Masonic Blogs

The work of esteemed  Freemason and author Christopher Hodapp, his timely, entertaining and erudite posts keep us all abreast of the goings-on in the Masonic world. Those of us at The Square have been fans of the blog for many years and have had the pleasure of Chris as a contributor. 

“Brother Chris Hodapp’s [blog]…is thought provoking and is often the first place on the web where new ideas and matters of interest are posted.”

—Jim Tresner,  Scottish Rite Journal

Christopher L. Hodapp

IMAGE Courtesy: Freemasons for Dummies

Christopher L. Hodapp is a 33° Mason in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (NMJ), Indianapolis Valley. He is a founding member of Levant Preceptory, a medieval Knights Templar period recreation degree team in the York Rite, and In 2010, he was made a Knight Commander of the Temple by the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States.

Chris has been writing about is the author of Freemasons For Dummies, the worldwide best-selling introduction to the Masonic fraternity, and the world’s most popular Masonic news blog site. He is the Associate Director of the Masonic Library and Museum of Indiana and the Editor Emeritus of the Journal of The Masonic Society

Chris’ second book, Solomon’s Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers, and the Secrets of Washington, D.C. was released in 2006, and was the basis of the History Channel program, ‘Secrets of the Founding Fathers.’

He is also the co-author with Alice Von Kannon of The Templar Code For Dummies and Conspiracy Theories and Secret Societies For Dummies.

Chris’ most recent book, Heritage Endures, was published in 2018.
“Hodapp’s engaging style transcends the page.” — The Square Magazine

To read more about Chris, his Masonry and books, go to https://freemasonsfordummies.com/about-chris

Chris’ latest blog discusses an article in The Economist (‘Out of the Shadows: The freemasons want to be known for hand wash, not handshakes‘, 25 April, 2020) which could have been a light-hearted, informative piece about Lincolnshire Freemasons helping the community out in the Covid-19 pandemic…but needless to say, it didn’t turn out that way. Snarky and petty reportage is beneath them, and enough really is enough.

Read on to see an extract from the blog:

The British Press Strikes Again: Hit Piece Disguised As Puffy Story

IMAGE CREDIT:  The Economist

American Masons don’t know how good we have it.

By: Christopher Hodapp

An article in the Britain section of April 25th edition of The Economist magazine told a human interest story about the Masons in Lincolnshire, speaking with Brother Matt Felgate of the Provincial Grand Lodge, and UGLE’s CEO David Staples. The story is about what local lodges and Masons are doing under the COVID-19 Wuhan Virus shutdown to help the community, and the brethren there are truly finding some excellent and innovative ways to assist their fellow citizens during Britain’s nationwide shut-down.

But before they talked nice about anything the fraternity was doing, the unnamed reporter had to start right in with the swipes. The article was entitled ‘Out of the shadows:The freemasons want to be known for hand wash, not handshakes’ with the additional cynical addition, “Covid-19 offers a chance for some good publicity.”

Not “a chance to help,” or “a chance to do good,” but just the snark about publicity. And British reporters are downright obsessed with our ‘secret handshakes.’ It keeps them up nights worrying about it.

The opening paragraph has to lead off with the usual claptrap about sinister allegations:

The freemasons, a centuries-old network of fraternal lodges, have long provided fodder for thriller writers and folk with overactive imaginations.

Note the stylistic difference in Britain that they won’t deign to capitalize Freemasonry or Masons when the terms appear in print. All the better to diminish any sense of respect for the fraternity, despite the fact that all of UGLE’s written material capitalizes them.

Suggestions of conspiracy range from the outlandish to the banal. Steve White, a former chairman of the Police Federation, a cops’ union, claimed they blocked reforms to the service. Masons roll their eyes at such claims. “There is ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and the keyboard warriors going crazy,” sighs Matt Felgate, a freemason from Lincolnshire’s Provincial Grand Lodge. “But much to my disappointment, it’s mainly about making yourself a better person.”

What a reference to Steve White’s absurd and baseless 2017 yawpings about the Police Federation is doing in this human interest article boggles the mind. An angry ex-union leader who was about to be voted out of office decided his failures weren’t his fault — no, it were those bloody Freemason cops. Read his pathetic story HERE. And then ask why The Economist stuck it in the opening paragraph of an article about Masonic charity.

The article finally gets around to explaining that, outside of the lodge, Brother Felgate runs a gin distillery, and he’s converted his production line to manufacture hand sanitizer that’s been in short supply. Brethren in Scunthorpe have made more than a thousand masks for caregivers. Other area lodges have purchased thousands of masks from China to donate, or are loaning parking facilities to nurses.

For once, being able to call in favours from a network of contacts seems positively altruistic…

To read the full article and more of Chris Hodapp’s finest work, visit http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-british-press-strikes-again-hit.html