The Rhetoric and Death of U.S. Freemasonry In this essay I argue ...

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Death of Freemasonry 3 pyramid and the all Seeing Eye on the back of the U.S. dollar bill, Rosslyn's architectural symbolism existed long before the Order was established. 4 Owing to the centrality of its strange symbolism and secrecy (see fig. 2), Freemasonry has often been the topic of many misleading associations and cultural fantasies that have made the fraternity and its teachings an interesting topic for conspiracy theorists, mystery novel writers, and Hollywood filmmakers. 5 Historically, most of the fantasies about Masonry have been negative and hostile, frequently involving the fraternity's allegiance to Satan or various projects to establish a "New World Order." Although there are only a few references to Freemasonry The Da Vinci Code, these references are largely positive, however, and because the book has been so widely read (at the time of this writing, there are over 65 million copies in print), it has helped to generate a less hostile, worldwide interest in the fraternity, spawning a flood of "knock-off" novels, films, and television documentaries related to the Masons. 6 In connection with the 2006 release of the film version of The Da Vinci Code--which curiously only has one, very brief mention of Masonry--the ABC show Good Morning America broadcast live from the Scottish Rite Temple in Washington D.C. 7 Perhaps because Masonry seemed to pique the interest of so many, Brown has announced that his sequel to The Da Vinci Code, titled The Solomon Key, concerns early U.S. Freemasons, many of whom were among the "founding fathers" of the United States of America, including Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. The recent media attention of the past few years has been a mixed blessing for U.S. Freemasons. On the one hand, although the renewed exposure in the mass media is mostly positive, this publicity has nevertheless resurfaced many of the myths and conspiratorial fantasies that have plagued the fraternity since its inception. 8 On the other hand, however, media exposure is seen as an opportunity to "revive"
Death of Freemasonry 4 Freemasonry and increase its membership, which has declined more than fifty percent in the latter half of the twentieth century. 9 Seizing this opportunity, a number of Masonic leaders have been appearing on television and publishing essays and books to ensure that the popular media spin remains positive. In keeping with the rhetorical response of Masons to anti-Masonic movements for hundreds of years, these newer efforts to popularize Freemasonry remain silent about the Ancient Mysteries and occult traditions central to the philosophical teachings of its past. In this essay I argue that the recent rhetorical response of Masons to public scrutiny has been to deemphasize, and sometimes disown, the fundamentally Platonic function of Masonic symbolism and ritual in favor of stressing the social and charitable missions of the fraternity. Combined with technological and cultural changes that have been documented as causes for the decline of participation in social and civic groups (e.g., the arrival and dominance of television, interactive video gaming, and the Internet as stationary, in-home mediums of stranger socialibility), 10 the rhetorical strategy of divesting Freemasonry of its deeply imaginative and symbolic rites of contemplation erodes the "social capital" of Masonic membership, paradoxically further contributing to the fraternity's decline. 11 At least in part, what is appealing about Freemasonry to the Entering Apprentice Mason and non-Mason alike is precisely the mystery that surrounds its teachings, the mystery that Dan Brown hijacks to sell millions of his best-selling novels. After describing the rhetorical function of Masonic mystery, I conclude by arguing that the moves to explain it away in order to promote the fraternity as a charitable social club with a colorful occult past are not only detrimental to the present occult center of the Craft, but also an index of the way shifts in rhetorics of secrecy to transparency can be read as symptoms of the transformation of civic engagement in the United States.
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Page 3: Death of Freemasonry 2 Fig. 1. A co
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Page 11 and 12: Death of Freemasonry 10 the Grand L
Page 13 and 14: Death of Freemasonry 12 philosophy,
Page 15 and 16: Death of Freemasonry 14 Aside from
Page 17 and 18: Death of Freemasonry 16 generally,
Page 19 and 20: Death of Freemasonry 18 Fig. 3. A M
Page 21 and 22: Death of Freemasonry 20 encourage f
Page 23 and 24: Death of Freemasonry 22 Curiosity w
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Page 27 and 28: Death of Freemasonry 26 States bega
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Page 31 and 32: Death of Freemasonry 30 cultures an
Page 33 and 34: Death of Freemasonry 32 smoothest r
Page 35 and 36: Death of Freemasonry 34 Morris resp
Page 37 and 38: Death of Freemasonry 36 accessibili
Page 39 and 40: Death of Freemasonry 38 http://www.
Page 41 and 42: Death of Freemasonry 40 Transformat
Page 43 and 44: Death of Freemasonry 42 34 See Gunn
Page 45 and 46: Death of Freemasonry 44 57 Griffin,

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