The Religion of Peace: Freemasonry in Action

The Religion of Peace

While the most recent case of Islamic terrorism on European soil has once again provided us with a vivid example of Islam's propensity for bringing out the very worst in man, it simultaneously provides us with an excellent opportunity to reflect upon the concerted effort of global leaders to deflect all trace of culpability from the religion of Islam. Almost on cue, we heard phrases like:

• "Islam is a religion of peace." (U. K. Prime Minister David Cameron)
• "All of us recognize that this great religion, in the hands of a few extremists, has been distorted." (U.S. President Barack Obama)
• "Those who commit such acts have nothing to do with Islam." (French President François Hollande)
• "Authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence." (Pope Francis)

If you agree with this assessment - if you think that Islam really is a religion of peace, if you think that Islam is being distorted by a few extremists, if you think the Koran is actually opposed to violence, if you think there is no concerted effort by western politicians and media outlets to whitewash Islam - then I strongly suggest that you stop reading now, because chances are good that you're really going to dislike what's coming next.

For those of you who remain: Well done.

When a politician stands up and says that "Islam is a religion of peace," we often make the mistake of assuming that he's speaking to us, i.e. to members of the Christian West. He's not. We are not the target of this particular bit of propaganda, and - despite what certain conspiracy theorists might claim - he's not trying to make Islam more appealing to us. He's not even trying to prevent us from acting out in retaliation. While he certainly does not want us to do so, that's not the real reason for his many assurances that "Islam is a religion of peace." He's not talking to us at all. He's talking to them, i.e. to the millions of Muslims who live in our countries who call themselves Muslims and identify as such but know next to nothing about the Koran, who can't read Arabic, who rarely if ever visit a mosque, and who have never visited a Muslim-majority country. These individuals are the true target audience of the media propaganda slogan "Islam is a religion of peace." He's not insulting our intelligence, he's preying upon the ignorance of westernized Muslims in regards to their own religion. He's selling them what is ultimately a counterfeit Islam - a nebulously spiritualized secular humanism clothed in terms familiar to Muslims - and hoping to recruit them as allies in his war against the real Islam - the one that inspires men to murder, torture, rape and mutilate in the name of Allah.

But, you might ask, how could such a blatant deception ever hope to succeed? On its face, it seems almost farcical, not to mention hopelessly doomed to failure, as any of those nominal Muslims could very easily pick up a book - perhaps the Koran, perhaps a book of Hadith containing the words of Mohammed, perhaps the memoirs of any of his numerous companions - and learn what their religion actually teaches. There is 1,400-years-worth of literature written by Muslim scholars on the religion of Islam, much of which is freely available. Why on earth would they choose to believe these politicians - and the Muftis and Mullahs in their employ - over the very works they consider either divinely inspired or of impeccable authority?

That is an excellent question, gentle reader. Before we attempt to answer it, however, it is essential that we acknowledge that this strategy works. We know it works because it's already been done.

To us.

A century and a half ago, the Catholic Church was a virtual monolith of moral, social and economic arch-traditionalism. The Catholic man - and there were many in those days - prayed fervently for the social kingship of Christ to be publicly proclaimed, and worked vigorously to that end, in whatever station God had placed him. He was prepared to suffer greatly in giving witness to his faith in Christ and his loyalty to Christ's Church, and did so often. He prayed publicly for the conversion of all - of sinners, of Jews, of Pagans, of schismatics, heretics and apostates - to the One True Faith. He constructed great cathedrals of unparalleled beauty, gave generously to the poor and downtrodden, built hospitals, orphanages and schools at a rate outstripping that of any earthly government, and was regularly blessed with unparalleled fecundity of offspring. All these things made him dangerous in the eyes of the world - indeed, he was a subversive, a dissident, a troublemaker, for he was the sworn enemy of both the greedy capitalist and the covetous socialist, of both the intolerant fascist and the reckless libertarian, of both the dumb brute and the effeminate highbrow. And when he was refused political office, banned from worshiping in the public square and forced to live in the ghetto, then he strengthened his Catholic brethren from within the community, doubled his efforts in prayer and penance, and transformed the ghetto into an oasis of Catholic life. He bore the scorn, condemnation and persecution of morally corrupt parliaments and partisan presidents to which he was regularly subjected with heroic patience. He was a member of the Church Militant and very much at war with the world which rejected Christ and His Bride, the Catholic Church. He was, in short, radically Catholic.

Some will doubtless accuse me of looking at the past through rose-colored spectacles. Was there no corruption, no vice, no malfeasance in those days? Of course there was. We are sinners, all of us, in the eyes of God, and Catholics of any age are no exception. But I dare anyone to objectively compare the world of 1914 with the world of 2014 and conclude that we have, as a society, increased in moral goodness, in humanity, in beauty, in nobility, in freedom, in peace. On the contrary, everywhere traditional, radical Catholicism has retreated from the social domain, there moral depravity, inhumanity, ugliness, perversion, decadence, enslavement and war have taken root and thrived. When we hear the supposed custodians of culture praising the developments of the last 200 years as monuments to human progress and gushing with panglossianism in regards to the future, we must stop to ask exactly who is wearing the spectacles here.

As for the reasons for that retreat, we needn't look far. Authentic, radical Catholicism has been replaced with a pacified counterfeit Catholicism which differs from the counterfeit Islam being offered to so-called 'moderate' Muslims in nothing but the attenuated cultural packaging. It is, at its root, the very same nebulously spiritualized secular humanism - or, to use a term more familiar to traditional Catholics: it is the religion of the Masonic Lodge. As the infamous French Freemason Yves Marsaudon wrote some 50 years ago:

Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Israelites, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, free-thinkers, free-believers - to us, these are only first names. Freemasonry is the name of their family.

Some of you might be blissfully ignorant of the Catholic Church's long battle against Freemasonry. It might surprise you to learn that it was understood to pose such a terrible threat to true religion that no less than eight popes condemned it in the harshest of terms. In fact, it is still forbidden - on paper, at least - for a Catholic to be a member of a Masonic organization. Some of you might think that, if it existed at all, the effort by Masons to infiltrate the Catholic Church is a thing of the past. In a sense, you'd be right. Masons don't have to try infiltrate the Church any more, as proponents of this brand of spiritualized secular humanism hold key positions within the Catholic Church, and have done so for the last 50 years. These "agents of reform" have worked tirelessly to emasculate and corrupt the sensus fidei of the last three generations of Catholics so as to pacify them, to mollify them, to remove them as a threat to the World Order they are so feverishly working to bring about. As a result, vast segments of the Catholic population today are Catholic in nothing but name.

But, surely - you might object - surely someone would have noticed this. Surely one of these nominal Catholics would have picked up a book - perhaps the Bible, perhaps a work by one of the great Saints, perhaps a papal encyclical published before 1960 - and learned what the Catholic religion actually teaches. There is, after all, 2,000-years-worth of literature written by staunchly orthodox Catholic Fathers, Saints and Doctors, much of which is freely available. Why on earth would they choose to believe.... Oh, wait.

Which brings us back to our original question: Why would people choose a counterfeit over the real thing? The answer in both cases is the same: because they do not want the original. But - and this is key - the motivation in the two cases is diametrically opposite. Whereas "moderate" Muslims are eager to ignore the truth of Islam because they don't want the killing, the oppression, the barbarity, the cruelty, the misogyny - in short, the true face of radical Islam, "modern" Catholics are eager to ignore the truth of Catholicism because they don't want to be called to repentance, to mortification, to self-denial, to patience, to humility, to chastity, to charity - in short, the true face of radical Catholicism. In the former case, it is the vitality and strength of their humanity which blinds them to the truth; in the latter, it is the depravity and weakness of the same.

As for brushing up on authentic Catholic teaching regarding the nature of Islam or the person of Mohammed, I warmly recommend an article by Andrew Bieszad (MA in Islamic Studies from Hartford Seminary) entitled What Did the Saints Say about Islam? One of my personal favorites, St. Peter Mavimenus, tops the list. When asked to convert to Islam by a group of Muslims, he replied:

Whoever does not embrace the Catholic Christian faith is lost, like your false prophet Muhammad.

Unsurprisingly, that bit of wisdom cost him his head. I guess there were a few extremist Muslims distorting the peaceful message of Islam back in the 8th century, too.