What is meant by Bloody oaths?

1 ANSWERS

1. Saba
   

   One of the common deceptions used by anti-Masons, particularly the "Religious Intolerants", is the charge that Masons take "Bloody Oaths". Forgetting how they too might have said "Cross my heart and hope to die.", it's a wonderful catch-phrase for them to use since it's so emotionally charged. To someone who has never experienced Freemasonry, it can be more than just 'chilling'.
   
   Here, however, is the reality:
   bullet Freemasonry is a three hundred year old organization founded on the principles of organizations which existed hundreds of years before that. It comes from a time when it was important to impress upon an initiate the solemn and serious nature of the work he was undertaking.
   bullet In addition, Freemasonry teaches its lessons through the use of ALLEGORY whereby an example is explained or shown in a way which will impress upon the listener the point in a manner that words simply can't accomplish.
   bullet And finally, Freemasonry's oaths are SYMBOLIC relative to penalties, a fact that the anti-Masonic faction would have you totally ignore.
   
   When a man joins Freemasonry, these concepts are discussed with him well in advance of his initiation. This is not unlike other instances in our lives where we encounter things which we might not have understood in their totality before they were presented to us. If you've bought a house, can you honestly say that you obtained and studied carefully each and every one of the mortgage papers before you signed them? More likely, you were handed some things and relied on your trust in others that they'd be appropriate.
   
   So too in Freemasonry: the individual seeks out the fraternity (not vice-versa) and at several points along the way, including just seconds before the actual obligations are conferred, he is reassured that what he obligates himself to will not interfere with any duty he owes to GOD, his country, his family/neighbors, or himself.

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