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Originally Posted by BigJohn
Virtually all of the early Mormons were Masons.
Masons seem to have come into existence before Rosicrucians.
It was only by a 'quirk' that the Mormons got established. When Masons were turning in their charters over the 'murder' of Williams, it left a vacuum for where these ex-Masons could go to for socializing. Those ex-Masons in the 'burnt over district' drifted to the Mormons, located near Palmyra, NY.
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Yes, indeed. This is very largely true. And they acquired the advanced degrees far too speedily and sort of phonily. I mean becoming a Master Mason in one or two days? Nah... reality was just not adhered to. I was a Mason for a few years, and it took me a couple years to make Master Mason. I have nothing against Masonry, but I just cannot think like everyone else and repeat by rote so much memorized materials constantly. It was a really good experience for me, but I know, I KNOW one cannot possibly even begin to grasp what Masonry means in just one or two days of a few hours of meetings. It ain't happenin, it ain't real.
Interestingly, I found materials showing how Masons in Smith's day were not at all happy with him, because he was admitting women, and his version of the fraternity was males and females. That sort of intrigued me! The symbolism is fascinating to me. The underlying ideas are actually truly excellent so far as I discovered. But, like I say, I am just not a group think sort of guy is all. Every Mason I have ever met has been a really decent person, so I have no regrets whatever. Anyone else who is a Mason and likes it, I say more power to that person, and if it helps for some guys to have a group of people all thinking alike and learning, then that is wonderful for them.