Dan Brown's new book "The Lost Symbol" along with "The Da Vinci Code" put Freemasonry in the light of mysticism. While there are many truths about Masons in his books, there are also many inaccuracies.
Not being a man, I cannot be a Mason; however, I am the Miss Minnesota Job's Daughter, a title charging me as a public relations emissary for Job's Daughters International, a Masonic youth organization. As such, I would like to fill you in on some of the "mysticism" surrounding Masons: It is not a religion. To become a Mason one must have a belief in a god but which god that is (Yahweh, Allah, The Great Spaghetti God of the Sky) makes no difference. There are secret signs used as modes of recognition, but Masons have no secrets from the world (and with 20 minutes on Google you can find the secret handshakes, signs, and words). Despite the insistence of many conspiracy theorists, Masons do not slaughter any type of animal on their altars, or anywhere else. Masons do not want to take over the world.
Each state (or country) is a sovereign entity. The Grand Master (leader in a state) has a one-year term. To take over the world he would have one year to meet all the other Grand Masters, convince them to join him, and execute the plan … not very likely. Masons are involved in community service.
The Masons of MN recently gave $65 million to the University of MN for the purpose of cancer research. They also build parks, give scholarships, and before the government created foster care they cared for the orphans.
Thomas McCarthy, the Grand Master of MN, has his JD from Notre Dame and once said: "What other secret organization puts signs on their buildings and has listings in the Yellow Pages?"
For more information please feel free to contact me at swarchol@nd.edu or visit www.mn-masons.org
Shannon Warchol
freshman
Welsh Family Hall
Oct. 27
