[I'm going to cut "Rex"'s ramblings down a bit.]

[...]

   Rex, there are literally hundreds of thousands of 32nd degree
Masons in this country, and thousands of 33rds. If nasty stuff was
really going on, don't you think you'd have more than a couple of
disgruntled members "exposing" it? Heck, if what you say is true, then
Rev. Norman Vincent Peale is an Osiris worshiper.
 
[...
Long quote from someone named Hislop (source not given) deleted. I'm
attempting to extract from it the relevent points: 

  * Osiris is actually Nimrod, a Babylonian Deity. 

  * "It is admitted that the secret system of Free Masonry was originally
    founded on the Mysteries of the Egyptian Isis, the goddess-mother, or
    wife of Osiris."

  * The Babylonian Nimrod and Osiris are both connected with the building
    trade, ie, with Masonry.

  * Nimrod, as the son of Cush, was a negro. [isn't this refering to a 
    Biblical Nimrod, rather than the Babylonian god?]

  *  ...there was a tradition in Egypt, recorded by Plutarch, that 'Osiris
     was black'.
...]

     There is a long tradition in Masonry of claiming ancient lineage
for the order, on the flimsiest of grounds. This dates right back to
the Constitutions of 1738, which cite Adam as the first Mason. I've
seen other claims which place Masonry among the Romans, Greeks, and
Egyptians, and Atlanteans. I even have a book which claims to prove
that Stonehenge was originally a Masonic temple. 

    Claims prove nothing. Where's the beef, Rex?

[...Claims ex-Mason showed him leopard skin he wore in lodge]

   I'd have to check this. The tomb paintings I remember don't show
this.


   Can you give ancient citations for this? The druids were suppressed
over 2000 years ago. What's your point?

   This whole "leopard skin" business sounds bizarre.  I have not yet
gone through the Scottish Rite (which contains all of those "higher
degrees" anti-Masons get so excited about, and which was invented in
the 1750's), but I know enough people who have (and who are good
Christians), that I reject your claim.


Not so much a 'slap in the face' as 'a weary feeling of deja vu'. I'm
going through a very similar argument over on soc.culture.african.american.


    Why don't you try reading some serious books on Masonic history, such
as Hamill's "The Craft"?


   Because we got honest. If you can come up with actual evidence that
Masonry existed prior to 1390, I'd be VERY impressed (actually,
anything earlier than 1630 would be pretty good.)

						Peter Trei
						ptrei@mitre.org