MemeMachineGo!

"A staple of secret society initiations is the simulated murder of the initiate."

Is it? I read the story in the Times on my own, as is my wont, and it asserted that a) these weren't standard Masonic rituals at all, and b) guns were forbidden in this lodge, and c) that no such ritual was traditionally Masonic.

I only know a handful of facts about Masonic rituals, and other such (ohmigod, the next President will be a member of Skull and Bones!); before I go googling, do you happen to have a pointer about this being standard? Or is this just background information you picked up from a book? In other words, what's your source, please?

Guns aren't a part of standard Masonic rituals. I'm relying on outside reading, most particularly William Poundstone's Big Secrets. I don't remember whether simulated murder features in the standard Masonic rituals, but in the initiations Poundstone covered, as well as other reading I've done on secret societies, the simulated murder thing comes up again and again.

I'd read about many rites being "trust" issues, which makes perfect sense. That "you put yourself into our hands in a way where it looks like we'll kill you, and you trust that we won't" is a perfectly plausible extension of that, of course, so your information is equally plausible.

I was a pseudo-Yalie for some months from the end of 1978 through part of 1979 -- I lived with my girlfriend, the Yalie, in New Haven, worked for Yale, and had another job as a night-manager of a used book and new magazine store selling primarily to Yalies (Book World), so I've walked past the odd Skull & Bones building many many times, incidentally.

Here is a letter from the Grand Master of Masons of the State of New York concerning this incident.

March 15, 2004

My Brothers:

It is important that all New York Masons have knowledge of what the Grand Lodge is doing regarding a tragic accident that occurred last week in which Brother William James died.

As Grand Master, I personally have spoken to the widow of our departed Brother, and communicated our deepest condolences and sympathies to her and to her family. In Masonic tradition, a fund to assist the widow and her family has been established, and contributions have begun to come in. Additional contributions may be sent to the Masonic Brotherhood Foundation for the Brother William James Fund.

The death of Brother William James on March 8, 2004 has been widely reported in the public media. We are deeply anguished and outraged because a fellow Mason has died in an incident that never should have happened. Based on currently available information, it appears that the death occurred during a Southside Fellowcraft Club social meeting held in the basement of a building in Patchogue, New York where South Side Lodge No. 493 meets. Media reports reflecting a lack of information and understanding of Freemasonry in New York may have created certain public misconceptions. The incident did not involve a Masonic Lodge meeting, the use of a Masonic Lodge room, or any New York Masonic Ritual. The social club involved was not itself a Grand Lodge sanctioned Masonic organization.

I have appointed a panel of respected and experienced Masons, all of whom are attorneys and some of whom also have backgrounds in the judiciary, to review the activities and operation of social clubs that make use of Masonic premises in the State of New York. Pending completion of that investigation, I have suspended the Charter and members of South Side Lodge No. 493. The panel is charged to report back to counsel for the Grand Lodge within thirty to sixty days. The panel will make recommendations intended to assure that such a tragedy never happens again.

Grand Lodge law, previously established, clearly spells out the one and only Ritual approved in the State of New York. No Mason can engage in or participate in any ritual that varies from the Ritual approved under Grand Lodge law. I wish to remind all Masons that firearms do not, and never have, played any role in any Masonic Ritual in the State of New York.

I have full confidence that you will continue your good works in your communities, and stand tall and proud of your membership in Freemasonry.

Sincerely and fraternally,

Carl J. Fitje
Grand Master

Guns are not allowed into the lodge, not even our members that are police officers, they must not enter with a "weopon" and that is rock solid. The moral obligation that all level of masons requires that they be divested of any such item for a variety of resons. This occurance is not a masonic accident it is manslaughter or murder if it occured at all.