Myths about Masons not always on target

Larissa Theodore Beaver County Times
Sunday August 22, 2010 11:45 PM

BRIDGEWATER — When it comes to Freemasonry, Bill Alberts has heard it all before. Tales of baby or farm animal sacrifices. Of being an ancient cult or a top-secret organization on a mission to control people’s lives. A secret society trying to establish a new world order.

“Basically anything you can think of,” said Alberts, the worshipful master of the St. James Lodge in Bridgewater.

“Some of the myth is not harmful, but it is just not right,” said Richard Muth, master of Parian Lodge in Beaver Falls.

One of the nastiest that Alberts and Muth have heard is that Jack the Ripper was a Freemason because of the ritualistic way he killed some of his victims.

But Alberts, Muth and Matt Smith of the Rochester Lodge, are working to dispel some of those myths.

“We’re not a secret society,” Alberts said. “We’re a society with secrets.”

With the release of Dan Brown’s latest book “The Lost Symbol,” Muth said a spotlight of mystique is shining on the Freemasons the same way as Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” placed new fame on the Catholic Church’s Opus Dei. In “The Lost Symbol,” Brown’s main protagonist, Harvard professor Robert Langdon, explores the U.S. capital in a plot that book reviewers say is reminiscent of “The Da Vinci Code” and Nicholas Cage’s “National Treasure” movies.

Langdon has to solve cryptic puzzles connected to a Masonic Pyramid and other ancient mysteries to help his mentor and save the day. Throw in the Freemasons, and book reviewers say “The Lost Symbol” isn’t likely to squelch any rumors or deter conspiracy theorists. With Washington, D.C., as the backdrop, the book, in fact, begins with a wine-filled skull, bejeweled power brokers and a dark Masonic temple, only steps away from the White House.

Dispelling myths

“People get impressions about what we do and who we are. A lot of times, it’s not correct,” Alberts said. “We’re trying to open ourselves up a little bit and let people know. Freemasons are still here. We’re amongst you. Don’t hate us.”

Three local lodges under the 37th Masonic District hope to dispel some of the crazy myths out there by opening themselves up to the public. An open house Saturday aims to give the public an accurate glimpse and an opportunity to learn about Freemasonry and its place in the community.

As Alberts, Muth and Smith see it, the Masons foster goodwill through charities, building hospitals and supporting community projects. And through the Masons, other orders exist such as the Shriners, DeMolay for boys and the Order of Eastern Star and Rainbow Girls for women and girls. They all work to make the world a better place, Muth said, pointing out that local Masons run a child identification program to help parents in missing child cases.

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Pamphlets containing facts about Freemasonry will be handed out to those who attend. A PowerPoint presentation will also play.

Alberts said the earlier Freemasons were strict on policies when it came to secrecy, but state lodges have been encouraged by the Most Worshipful Grand Master, who presides in Philadelphia, to open up and “show ourselves a little bit.”

“Freemasonry was very important in the forming of our country. Ben Franklin was a Freemason and with the ties he had with the French, he was able to get the French to come in on the Revolutionary War against England,” Alberts said.

In fact, Alberts said many of America’s founding fathers — George Washington, Benjamin Franklin — were Masons, not to mention eight or nine presidents and some various congressmen, astronauts and star athletes. Alberts doesn’t deny that Masonic symbols have found their way into national emblems, such as the Great Seal — the pyramid with the eye — printed on the dollar bill.

That doesn’t mean the Masons control the money, he said.

Becoming a Mason

There are secrets and elaborate initiation ceremonies that date back hundreds of years. Any fraternity has its rituals, Muth said, with handshakes and emblems known only to its members. Preserving that shroud of secrecy serves a purpose, he said. Masons traditionally identify each other through secret handshakes for the purpose of recognition, Alberts added.

“You see someone who says ‘Hey, I’m a Freemason,’ they give you the handshake,” Alberts said.

To join the brotherly bonds of the male-only society, you have to know another Mason, Alberts said. If you think someone you know is a Mason, you can ask him to get you in. He’ll have to get you a petition, which you fill out and send in to the Grand Lodge in Philadelphia. If the nomination is approved, the petition is sent back to the lodge where you applied, and the membership has to vote on it. If it passes, you are brought in based on three degrees: the apprentice degree, fellow craft Mason or master Mason.

Alberts’ father and grandfather were Masons, along with a few cousins and uncles. He waited until he was 42 to join. That was 3½ years ago.

“Once I matured up a little bit and knew what I wanted to do, I did it,” he said.

The 37th Masonic District consists of 11 lodges around Beaver and northern Allegheny counties. The group’s influential ranks have included judges, politicians and police.

“We make good men better, and we do that simply by using basic principles of morality and trying to pattern our lives that way,” Muth said.