The Watchtower & The Masons

"Freemasonry as a secret association has lived unchanged for centuries-as an open society it would not last for as many years."-Mackey's Masonic Jurisprudence, p. 37.

"What is Masonry now? IT IS POWERFUL. It comprises men of all ranks, wealth, office and talent, in power and out of power, and that in almost every place where power is of any importance...They are distributed, too, with the means of knowing each other, and the means of keeping secret and the means of cooperating, in the Desk, in the Legislative Hall, on the Bench, in every gathering of business,... among enemies and friends, in one place as well as in another! So powerful indeed is it at this time, that it fears nothing from violence, either public or private; for it has every means to learn it in season, to counteract, DEFEAT and PUNISH!"-Speech by Masonic orator Brainard at New London, Conn.

"I wish to draw your notice the fact that the Almighty God Himself is the FOUNDER OF A SECRET SOCIETY. Moreover, while there are certain correspondencies between the human secret orders and the one of Divine origin, we shall find as we should expect that the latter is in every way superior to all others...secrecy is to the advantage...all Masons are familiar with the secrets pertaining to the first degree yet not all Masons are familiar with the secrets, etc., pertaining to the thirty-second degree, so in God's Secret Order there are first principles of the doctrines of Christ which must be known to all who belong to the order, and are also 'deep things of God',..."--Sermon by Pastor Russell, founder of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of the Jehovah's Witnesses.