Theos-Talk Archives (June 1997 Message tl00616)

Dr. A.M.Bain wrote:
>
> In message <33B082D8.639B@sprynet.com>, Bart Lidofsky
> <bartl@sprynet.com> writes
> >> thanks for the info. Do DeMolay admit girls (women)?
> >
> >       No; for girls (not women) there is the "Rainbow Girls". There is a
> >G.L.E. Masonic organization for women, but only women who are the
> >property of male G.L.E. Masons.
> >
> >       Bart Lidofsky
>
> PROPERTY ?????????????????????
>
> Good grief.

	I stand by my statement. Note that, although there is ample evidence
that women were once allowed to be G.L.E. Masons, at the time that
G.L.E. rules were oficially structured was a time when women were not
considered to be full-fledged human beings in England, but rather as
extensions of their fathers or husbands (a situation that continued into
the late 19th century; note, for example, the case of Anna Kingsford,
whose husband married her for the sole purpose of allowing her to
perform actions which she could only legally perform with the permission
of her husband.

	The groups excluded from Masonry (senile people, young children, insane
people, atheists, etc.) all have one thing in common: They cannot be
expected to be able to take a valid oath to the Grand Architect of the
Universe, because of a lack of ability to understand. Women were
included in that group, because they were not considered capable of even
handling their own lives; they needed a man to control/look out for
them.

	While any young woman may join the Rainbow Girls, once they are adults,
the only female Masonic organization they may join is the Order of the
Eastern Star (I THINK that's the name), which is limited to women who
are daughters, sisters, or wives of Masons; in other words, women who by
the standards of the founding of the G.L.E., are the property of Masons.

	Bart Lidofsky