Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 22 Nov 2006 21:58:56 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:


Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 22 Nov 2006 10:13:32 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

Thomas Jefferson refused to declare a day of Thanksgiving at all.

Contrary to popular belief, Jefferson was a Communist way ahead of his
time. :)

Now, now. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are two of my favorite
characters from that era. Jefferson was more of a progressive free
thinker, and not so much really a communist.Franklin had a brilliant
mind and a gift for diplomacy. The common thread that most of our
Founders shared is that most were active Masons, and back when it was
taken more seriously than most people have done for the last century or
so Masonry was exceptionally radical. Our dollar bill, the Great Seal
of the United States, even the street grid of Washington DC are all
slathered with Masonic symbolism. Interesting to note that
of the small minority of Colonists who actively revolted against the
Crown in the 1700's, (the vast majority were apathetic and some were
loyalists) a staggering percentage of the daring and free thinking
leaders were Masons.

Hmmmm - well - um....

Yes, symbols of Freemasonry are rampant in the founding symbolism of
the United States.

No, that most of the Founders were Free and Accepted Masons.

I'm not a Masonic scholar by any means, but while common belief has
that "most" of the Founders were Masons, I believe that only nine of
the original 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were active
or enrolled members of a lodge. To say that Freemasons influenced or
controlled the American Revolution is an exaggeration. For example,
Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, John Adams, Sam Adams and Patrick
Henry were not Freemasons. And while an enrolled Mason, George
Washington held Freemasonry in some disdain and as being childish and
unfulfilled in nature - at one point, Washington expressed his
displeasure about the base tenants of Freemasonry according to several
of his biographies.


Washington kept some strong opinions rather closely held. He attended
Episcopal curch every Sunday, but always sat in the back row and would
leave, discreetly, when it was time to take communion.

Of the 40 singers of the Constitution, just under 1/4 (nine) were known
Masons. Another 13 were considered probable or possible, and 6 more
joined the Masonic order soon after the constitutional convention. With
28 out of 40 signers of the Constitution either known or suspected to
have Masonic sympathies, it is accurate to say that Freemasonry was a
very large influence in the founding of the US.