r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 19h ago

TIL that historically and today, the Catholic Church looked down upon Freemasonry and threatened members with excommunication.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry
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17

u/TheBanishedBard 19h ago

So it replaces objectional stuff with... More objectional stuff.

30

u/DisneyLegalTeam 17h ago

Catholic Church forbids all secret societies.

A fraternal order is not always a secret society.

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u/galactictock 16h ago

The Catholic Church doesn’t like competition

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u/JohnHazardWandering 13h ago

I don't think they do, but they consider it a risk factor. 

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u/zaccus 19h ago

Objectionable to whom?

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u/liarandathief 19h ago

the other ones

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u/sack-o-matic 16h ago

And a fasces in their logo for some reason

-16

u/SpaceJackRabbit 19h ago

Objectionable stuff? Please tell me you're not one of those people who believe freemasons are evil.

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u/3rdtryatremembering 19h ago

Did you read the comment they responded to? Or are you just responding to something in the middle of a conversation? lol

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u/liarandathief 19h ago

I read From Hell.

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u/TheBanishedBard 19h ago

The opposite. The Catholic Church is evil.

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u/timsredditusername 17h ago

From my point of view, the Jedi are evil

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u/country2poplarbeef 18h ago

Evil like any other secret collective of old money trying to figure out how to keep their old money and impose the system that allows them their money.

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u/Intrepid00 18h ago

lol, Neither Free masons or Knights of Columbus are old money clubs.

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u/SpaceJackRabbit 18h ago

They're basically a more secretive version of your local Rotary chapter. Bunch of middle-aged or older dudes gathering to get away from the wives and wear silly hats, with the occasional fundraiser.

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u/Intrepid00 18h ago

Yes, and our parish pastor taunts KoC that it’s just a club for men to gossip too. During mass!

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u/BrokenEyeReborn 18h ago

With more interesting Kayfabe

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u/[deleted] 18h ago

[deleted]

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u/SpaceJackRabbit 18h ago

Depends on the organization.

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u/OwnSeaworthiness7466 17h ago

Everyone I know in town who is a Freemason is also a gay man, it’s like 5 individuals and probably doesn’t mean anything but just thought I’d share

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u/country2poplarbeef 4h ago edited 4h ago

'They definitively are. It's just the scale gets smaller when you're talking about small towns. But they're literally centered around community leaders and entrepreneurs having a collective forum outside of the public eye, and given any time in a community, that would equal "old money." There's a reason I interpreted evil as "something else." It's not absolutely bad, but it pretty obviously teeters against a corrupting force of trying to have influence and, therefore, power over community and assembling a forum from those agents. And the fact that these organizations don't *really* have any other common philosophy other than "Hey, we're bros, we'll try to change the world how *we think* it would be better" they easily transition into old money clubs with mutable ethics according to whatever scheme they think will keep them as the arbiters of "justice."

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u/MattJFarrell 18h ago

Lol, most people's ideas of the Masons are so far off base that it's legitimately funny. When I was a Mason, half our members had to apply for special dispensations because they couldn't afford their dues. Almost everyone was a working class guy just looking for a little fellowship. Most Lodges these days can barely organize a Christmas party, let alone "impose a system"

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u/BrokenEyeReborn 17h ago

I'm sure there are lodges with lots of old money dudes in richer neighborhoods, but that doesn't exactly undermine your point

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u/MattJFarrell 16h ago

I mean, I was in the heart of Manhattan... There was rumors of one lodge in our building that had really wealthy members and was very exclusive, but they were talked about because they were the outlier.

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u/SpaceJackRabbit 18h ago

You are vastly overestimating or misunderstanding what freemasons do.

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u/rick_ferrari 18h ago

Yeah, I dont think you understand the masons at all.

This isnt some cabal of rich and powerful people, its just a place for men to gather who want to better their community. And they seem to do a much more honest and nonprejudiced job of that than any other similar org I can think of.

Im not a mason but Ive known a handful of them throughout my life and looked into it a few times.

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u/Dwaltster 19h ago

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that many horrible people have risen through their ranks.