Question: To Whom it may concern: I am wondering if you could supply me with any infromation about the Moose. Is it connected with the Masons in any way? Would there be any reason that a Christian should not join or attend any of their ceremonies?

Answer: Moose and Elks aare the focus of our attention. It was hard to grasp that they are Masonic organizations. We found a book written by a member of the Elks Lodge admitting it is Masonic. You will see them listed with Masonic organizations. Masons hide behind benign names and organizations. They had to leave Europe due to the Pope and the U.S. Constitution was written to allow anyone to practice whatever they believed indefinately. They often used names of animals so they would not have to join a church. Research revealed that various denominations were started by Masons to conceal their memberships, for example Mormons, Mennonites and the Watchtower. There are many Masons in the Southern Baptist Convention. Most Masons are in the lower degrees and don't know much about the doctrine. If they knew the truth they wouldn't be there if they have a Christian heart.

Here is what we found on a quick search.

This item brings the word LODGE (Masonic) into focus. For sale:

Moose Dues Card 1934 This is a Moose dues card dated 1934 issued by Moose Lodge in Valparaiso, In. On the front of the card it has a picture of a Moose and it reads, Time to Pay Your Moose Dues.
http://pages.tias.com/18/InventoryPage/595/1.html

NOTE THE RED PENTAGRAM IN THE TOP OF THE PAGE RIGHT ABOVE THE CLOCK. (SATAN'S EMBLEM) Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE)

There are two Marin County Elks Clubs. One is located in San Rafael (San Rafael Lodge No. 1108) and the other in Novato (Novato No. 2655).

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks - Background, History, Ritual and Emblems
Elks: The oldest and largest of the "Big Three" orders that name themselves after assorted wildlife (The other two being the Loyal Order of Moose and the Fraternal Order of Eagles). The B.P.O.E. was founded in 1868 in New York as a drinking club by a group of actors in an informal drinking society called the Jolly Corks formed in 1866 to circumvent New York law that closed saloons on Sundays. Many informal organizations such as the Jolly Corks sprang up from time to time, then and later. Most lasted only a short time, then were heard from no more. Charles Vivian, noted for his wit and personality, was the moving force in the Jolly Corks inception. When the Corks' membership exploded, new, more serious minded members (such as George McDonald) joined who felt there was both a need for and a chance to form a benevolent society for the theatrical world, broadening the nucleus of the Jolly Corks into a fraternal, charitable, and service organization. Such men gave the larger club its real organization and serious purpose, preventing it from fragmenting or going out of business. The name of the organization was selected because the elk has a number of attributes that were deemed typical of those to be cultivated by members of the fraternity. The Elk is distinctively an American animal. It habitually lives in herds. The largest of our native quadrupeds, it is yet fleet of foot and graceful in movement. It is quick and keen of perception; and while it is usually gentle and even timorous, it is strong and valiant in defense of its own.

When the organization changed from the Jolly Corks to the B.P.O.E., it borrowed a certain amount from the Masons, including aprons and such terms as "Tiler" for the guardian of a lodge, and "Lodge of Sorrow" (a funeral service for a dead Elk).

The officers of the Elks Lodge are: Exalted Ruler; Esteemed Leading Knight; Esteemed Loyal Knight; Esteemed Lecturing Knight, Secretary; Treasurer; Chaplain; Esquire; Inner Guard; and Tiler. The lessons of Elkdom are communicated by short lectures. Central to Elk Lodge ceremonies are the Bible and American Flag. Emblems associated with the Elks are: Forget-me-not; antlers of protection; star of fidelity. The cardinal principals of the Elks are: Brotherly Love, Justice, Charity, and Fidelity. The Elks take deserved pride in their patriotic and charitable endeavors.

Was your California town a part of Elkdom? See, Appendix.

Loyal Order of Moose (LOOM)
There is or was a Moose Lodge in Novato, CA.

Loyal Order of Moose - Background, History, Ritual and Emblems
The Moose was founded by Dr. John Henry Wilson and a group of his friends in 1888 in Louisville, Kentucky, as a social and drinking club to rival the Elks. While it remains essentially an American club, it changed its name to International Moose in 1991. The basic unit is the Lodge, which follows the pattern established by Masons: the Moose have club room or rooms, plus a Lodge room with an altar. The Moose confer an initiatory degree, and after six months membership, the member becomes eligible for the second degree, Legion of the Moose. A third degree or Fellowship Degree is awarded for service to the fraternity. The forth and highest degree, that of Pilgrim, is honorific and is awarded to few Moose. The Moose make community service a strong component of their activities.

Under the 1908 ritual, the officers of the Moose Lodge are: Governor, Past Governor, Junior Governor, Prelate, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant-at-Arms, Orator, Bugler, Inner Guard, Outer Guard. Central to the ceremonies of the Moose are the American Flag, the defending circle, the legend of the "Locked Horns," Nine O'Clock Ceremony in memory of the children at Mooseheart, and the bells. Somewhat like the Elk, the lessons of the Moose were (in the 1908 ritual) communicated by lectures given by the Governor, Prelate, and Past Governor. The motto of the Moose is, "One for All and All for One." The principles most dear to Moose are Purity, Aid and Progress. The Moose take deserved pride in their successful mutual benefit program which includes the Mooseheart home for children of Moose and Mooseheaven home for elderly Moose.

Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE)
Marin County, California has been the home of at least three Fraternal Order of Eagles Lodges: Mill Valley Aerie, No. 1327, Fraternal Order of Eagles; San Rafael Aerie, No. ?, Fraternal Order of Eagles; and Sausalito Aerie, No. ?, Fraternal Order of Eagles.

The Eagles Hall in Sausalito was the site of the towns Grand Ball in connection with the September 9, 1890 Sausalito Municipal Water Supply and Admission Day Celebration (accord with the 1898 founding date of the FOE; possibly a local group called the Eagles preexisted the FOE in the City of Sausalito?). No other information about these Aeries is currently available.

Fraternal Order of Eagles - Background, History, Ritual and Emblems
The Eagles particular virtues are Liberty, Truth, Justice and Equality. The emblem of the Order is the Eagle, who holds in its beak the scales of justice, ever ready to defend equality. "As the proud Eagle spreads his wings, he soars high into the sky and with his ever watchful eye, he protects as he is protected, guards as he is guarded."

What became the "Fraternal Order of Eagles" was founded on February 6, 1898 by a group of theater managers who wanted an organization dedicated to the ideas of democracy and brotherhood. Originally called the "Seattle Order of Good Things," the constitution passed a month later renamed the group and asked its members to "make human life more desirable by lessening its ills and promoting peace, prosperity, gladness, and hope." Within ten years the Eagles had 1,800 lodges scattered throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, boasting a membership roll that exceeded 350,000. Members received free medical attention (as did the individual's family), weekly payments in case of sickness, and a funeral benefit--all valuable services before the widespread availability of medical, disability, and life insurance.

Fraternal Order of Eagles stated mission is to unite fraternally for mutual benefit, protection, improvement, social enjoyment and association, all persons of good moral character who believe in a Supreme Being to inculcate the principles of liberty, truth, justice and equality, to perpetuate itself as a fraternal organization and to provide for its government as it's Constitution, Laws, Rituals, by-laws or other rules and regulations may from time to time provide, and to promote the general welfare, the Fraternal Order of Eagles ordains this constitution. To promote and raise funds for duly authorized Fraternal Order of Eagles charities and contribute to worthwhile charitable causes.

The officers of a Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie are: Worthy President, Worthy Vice President, Junior Past Worthy President, Secretary, Treasurer, Worthy Chaplain, Worthy Conductor, Trustees, Inside Guard, and Outside Guard.

Was your California town the home of an Eagle Aerie? Fraternal Order of Eagles Appendix

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All rights reserved. No portion of this page may be reprinted or otherwise duplicated without express written permission from the respective authors.
http://www.abaris.net/freemasonry/marin_elks_moose_eagles.htm
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Part of a listing of Masonic Lodges
ORDER OF THE MOOSE, a fraternal order with programs that encourage family participation involving sports, recreation and other activities. In Corvallis: Meets Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m., Moose Lodge, 122 S.W. Fifth St. (Expected to change at the end of 2001). Info: 753-8591. In Lebanon: Meets first and third Thursdays, 8 p.m., Moose Lodge, 4070 Santiam Highway. Info: 451-8039.

http://www.mvonline.com/our_town/organizations/organizations-06.html
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In the old days of the Moose International, members were required to don black robes and powdered wigs for the meetings. Ranked members wore a hat called a taj (pronounced "tah"), and women were only allowed in the lodge if their husbands were members.

Today, the Moose have a women's counterpart, and members can dress in casual attire. Recently, the Women of the Moose were given permission to wear slacks and even shorts to their meetings; in the 1970s, women were required to wear floor-length formals each time.

What's also changed is that it's becoming more and more difficult to keep the organizations thriving because new members are hard to come by.

"Every organization has those problems today," says John Boitano, 79, charter member of the Los Gatos Elks Club. Boitano is also a member of the Lions Club and sees the same struggle there.

Elk Dave Fletcher, 67, says, "In the last 15 years or so, membership has dwindled." The Los Gatos Elks, chartered in 1952, was in top form in the 1970s with 650 members. Now, Fletcher says, there are 276 members from Los Gatos, Saratoga and San Jose.

In Saratoga, the Odd Fellows Lodge has fewer than 30 members. The lodge has been around since 1912 and had about 200 members in the 1920s and 1930s; the number decreased to approximately 70 in the 1960s. .......

According to Beito, the fact that most jobs now provide medical insurance eliminates the need for people to seek out insurance from voluntary organizations, such as fraternal orders, as they did in the past. Orphanages run by the societies are no longer as common because the government has foster care and other parallel services.

The largest orphanage in the United States is Mooseheart, a Moose-run facility in Illinois, Beito says. While Moose International grew in members, the number of children going to Mooseheart decreased. In the 1930s, Mooseheart had more than 1,000 children. Now it's at a few hundred, and the organization is loosening the entry requirements to increase the number.

Another example, Beito says, is that the lodges used to contract with doctors to provide medical care to its members and their families. The lodges paid a flat fee--something $1 per member per year--to the doctor, who would then take care of basic services, such as house calls and minor surgeries.

"It was a way for young doctors to get a practice built up and for older doctors to go into semi-retirement," Beito says.

Medical associations, however, frowned upon what they called "lodge practice evil," since it competed with the doctors who ran fee-for-service practices. The medical associations used the tactics of boycotting the lodge-practicing doctors, denying those doctors and patients hospital service, and even trying to revoke the medical licenses of some of the doctors.

Former Los Gatos Elks Exalter Ruler Dave Fletcher speculates that the high cost of living is a factor in the decline of fraternal orders; people often have to work more than one job, and most Bay Area families require two incomes. As a result, nobody has the time to commit to weekly meetings....

The point of the Masons, according to Johnson, is: "To take a good man. To give him enough knowledge and wherewithal to make him a better man." Johnson believes that this kind of thinking is absent in present-day society.

Johnson also says that fraternal organizations flourish better in more rural areas, citing Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield as examples. "In their communities, the Masonic Lodge is a bigger entity," Johnson says. Also, the lodge social events are the center of social life in the community, he says.

"We don't get a lot of PR," Ramsey says of the Masons. Not only do the Masons not recruit for new members, they can't even invite people to join. Instead, people must express interest in the Masons on their own.

But once people find out what the organizations do, they are eager to join, says Moose Administrator Jim Abbott, 63.

While membership for the Los Gatos Moose Lodge has gone up--from 190 members in 1990 to 365 in May--the number of people involved has not necessarily kept pace. "If you can get 10 percent of your membership coming to a meeting, it's fantastic," Abbott says.

"It's like any organization," says Beverly Weal, 57, current senior regent (the highest officer rank) of the Women of the Moose. "You've got your key people and others just donating money." The problem is, there aren't that many key people, she says.

And, Abbott adds, Santa Clara County has too many Moose lodges too close together, along with a large selection of clubs to choose from.

"The people who turn out are infinitesimal compared to the membership," says Saratogan Jim Balanesi, 70, an Elks trustee. "It's like pulling teeth to get anybody to do anything."

So where are the fraternal orders drawing their strength from? Alternative groups, many say.

The women's version of the Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, have more than twice the membership that the Odd Fellows do--about 70 members come to each meeting, Springer says. The Rebekahs members average about the same age as the men in the Odd Fellows.

Eight Mason-related groups meet under the roof of the Los Gatos Masonic Lodge. There's the Eastern Star, which is geared toward women. There's Demolay, for young men between the ages of 12 and 21. There are two organizations for girls from 11 to 20: Job's Daughters and Rainbow for Girls.

The youth orders develop leadership skills and maturity in the members, Ramsey says. They also demonstrate to other youth that it's possible to have fun and do community service at the same time.

As for the downward trend in membership for fraternal organizations, Balanesi says that the "those are for the old folks" viewpoint may not go away. "It's kind of a shame," Balanesi says.
Gloria I. Wang

[ San Jose |
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/07.26.01/mpnews1-0130.html

Lancaster Library Cornerstone Dedication by Masons. http://www.greatnorthwoods.org/lancaster/09231998librarycornerstonemasonsdedication/

Masons claim they are not a religious organization is a lie. They even believe in a trinity: Osiris, Isis and Horus which are the underworld god and his family. Masonry originated in Egypt and King Solomon in the Old Testament was influenced by it and Solomon's Temple was destroyed due to Baal worship. Baal is the name of the sun god whom Masons worship in many cases unbeknownst to them. Ancient Masons developed astrology which is in God's eyes an abomination because it is not a reliable science yet practiced by many leaders as well as people in general.

2 John 10 "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine [the Holy Scriptures], receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed: For he that biddeth him Godspeed partaker of his evil deeds."