Trump's spiritual idol, Norman Vincent Peale, was 33rd degree Freemason and Zionist

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Freemasonry and Religion

What Freemasonry Means To Me

The Reverend Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, 33°

I recently received a letter in which the writer asked: “Why are you a Freemason?” The question caused me to think and reaffirm my feelings about Masonry.

At first, I thought about my own forebears. My grandfather was a Mason for 50 years, my father for 50 years, and I have been a Mason for 60 years. This means that my tie with Freemasonry extends back to 1869 when my grandfather joined the Masons.

My feelings on my first entrance into a Masonic Lodge are very clear in memory. I was a young man, and it was a great thrill to kneel before the altar of the Lodge to become a Freemason. This must have been the same feeling my father, and grandfather, experienced before me.

And it must also have been identical to the one that many great leaders of America and the world felt as they became Masons. Prominent among this select group are George Washington, Harry Truman, and 12 other Presidents, as well as countless statesmen and benefactors of humanity.

So I found myself thinking: “What does Freemasonry mean to me?” Of course Masons say that Freemasonry actually begins in each individual Mason’s heart. I take this to mean a response to brotherhood and the highest ideals.

Freemasonry is not a religion though, in my experience, Masons have predominately been religious men and, for the most part, of the Christian faith. Through Freemasonry, however, I have had opportunity to break bread with good men of other than my own Christian faith. Freemasonry does not promote any one religious creed. All Masons believe in the Deity without reservation.

However, Masonry makes no demands as to how a member thinks of the Great Architect of the Universe. Freemasonry is, for all its members, a supplement to good living which has enhanced the lives of millions who have entered its doors. Though it is not a religion, as such, it supplements faith in God the Creator. It is supporting of morality and virtue.

Freemasonry has no dogma or theology. It offers no sacraments. It teaches that it is important for every man to have a religion of his own choice and to be faithful to it in thought and action. As a result, men of different religions meet in fellowship and brotherhood under the fatherhood of God. I think that a good Mason is made even more faithful to the tenets of his faith by his membership in the Lodge.

I have always been interested as to why Masons devote so much time to their Fraternity. A good answer to this question came from a Grand Master who once told me that he enjoys his involvement because it gives him another dimension to living. The same answer is echoed by Brethren as they meet in Lodge rooms, from one end of our Country to the other, and around the world. Many of my best friends, associates, and fellow Christians are Freemasons and good churchmen as well.

In my travels at home and abroad a goodly number of Freemasons notice my Masonic ring, which I always wear. With pride they say: “I, too, am a Freemason.” To me, Freemasonry is one form of dedication to God and service to humanity. I am proud of my involvement. I am proud to walk in fraternal fellowship with my Brethren.

Why am I a Freemason? Simply because I am proud to be a man who wants to keep the moral standards of life at a high level and leave something behind so others will benefit. Only as I, personally, become better, can I help others to do the same.

 https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e8-9e4b-d471-e040-e00a180654d7

Norman Vincent Peale with famous Zionist Rabbi Israel Goldstein 

Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, John Clark and Rabbi Israel Goldstein

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/201319072/

Peale a Zionist 

Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 138

Publication:

Chicago Tribunei

Location:

Chicago, Illinois

Issue Date:

Saturday, September 1, 1962

Page:

138

Extracted Article Text (OCR)

to Energetic Israel BY NORMAN VINCENT PEALE ISRAEL IS A LAND of throbbing energy and dedicated purpose. Cultivation spreads over what once was desert. Villages spring up quickly and grow large with the constant influx of immigrants. "Newcomers" villages are everywhere! But to call them villages is hardly exact for they are composed of long streets of multi-storied apartment buildings.

Visiting Israel for the fifth time, I am amazed at the acceleration of growth and development. Actually it impresses me as an ultra-modern European nation pinned to the vest of the ancient middle east. When you cross thru the Mandelbaum Gate from Jordan you step immediately into a Western European-American community. Within a few years, at the rate progress is now going ahead, most evidence Norman Vincent Peale of historic Biblical civilization will be erased. True, Mount Hermon capped from antiquity with its eternal snows will still brood.

And Mount Tabor will still raise its dominating rounded dome over the valley of Esdraelon and Armageddon. Steam Shovels Dig Up Stone At the base of "The Hill of Precipitation" from the top of which angry Nazarenes attempted to throw Jesus after his sermon in their synagog busy steam shovels now dig vast quantities of stone to erect thousands of new buildings and homes which register this country's dramatic growth'. This famous hill is sacrificially giving up its existence. Material from it is going into homes and cities for the persecuted of every land. While I must confess to a bit of nostalgia 00 seeing the old Biblical places fading from the scene I must agree in principle that the present takes precedence over the past.

Aland and a people so enthusiastic about the present and future can hardly be expected to lay much stress on the past. Huge Conduit Now Being Laid Soft blue lambBWOol shell has a turtleneck, no sleeves (clever way for layered look lovers to beat the central heat) and On top: Olive mohair sweater with new U-neckline. $17. Modelling the outfit which comes from Carson's is Riverside-Brookfield High's Sandy Hubatka. Nancy Fahey, Resurrection High, pops an orange rollneck sweater ($8) under an olive two-piece, middy-topped and flare-skirted Carson Pirie Scott Co.

ITRIBUNE Photos by Earl Gustle As one drives across the land trom tne 01 trainee, ui as it is locally called "The Lake of Tiberias," a huge conduit runs for miles across valleys, burrowing thru hills. It is nearly 10 feet across. Big enough for a Jeep to pass thru my Israeli, friends proudly explain. It will be placed a few feet below ground level and will" carry an incredible volume of life-giving water to further activate the amazing growth which the Israelis are bringing about in their land. Here, not far from the place where Jesus Christ made His immortal statements about the water of life, real water from the Sea of Galilee will roar thru conduits, the like of which the Romans never saw, to change the sleepy biblical Israel of old into the new mighty industrial Israel.