it's the world's most well-known secret society rich with symbols and ritual it's a source of legends crown parodies keeps the metric system down we do we do and conspiracy theories because so much organized crime uses the masonic secret system and the good old boy network to be able to get away with murder and i mean murder welcome to the world of freemasonry true or false the masons are a secret society no it's that's false ucla history professor margaret jacob is one of the world's leading experts on freemasonry true or false freemasonry is a religion no it's false true or false masons were behind the american revolution false false false okay but what about on the dollar bill the the eye and the pyramid i mean that's masonic right no it's it everybody says massage in fact it's a commonplace in the 18th century that particular set of symbols true freemasons laid the cornerstone of america well at least some of its most iconic structures so what is freemasonry simply put it's the world's oldest and largest fraternity its membership a who's who of world history george washington benjamin franklin winston churchill mozart davy crockett franklin roosevelt harry houdini gerald ford henry ford john wayne even colonel sanders if you want to be a mason you can petition a local lodge for membership you'll need to demonstrate good character and belief in some sort of supreme being oh and in almost all lodges it's men only next you're up for a vote explains former new york state grand master james sullivan the lodge votes to accept you and then you have the three degrees that you go through once you earn the third degree and yes that's where the phrase comes from you can join any number of masonic offshoots take brent morris he's a 33rd degree mason and a historian at the house of the temple for the supreme council of the scottish rite of the southern jurisdiction you know it's that big building in washington d. c this isn't like the masonic vatican but it's a it's an important building it's an important building absolutely right it's it's one branch of freemasonry in the united states and that's our headquarters building inside the temple lodge room is a stunner and downstairs there's this this is the flag that bulls aldrin took to the moon with him this flag supreme council 33 southern jurisdiction wow now if tiny hats and small cars are your thing then there are the party animals of freemasonry the shriners you may know them better for their 22 children's hospitals where patients don't have to pay a cent the masons are philanthropic they reportedly donate 2 million to charity every day freemasonry began in medieval europe as a guild for stonemasons but lived on as a social organization 1717 the first grand lodge is created in london and now there are many men in these lodges that are not associated with it with the trade organization they're gentlemen masons they're not stone cutters they're not stone cutters and so something has happened a modern fraternity has been created it wasn't long afterward that the conspiracy theories began all these men with different neighborhoods different professions meeting in the cafe breaking bread together doing rituals what could this be so the the response on the part of the authorities was oh my god this is a conspiracy and so in 1738 pope clement xii issued the catholic church's first decree against freemasonry and it still applies today in the u. s freemasonry flourished until its secrecy made it the object of suspicion here spawning america's first third party the anti-masonic party it elected eight congressmen but lost the 1828 presidential election to andrew jackson a proud mason today freemasonry has about 1.
3 million members in the u. s down from 4 million in 1959 happy father the supreme architect of the universe among the members today african americans formerly relegated to a separate black only branch of freemasonry and then there are members like those in colonial lodge number 1821 of washington d.
