My Response to It's Me Jessie

This is a response to the YouTube video LDS SECRETS: Freemasonry, the Occult and Satanist Symbols by user It’s Me Jessie.

I'll just dive right in. Jessie states that the ceremonies found in Freemasonry could not have come from Solomon’s time. I personally agree with this statement, as Freemasonry only traces back to 1598 Edinburgh, Scotland (although it is hypothesized that it is at least a few centuries older due to the Regius Poem in the Haliwell Manuscript). However, it should be noted that there is no primary source indicating when the very first Masonic meeting was held; however unlikely it is that Freemasonry does trace back to Solomon’s time, it is still a remote possibility.

Jessie also states that, by extension, there is no connection between the Church’s temple ceremonies and the temple ceremonies performed in King Solomon’s Temple. I am willing to agree concerning the endowment ceremony, given that the Lord Jesus Christ indicated to Joseph Smith that this modern endowment had not been revealed since before the Creation. Though they might not have been temple practices under the Law of Moses, references to the following other ceremonies performed in the temple may be found in the Bible:

• Washing
• Anointing
• Baptism for the Dead
• Marriage (Sealing)

Jessie contends against the Church's claim that our temple ceremonies are only sacred and not secret. This does not make sense on Jessie's part given that, in an ideal world for Latter-day Saints, everyone in the world would receive the temple endowment and enjoy its associated blessings. We do not speak of sacred experiences in mundane settings; this includes but is not limited to temple experiences. We reverence such experiences by not cheapening them.

Jessie then goes on to state that the Church has “cult-like similarities.” It should be noted here that “cult” is synonymous with “religion” (Merriam-Webster); arguably, the only people who aren’t cultists are atheists. On her channel description, she states that she is a born-again Christian. That makes her just as much of a cultist as I am.

Jessie then starts explaining these “cult-like similarities,” beginning with blood oaths. Merriam-Webster defines blood oath as “an oath taken by two or more people in which they ceremonially use or exchange each other’s blood.” This does not happen in the Church. As has been mentioned in another post, the legal definition of blood oath is “a solemn promise to keep an agreement using each party’s sense of honor or reputation to uphold the deal” (US Legal, Inc.). This covers literally any promise ever made without collateral. In context of the Church’s temple endowment ceremonies, I can only assume that Jessie is referring to the penalties used up until 1990; these were only symbolic of the solemnity and seriousness in which we take that which is sacred.

Jessie then cites Fawn Brodie’s work No Man Knows My History; it should immediately be noted that Fawn Brodie’s credibility as a historian was absolutely destroyed when she published her later work Jefferson: An Intimate Biography, which was heavily criticized due to her shoddy research and botched conclusions. That stated, let us address the particulars from Brodie’s work as referenced by Jessie.

The Mormon Temple endowment ceremony is without a doubt taken from the Masonic ceremonies Joseph Smith participated in just weeks before he introduced the temple endowment. The grips, tokens, covenants, secret words, keys, etc. were word for word the same when first introduced. Members who were Masons previous to Joseph joining the fraternal order unashamedly referred to the Mormon endowment as "celestial masonry."

Here’s my question right off the bat: How could Brodie know what the grips, tokens, obligations, words, etc. in Masonry could possibly be without any firsthand experience? Given that Freemasonry is a male-only fraternity and does not allow women to join (in the case of lodges and grand lodges viewed as legitimate in mainstream Freemasonry), Brodie would not have had any firsthand experience as a Mason. Sure, there are "exposés" on Masonry by former Masons. However, these are written by men who have broken their Masonic obligations for financial profit; such do not sound like credible sources to me.

Further, the reference of Church members calling the temple endowment ceremony “celestial Masonry” is nothing more than opinion; it is not and has never been a doctrine of the Church. It was a popular hypothesis among Masons in the 19^th century that Masonry was as old as King Solomon’s Temple; it should come as no surprise, therefore, that this opinion evolved among members of the Church to hypothesize that Masonry was an apostate endowment and that the Church’s endowment ceremony was its original, divine form. I challenge anyone to show me where in the Church’s doctrinal canon such a teaching can be found.

Jessie then provides the following quote from Heber C Kimball (via Buerger):

We have the true Masonry. The Masonry of today is received from the apostasy which took place in the days of Solomon, and David. They have now and then a thing that is correct, but we have the real thing.

This is yet another example of opinion being presented incorrectly as authoritative. Jessie then quotes David Buerger again:

The clearest evidence of Masonic influence on the Nauvoo temple ceremony is a comparison of texts. Three elements of the Nauvoo endowment and its contemporary Masonic ritual resemble each other so closely that they are sometimes identical. These are the tokens, signs, and penalties.

I do not disagree that Masonry influenced the Church; influence, however, does not equate to plagiarism. The concepts of tokens, signs and penalties were adopted and adapted to the already-existing doctrine of the Church.

Jessie then goes on to list symbols which the Church has in common with Masonry; there is also one that is not an emblem or symbol of Masonry, but which Jessie still includes in her list:

• Compass
• Square
• Level
• Pentagram
• All-Seeing Eye
• Sun
• Moon
• Stars

These have all been explained here with the exception of the level, which is not specified as a symbol in any of the Church's buildings, rituals, or culture so far as I am aware.

Jessie then states that early temple ceremonies were performed in the local Masonic Halls. If support could be provided for this claim, it would not be a surprise given that many Masonic lodges will rent out their spaces to other entities, including non-Masonic ones; some will also allow other groups to use their lodge buildings for various services, charities, etc. Given that the Nauvoo Temple had not yet been completed and given that Joseph could not use his office above his Red Brick Store for everyone’s temple endowment ceremony, it makes sense that Nauvoo Lodge, U.D., would have extended a charitable hand by giving the Church a temporary place where they could receive their endowments. A lodge allowing the Church to use their building on a temporary basis doesn’t make the Church a Masonic organization any more than a lodge allowing the American Red Cross to use their lodge for a blood drive makes the American Red Cross a Masonic organization.

Jessie then deviates to the topic of glass-looking and money digging, which I opine has fully been addressed here and here.

She then references Michael Quinn’s list of similarities between occult practices and the Church’s temple endowment ceremony:

1. They are revealed by God from the beginning, but distorted through apostasy.
2. They place an emphasis on the worthiness of the initiates.
3. They include washings and anointings, a new name, and garments.
4. They emphasize vows of non-disclosure.
5. There are lesser and greater rituals.
6. They feature a presentation of the ritual through drama.
7. They contain an oath of chastity, requiring strict purity and virtue of the participants.
8. They feature prominent use of the sun, moon, and stars as key symbols.
9. The purpose of the ritual is to assist mortals to attain godhood.
10. They employ titles and offices of prophets, priests, and kings to those in leadership.

Occult literally only means “hidden.” The following therefore qualify as occult practices:

• Keeping and maintaining a private bank account.
• Guarding your social security number.
• Keeping your social media and email passwords secret.
• Having exclusive access to a personal safe.
• Secretly attending AA or NA meetings.
• Private meetings of any kind.

That stated, let’s go through the list.

1. Christ Himself had to correct the Pharisees on their own apostate interpretations of OT sources.
2. No unclean thing can enter the presence of God; for that reason, we must strive to be worthy of Him by obeying His commandments. After all, Christ commands us to obey His commandments if we love Him; if you believe that anybody can enter God’s presence without loving Him, then that is your prerogative.
3. Washings and anointings were OT and NT practices. A new name is referenced in the Bible. Various religions (including some Christian denominations) have sacred clothing which they wear. We temple-endowed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wear a sacred garment underneath our regular clothing as a daily reminder of the covenants which we have made with God; this reminder, it is hoped, will help the Latter-day Saint to be ever mindful of and strong against the temptations of the world.*
4. Terms of non-disclosure are commonplace in the world. They are also common in various cultures to protect what is sacred. Even Christ used parables to keep His teachings from those who were not yet ready to receive them; He also performed miracles and then told witnesses not to tell anyone what He did.†
5. Greater and lesser appears in most aspects of life. The fact that it should be found in ritual of any kind (be it secular or religious) is not indicative of anything evil or disreputable.
6. Presentation through drama was originally adopted as a way to teach the illiterate. Today, presentation through drama is used in various situations as a teaching device (even though most audiences today are literate).
7. An oath of chastity finds its roots in the Bible, where God Himself commanded His people not to commit adultery and where His people covenant to obey Him.
8. The sun, moon, and stars are used as symbols in various places‡ throughout the Bible.
9. There is nothing in the Church’s temple endowment ceremony that states that we will be gods or goddesses; this is therefore a straw man logical fallacy on the part of anyone who uses this as an argument against the Church's temple endowment ceremony.
10. There have been prophets, priests, and kings under God’s direction as recorded in the Bible.

It seems that many of these points indicate that Biblical Christianity and Judaism themselves are “occult” organizations if Quinn’s list is anything to go off of.

Jessie then brings up the Enochian myth from Royal Arch Masonry and tries to tie it to Joseph Smith, Jr’s claims of the discovery of the gold plates. For context, the following comes from the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A. M.'s online library:

The masonic concordant body, the Royal Arch does allude to the pillars of Enoch as containing writings on the seven liberal arts.

It should be noted first and foremost that Joseph first saw the plates about 15 years before he became a Mason. It should further be noted that no record exists (to my knowledge) indicating that Joseph had joined the Royal Arch after becoming a Mason. She does note that Joseph Smith, Sr, Hyrum Smith, and Oliver Cowdery were Royal Arch Masons, but does not cite any sources to support this claim. This stated, even if Joseph, Sr, Hyrum, and Oliver had been Royal Arch Masons, they would have been under obligation not to reveal the secrets of Masonry to non-Masons; they also would have been under obligation not to reveal Royal Arch secrets to those who had not yet gone through the Royal Arch degrees. Given all of this and until it can be unequivocally proven that a Royal Arch Mason revealed the secrets of the Royal Arch degrees to Joseph Smith, Jr (in part or in whole), any reference to the Royal Arch degree is therefore wholly irrelevant to the Church’s temple endowment ceremony and to the general history of the Church.

Jessie then goes on to reference other people’s statements regarding the gold plates as having similarities to the Enochian myth. I’d like to point out here two things.

• Correlation does not equate to causation.
• There were quite a few people involved who had seen and/or handled the gold plates; yet none (including those who later left the Church) ever recanted their testimonies of the gold plates.

Jessie then goes on to talk about how the Relief Society in the Church was influenced by Masonry, which is no secret and is common knowledge to anybody who wishes to research the matter. It was not formed as an affiliate or an appendant body to Masonry, but rather as an auxiliary group within the Church for its female members. Given that the male members of the Church were becoming joining a male-only philanthropic and educational fraternity, it logically follows that the female members of the Church had also been able to join a philanthropic and educational group of their own. The Relief Society does not confer Masonic degrees or any degree of any kind; it continues today as the oldest and largest women’s organization in the world.

Jessie then lists “identical features” between the degree ceremonies of Freemasonry and the Church’s temple endowment ceremony, all of which have already been addressed above (some things were adopted and then adapted for wholly different purposes and in wholly different contexts; her list here falls under that category). Jessie makes a claim that all the signs, grips/tokens, etc were all the same at one point but have gradually changed. She does not offer any evidence for this.

Jessie then goes on to imply that the Church’s discontinuance of penalties occurring near the same time as the UGLE’s discontinuance of Masonic penalties is more than coincidence, even though the UGLE is only one grand lodge jurisdiction that has no bearing over how other grand lodge jurisdictions operate. The UGLE is a minority in mainstream Freemasonry concerning the discontinuance of this practice. So, yes, this is entirely coincidence. Also, given that Joseph and company were made Masons under entirely separate grand lodge jurisdictions (American grand lodges such as the Grand Lodge of New York, the Grand Lodge of Illinois, etc), I fail to see how anyone making this connection between the Church and the UGLE can do so logically.

Jessie then goes on to focus on the symbols used in common between the two groups, starting with the inverted 5-point star (pentagram). She tries to emphasize this as a wholly Satanic symbol, ignoring the fact that it has been used in Christianity as a symbol for Christ for much longer than it has been perverted by Satanism. Again, no one symbol is limited to one sole group or interpretation. Jessie’s attempt to limit this symbol’s meaning as Satanic only is a huge indication of ignorance and/or disingenuity on her part. In making this claim, she throws context out of the window, using a half-truth to support her bias.

In all of the points which I have addressed, Jessie seems to have relied wholly on secondary and tertiary opinions, gossip, and rumor and she has definitely taken some subject matter out-of-context in her crusade against the Church. I invite her and everyone else to study all topics (including but not limited to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Freemasonry, and so on) by giving priority to primary, authoritative sources in-context.

Works Cited

“Anti-Masonry Frequently Asked Questions.” Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon A.F. & A. M., 19 Oct. 2006, freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry08.html. Accessed 14 Jun. 2020.

“Blood Oath.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blood%20oath. Accessed 14 Jun. 2020.

Bueger, David John. “Chapter 3: Joseph Smith's Ritual.” The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, Smith Research Associates, 1994.

Buerger, David John. The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, Smith Research Associates, 1994, p. 56.

“Cult.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult. Accessed 14 Jun. 2020.

No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, by Fawn McKay Brodie, Alfred A. Knopf, 1945, pp. 279–283.

O., Jessie. LDS Secrets: Freemasonry, the Occult and Satanist Symbols. YouTube, YouTube, 21 Mar. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=usJw0-rOqzY&feature=youtu.be. Accessed 14 Jun. 2020.

Quinn, D. Michael. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. Signature Books, 1987, p. 190.
US Legal, Inc. “Blood Oath Law and Legal Definition.” USLegal, Inc., AirSlate Legal Forms, Inc., definitions.uslegal.com/b/blood-oath/. Accessed 14 Jun. 2020.

                                                                                    

[*] Jessie then adds that our garments have Masonic symbols on them. However, symbols are both finite and ambiguous; there is not a single symbol that is limited to one sole group or interpretation. True, these symbols may have been adopted by the Church from Masonry, but (as indicated above) they were adapted to the purposes and context of the doctrine of the Church; they are not used in any Masonic context nor for Masonic purposes in the Church.

[†] See also here and here.

[‡] See also here.