Freemasonry may appear to be an organization which has continued without change for hundreds of years. In many ways, that is true. However, the organization has developed and adapted its ritual and tradition many times, sometimes to accommodate changing language, sometimes to fulfill some cultural desire of the membership. Many changes have been beneficial, others have been detrimental; perhaps each depends on the perspective of the observer.

In the years following World War II, the tone of the Lodge changed, emphasizing the primacy of charity and fellowship. This was not a “bad” change; it fulfilled the desires of the membership. However, there continued a core belief that the true meaning of Freemasonry was to be found in esoteric thought which was hidden behind all the seemingly benign symbolism and ritual. Though the focus of the craft shifted away from esoteric thought, it was brought forward regardless through the unchanged ritual. Perhaps men didn’t fully understand the rituals, but they still respected the ritual enough to continue to teach it. This is the lodge inherited today.

As Freemasonry continues to change and evolve, it is beginning to seek its roots once again. More men knock on our doors hoping to find inside the wisdom that spurred Isaac Newton to practice Alchemy, and Shakespeare to fill his plays with a wisdom which was lost on the masses. A man may seek us out after reading a book on secret societies, Templar history, or ancient Egyptian pyramids, and might be disappointed if he only found a group of men who join for fellowship and good works, having little interest in those histories. However, many lodges thrive on these studies. There are men who joined our craft seeking those very things, and have a passion for discussing and learning more.

To the man seeking one form of Freemasonry, it would be unfortunate for him to knock on the wrong door.

While we recognize the right of all Masons to practice and understand in the way each sees fit, we hope to enable a seeker to find the lodge he desires.

There are many who suspect Freemasons of having devious intentions. After all, why hold a secret unless it is somehow shameful or embarrassing?

In response, some of our brethren have sought to reassure the world that we do nothing dark or sinister by revealing as much about our rituals as they are allowed – and some further than legal by our own standards. They promise others that, “we don’t have secrets; we’re just private.”

However, nothing could be further from the truth. One does not have to have sinister activities to hold secrecy. The truth is that all men are not entitled to share in our mysteries, and “that which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.” We are not ashamed of our activities. Further, many well-known and respected men have experienced every ritual our craft has to offer, and yet do not lead a double life. We require a belief in God and a life of morality based on His sacred law. These are not hypocritical activities. Our members are active in their churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, and are not hiding dark and sinister secrets.

But neither will any man attain our secrets and mysteries without an earnest and sincere search for them. Although many have written exposés of our rituals, none have succeeded in articulating what it is we hold most dear, and what we guard valiantly. You cannot attain our secrets through a Google search, and you will never understand our mysteries if your own motives are ulterior.

We have secrets, and we are not ashamed of them. If you wish to know them, you need only ask.

Men seek Freemasonry for various reasons. There is no correct reason to seek its mysteries. Even so, many have come to its doors seeking one thing, and they find others who have come for the same reason.

• *** Wisdom. Many men have discovered behind the closed doors of Freemasonry a fount of wisdom. It is veiled in secrecy, as knowledge alone is not wisdom. Wisdom is proven knowledge. It is valuable to those who earnestly and sincerely seek it, but it is merely useless and opinionated babble to those who want it cheaply or whose motives are ulterior.

  Men have, from time immemorial, passed wisdom from mouth to ear, from instructor to initiate. In this manner, great truths have been carried from generation to generation. It is a nearly lost art in a world where it seems that almost all knowledge can be attained in seconds through the magic of Google. But is the Internet’s immense volume of knowledge sufficient to enable a man to find his place in the world, or to understand his Creator, or to learn what is the Good?

• *** Strength through fraternity. To surround one’s self with men who are on the same path, who seek a common goal, who support one another along the journey – this is a great benefit. Freemasonry has taken men from every place in life, every occupation and every background, and brought them together as equals. Our fraternity demands no particular creed or theology, but believes every man has the freedom to worship and think as he sees fit, as long as he sincerely believes in One God.

  Many great men have joined this fraternity – men like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Great thinkers, several Presidents, inventors, theologians and physicists have shared in its bonds, but they are equals to every farmer or laborer who has experienced Freemasonry’s mysteries. In our lodges, all members – even all of mankind – are seen as fellows under the canopy of the heavens.

• *** Beauty of ritual. It is significant that we practice a ritual with a history that spans hundreds (and some argue thousands) of years. In a time in which ritual is scoffed at as old fashioned and without place, we maintain that our ritual has meaning and purpose that cannot be explained outside of its experience. We enjoy symbolism as a method of instruction and contemplation, and while every man is free to interpret a symbol in any way that holds meaning to him, we challenge one another to explore our own thinking more purposefully.

  We encourage every man to study those liberal arts and sciences which are the foundation for our civilization. Although modern man is often pragmatic in his learning, choosing to read only that which furthers his own career or ideology, we recognize that history has much to teach which most men do not know. In our studies, we encourage men to find balance in their lives by developing a full understanding of themselves, their world, and their Creator.

According to a rabbinic legend, the soul knows the entire Torah before it comes into the world. “As soon as it comes into the world, an angel arrives and slaps it on its mouth and causes it to forget the whole of the Torah.” The angel strikes the embryo on the philtrum, the dimple on the upper lip. It leaves the scar as a reminder of what it once knew and what it should aspire to remember.
One never learns anything new, but only recalls what it has forgotten.

(Source: Kabbalah, by David Ariel)

By the receding of waters was the Earth made.
By the receding of the upper waters was the Heaven made.
By the receding of God was existence made.

Chaos is order so complex that it cannot be grasped or understood. It appears as disorder because our finite minds cannot see far enough to view it all.

From:  Chicago Tea Party: CNBC’s Rick Santelli Defends the Common Man

This is the big question on everyone’s mind now: “Will the second stimulus package work?”

It would be very easy to say: “I hope so.” Obama’s claim that it “will create 3 million jobs” could never be claimed in a financial setting. The SEC would immediately be down on language like that. It’s like saying this: “This investment will create a positive cash flow of 10 percent in the next 10 years.” How can you predict the future?

Any financial instrument or financial package with a claim like “this investment will produce a 27 percent gain in value in the next five years” would be taken right off the market. Anyone (i.e. part of the administration or an economist) claiming a future result is as precise as predicting Chicago weather and as full of hot air as global warming.

According to Bloomberg.com there is enough money in the bailout, bank guarantees, and stimulus packages to pay off 90% of the nation’s mortgages.

It is enough money to send a $1,430 check to  every man, woman, and child in existence.

President Obama spoke last week regarding the opposition to his plan.  He explained, “So then you get the argument, ‘Well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill,’ What do you think a stimulus is? That’s the whole point.”

He’s right, you know.  That is the point.  Those who believe in Stimulus Packages believe that government spending will grease the wheels of the economy, and get everyone spending, like a pull-cord on a lawnmower.  Once you pull the cord, the motor runs on its own, so the theory goes.

But there is a crucial error in that line of thinking.  What is the cost of the Stimulus?  No, I don’t mean the dollar amount.  We know that cost is only $9.7 trillion (so far).  I mean, what is the offset?  Where does that $9.7 trillion come from?

It’s magic money, mostly.  Let’s face it, they can’t tax us enough to pay that off, and they can’t really float that much money for very long and keep Government bond money worth anything.  (How could they raise that much money in bonds, when no one believes that the US Government is good for it?)  The only thing they can do is turn on their Wonderful Magic Money Machine and start printing.  That makes ALL money worth less.  Eventually someone has to pay the price.

Walter Williams recently explained it by analogy.

…If Congress taxes to hand out money, one person is stimulated at the expense of another, who pays the tax, who is unstimulated. A visual representation of the stimulus package is: Imagine you see a person at work taking buckets of water from the deep end of a swimming pool and dumping them into the shallow end in an attempt to make it deeper. You would deem him stupid. That scenario is equivalent to what Congress and the new president proposes for the economy.

I’d add the old President in that analogy, too.  Let’s face it, Democrats don’t own the market on dumb; the Republicans are heavily invested there too.  Obama, rhetoric aside, is using the same tired tactics that got us here.  It’s just a matter of who receives the Magic Money – who the checks are made out to.  Are they Republican special interests or Democratic special interests?

But as long as we’re  determined to go down this path, I have to ask, Why not pay off 90% of the mortgages in America?  Talk about directly affecting Joe & Suzy Everyman.  Think of how much free spending cash we’d all have THEN!  We could afford to be more charitable, to drive more economical cars, to upgrade our energy-wasting appliances with earth friendly ones.  After all, we wouldn’t be making house payments!

Think of the charity we’d be free to support.  Think of the time we could spend with loved ones, if only we didn’t have to work so darn hard to pay for our homes.  We could afford organic food.  Heck, we could all get our taxes doubled and still come out ahead!  Think of all the new money for government programs with double taxation!

There would be no more bad mortgages, and all banks would get their money back in full, thus eliminating any issues with backing iffy banks.  We could all afford to run to Best Buy and purchase our Digital TV Converters – or new TV’s, for that matter!

If there is nothing wrong with the Stimulus Package in general, there is nothing wrong with this version of it.  But if you’re thinking clearly enough to figure out what’s wrong with this idea, then you’ll have a tough time explaining how Obama’s spending plan is any different.

In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New London, Connecticut could declare Eminent Domain over private property for any darn reason they choose.  They evicted Suzette Kelo and fourteen other neighbors who liked where they were living, thank you, and didn’t desire to move from their waterfront Victorian homes.  The city demolished neighborhoods which had stood for a hundred years so that they could build something else and tax it.

Where before there was general consensus that Eminent Domain was so that government could force the purchase of land for a fair price in order to use if for public use, now the Supreme Court said that government doesn’t need to bother with using it pubicly.  Instead, they could simply declare that someone other citizen would use it better.

Anyone who cares the slightest about liberty will be glad to know that in the years since they knocked over citizens’ homes, they haven’t done a darn thing with the land.

Pfizer built a headquarters building adjacent to the land.  But the rest of it is a barren wasteland.  Perhaps one day they might build new houses.  You know, since the old ones people were living in weren’t good enough.

Thanks, government.  Once more, you’ve saved the day.

http://www.bizzyblog.com/2008/06/03/the-kelo-new-london-calamity-continues-barren-land/

Diane Rehm Show audio interview with Jeff Benedict, author of the book Little Pink Houses, which discusses the case.

Eminence defined: high status importance owing to marked superiority.

Eminent indeed.

There are so many problems with this story.

While driving home from work today, I had my radio on our local NPR station to hear about the plight of L.A. Teachers who are facing “budget cuts.”  (I put that in quotes for a reason.)

After that story, I could not tell you what else was on the radio.  I was too obsessed with the school employees featured in the story to hear anything else.

To begin with, it’s important to note that the L.A. teachers walked out of class to protest a purported budget cut.  The only problem is that they are receiving a $200 Million budget increase.

Oh, but it doesn’t cover their standard of living increase, they complain.  They received $200 million extra.

Oh, but it doesn’t cover new education mandates.  They receieved $200 million extra.

Now, they may think it is an inadequate increase, but a larger budget is a budget increase, even if it is only a single dollar, and no matter the cost of living.  The budget has increased!

But that wasn’t the bad part.  (We’ve heard this (il)logic come out of Congress every year.)  The part that made me weep for America was their chant.

Teachers with megaphones were shouting, “What do we want? No Budget Cuts! When do we want it? Now!”

These are teachers.  TEACHERS!  They are responsible for guiding kids to education! And they couldn’t figure out that bit of poor logic?  Not one math teacher or physics teacher came out and said, “Guys, let’s not do that particular chant…” And this while they are asking for a raise?

L.A. Unified Superintendent Brewer said that he “supports the teachers 200%…” Really? 200%? Did you learn math and statistics from the same teachers who are in charge of explaining logic?

In the end, the point they are trying to make is that they aren’t receiving what they feel is fair compensation for the demands of their work.  We’ll ignore the fact that they work at their mutual pleasure, and can leave at any time. The reality is that they are not receiving a budget cut. They shouldn’t assume that the public is too stupid to understand the reality of an inadequate budget as opposed to a budget cut – unless they are too ignorant to understand the difference, which I doubt. Rather than treating the public as idiots, they should be genuine in their requests.

Furthermore, is there no teacher in the L.A. school system who can explain how their rhetoric makes them sound like the least capable people to be receiving any kind of budget benefit, let alone be put in charge of educating others?