Article: Here's a Solution for this Resolution

Last month, House Resolution 33 was introduced to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by Republican Congressman Paul E. Gilmor, Ohio.

It begins:

"Recognizing the thousands of Freemasons in every State in the Nation and honoring them for their many contributions to the Nation throughout its history."

It reads:

"RESOLUTION

Recognizing the thousands of Freemasons in every State in the Nation and honoring them for their many contributions to the Nation throughout its history.

Whereas Freemasons, whose long lineage extends back to before the Nation's founding, have set an example of high moral standards and charity for all people;

Whereas the Founding Fathers of this great Nation and signers of the Constitution, most of whom were Freemasons, provided a well-rounded basis for developing themselves and others into valuable citizens of the United States;

Whereas members of the Masonic Fraternity, both individually and as an organization, continue to make invaluable charitable contributions of service to the United States;

Whereas the Masonic Fraternity continues to provide for the charitable relief and education of the citizens of the United States;

Whereas the Masonic Fraternity is deserving of formal recognition of their long history of care-giving for the citizenry and their example of high moral standards;

and Whereas Freemasons have always revered and celebrated St. John's Day, June 24th, as dedicated to their patron saints: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,

That the House of Representatives recognizes the thousands of Freemasons in every State in the Nation and honors them for their many contributions to the Nation throughout its history."

It seems that Representative Gilmour left a few things out.

Especially when it comes to those from the red and black directions of the Medicine Wheel.

Like this resolution, Masons brag about being founding fathers, military leaders, Presidents and all that.

But how did these men feel about the American Indians?

George Washington, Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, Fredericksburg, Virginia; Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22

Indians were defined as sub humans, lower than animals. George Washington compared them to wolves, "beasts of prey" and called for their total destruction. George Washington's troops skinned Native Americans like animals. Apparently his first agenda item as President was the extermination of the Native Americans.

President James Monroe: Williamsburg Lodge No. 6, Williamsburg, Virginia

During Monroe's administration, the United States acquired Florida from Spain, and U.S. troops fought against the Seminole Native Americans there.

Andrew Jackson: Harmony Lodge No. 1, Nashville, Tennessee; Grand Master 1822-23, Tennessee

Andrew Jackson - in 1814:

"supervised the mutilation of 800 or more Creek Indian corpses - the bodies of men, women and children that [his troops] had massacred - cutting off their noses to count and preserve a record of the dead, slicing long strips of flesh from their bodies to tan and turn into bridle reins."

Jackson was also responsible for the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears.

In 1867, General William Tecumseh Sherman, a Mason, said:

"We must act with vindictive earnestness against the [Lakotas, known to whites as the Sioux] even to their extermination, men, women and children."

In 1891, Frank L. Baum, author of "The Wizard of Oz" and Mason, wrote in the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer that the army should "finish the job" by the "total annihilation" of the few remaining Indians, calling those yet to be extinguished:

"a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them. The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians."

To his credit, according to a South Dakota Public Broadcasting report, some of Baum's descendants felt it important to continue to look at those genocidal statements and apologized to the Wounded Knee Survivors Association.

And what of the black direction?

Today, twelve southern Masonic Grand Lodges allegedly still forbid membership to blacks and "those of inferior race." This means that the appendant groups in the same states, such as the Shriners, also discriminate.

As stated in a book published by the Grand Lodge called "Masonry in Alabama" By Joseph Abram Jackson, Grand Historian, 1970:

"It was therefore resolved to not admit Negroes as Masons. The issue has remained the same for 150 years among Alabama Masons."

Last September, two Birmingham radio talk show hosts were fired after they outed Alabama Governor Bob Riley as a "racist Mason." Russ and Dee Fine were fired for asking:

"Does it bother you that the Governor of Alabama is a member of an organization that doesn't allow blacks to join?"

The utter irony of this all is that the resolution was presented to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The solution to this resolution?

The Committee members need to springboard from Resolution 33 and demand that the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division and the IRS investigate the Masonic Grand Lodges' and Shriners' membership policies. If these groups are found to discriminate based on race, their non profit status should be suspended until they either comply with the laws of the land or are dissolved.

Anything else would be un-civilized.

HR 33 can be found at:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.RES.33.IH: