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Historical Hoax
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Posted By:
Winona
in USA
Apr 18, 2005
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From ScienceDaily: <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/taxil_hoax" title="Taxil Hoax">Taxil Hoax</a>
In 1894, Léo Taxil published a fraudulent quote, supposedly found in a letter from the leader of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Masonry, Albert Pike, implying that Freemasons of the 30th Degree of the Scottish rite or higher worshipped "Lucifer."
Taxil was an atheist who had been accused earlier of libel on account of a book he had written called The Secret Loves of Pius IX. On April 20, 1884, Pope Leo XIII published an encyclical that divided the human race into "two diverse and adverse classes, the kingdom of God on earth --- namely, the true church of Jesus Christ --- and the realm of Satan," whose headquarters were said to be in the Freemason's lodges. After this encyclical, Taxil underwent a public, feigned conversion to Roman Catholicism, and announced his intention of repairing the damage he had done to the true faith.
The first book produced by Taxil after his conversion was a four-volume history of Freemasonry, which contained fictitious eyewitness verifications of their participation in Satanism. With a collaborator who published as "Dr. Karl Hacks," Taxil wrote another book called the Devil in the Nineteenth Century, which introduced a new character "Diana Vaughan," a supposed descendant of the Rosicrucian alchemist Thomas Vaughan. The book contained many implausible tales about her encounters with incarnate demons, one of whom was supposed to have written prophecies on her back with its tail, and another played the piano in the shape of a crocodile.
She was involved in Satanic freemasonry, but was redeemed when one day she professed admiration for Joan of Arc, at whose name the demons were put to flight. As Diana Vaughan, Taxil published a book called Eucharistic Novena, a collection of prayers which were praised by the Pope.
On April 19, 1897, Taxil called a press conference at which he announced he would introduce Diana Vaughan to the press. He announced that he had forged the letter, and that all of his other revelations about the Freemasons were fictitious. He thanked the clergy for their assistance in giving publicity to his wild claims. The hoax material is still used to slander Freemasons to this day. Chick Publications publishes such a tract called The Curse of Baphomet.
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Comments
Citizen Premier
in spite of public outcry
Member
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 05:26 PM
Hee hee, I love <a href="http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0055/0055_01.asp">Chick Publications</a> |
Nettie
in Perth, Western Australia
Member
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 05:54 PM
Love the new avatar Winona! Cheeky! |
Hairy Houdini
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 06:39 PM
I have several Jack T. Chick Publications "Crusaders" comic books from the late 60's to mid 70's. They are really scary stuff- religious extremism at it's worst. The art was interesting, as they used a shaded coloring process, which the mainstream comics companies did not did do at the time. That did not, however, make up for the propaganda and prostheletization. Freaky stuff |
Winona
in USA
Member
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 06:40 PM
nettie, thanks! 😊 |
Citizen Premier
in spite of public outcry
Member
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 07:12 PM
Here's <a href="http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0093/0093_01.asp">The Curse of Baphomet</a> |
Winona
in USA
Member
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 08:45 PM
CP: thanks for posting that, I had a great laugh!
Hubby's been invited to be a Mason & we go to a unitarian church...I guess we're *really* screwed. |
Charybdis
in Hell
Member
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 08:59 PM
I find that it's much less scary being an atheist. That way I can just ignore everybody. |
Winona
in USA
Member
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 09:08 PM
We go there because I want the kiddo to have exposure to different faiths, so he can choose whatever he wants to be, if anything. Plus, it is an easy place to help supplement our attempt at teaching him humanism & morality.
I was brought up with a lot of the Native American way, though I'm still not sure what I believe. I want to help him learn to figure things out himself, and trust in his own instincts/beliefs but with a good moral standing. |
NDTgirl
in Memphis, TN
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 | 10:04 AM
Oh, Unitarian, that's where we go. I figured it was the only place where no one would scoff at us for our "love child" in the oven! Those were funny cartoons by the way. |
Winona
in USA
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 | 10:22 AM
Which ones? I'm pretty manic when it comes to the av's. Hope it's not driving everyone too nutty. :ohh: |
Bob
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 | 11:28 PM
The "Great Taxil Hoax" *should* have been in the original "Museum of Hoaxes" book (surprised that it wasn't), since it really is one of the top hoaxes of all time (or at least since the mid-19th century). For really solid information about the Great Taxil Hoax (and all other such anti-Freemason nonsense), plus a lot of good enlightening stuff about Freemasonry in general, I highly recommend:
http://www.masonicinfo.com .
As a shortcut to the pertinent Taxil information, check out:
http://www.masonicinfo.com/taxil.htm .
The whole upshot? Freemasonry is simply the world's oldest non-Catholic Fraternity, wholesome and enjoyable, and *not* incompatible with Judeo-Christian beliefs. It is highly unfortunate that Taxil's work has taken on a life of its own after more than a century of its big lie. |
Bob
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 | 12:01 AM
By the way Winona, you say your husband was "invited"? Most Masonic lodges (at least in the USA) don't do any sort of "recruiting" or "inviting to join". The norm is that a man (viewing Freemasonry favorably and meeting certain qualifications) seeking to join must ask a Mason (often by just stopping by a lodge), not the other way around. This may change, however, for Freemasonry to thrive in the 21st century.
2B1ASK1 |
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Note: This thread is located in the Old Forum of the Museum of Hoaxes.
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