Behind the Lodge Door: Church, State and Freemasonry In America (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Although Freemasonry operates secretly, there is a surprising amount of information available about its influence on society..." (more)
Key Phrases: behind the lodge door, grand philosopher, masonic influence, United States, New York, Supreme Court (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A brilliant expose of the hidden power that Freemasonry has in the past and still is exerting so successfully to de-Christianize America. This is must reading." -- Father Vincent Miceli, former professor at the Gregorian and Angelicum Universities, Rome, Italy, October, 1989

"Fisher knows how to do research and how to weigh facts. Those skills give his work a sense of balance and sobriety that make it as persuasive as it is alarming." -- Michael Schwartz, The Wanderer, America's oldest national Catholic weekly, April 12, 1990

"I recently obtained a copy of Behind The Lodge Door through my library book-loan program, and needless to say, I could not put the book down. It is very enlightening. I would like to pass some of the knowledge in the book on to my four grown children, and hence, my grandchildren." -- A reader, Center Line, MI, March, 1998

"One of the most important books I have ever read." -- Stan Monti, Radio Liberty, May 20, 1998

"This study is particularly valuable, not only for its thoroughness, but also for the sources on which it rests. -- Peter D. Felner, OFM, Miles Immaculata, Rome, Italy, December, 1989

Product Description

This book traces the machinations of the world's best known secret fraternity as it has operated historically in the United States, particularly with regard to its unrelenting warfare against Christianity, especially the Catholic Church.

Perhaps most stunning of all is the book's revelation regarding the fraternity's successful efforts, beginning in 1940 and continuing through 1971, to shape U.S. Supreme Court' First Amendment religious clauses decisions and, thus change America's previous Christian orientation to an ambience that is almost totally secular and, more or less, hostile to Christian values.

Also the long history of Justice Hugo L. Black's religious prejudices are carefully examined, including his lifetime membership in the Ku Klux Klan, and his Constitutional ineligibility to serve on the high bench. Moreover, the work documents that for the first time in its history the Supreme Court was dominated by Freemasons in ratios of 5-4 to 8-1 during the period 1940- 1971.

Behind The Lodge Door is based primarily on an examination of Scottish Rite Freemasonry's flagship monthly publication, The New Age magazine, for each of the 12-month periods 1921- 1981, augmented by documents (several formerly classified "SECRET") in the National Archives, various major newspapers, Congressional debates, House and Senate hearings, selected Congressional acts, Presidential Inaugural Addresses, Internal Revenue documents,and many Supreme Court decisions bearing on the religion clauses.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 361 pages
• Publisher: Tan Books & Publishers (October 17, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895554550
• ISBN-13: 978-0895554550
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #326,858 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review from the Publisher, March 6, 2001

By A Customer

BEHIND THE LODGE DOOR. Paul A. Fisher. A probing analysis of Freemasonry in the U.S. in general, but especially relative to religious education, opposition to the Catholic Church, directing national social policy and how Masons attract members. Thoroughly documented. Immensly revealing. Covers the birth and rise of Freemasonry, the Catholic Church's early and traditional condemnation of it, its scope and influence, how in a real sense it is a religion of its own, etc. Essential to understanding the forces behind the scenes.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite Good, September 3, 2005

By	Michael Tozer (Bloomingdale, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Paul Fisher's important book is thoroughly researched, meticulously documented, and well written. Certainly, it is the clarion call of a Catholic against the dangers of freemasonry in American society. But that is no reason to condemn the book. Rather, understanding the perspective of the author helps us to appreciate more fully what is reflected in the corpus of the work.

And there much in the body of this work that is extremely important and revelatory. For instance, Mr. Fisher shares startling, sensational, and well founded examples of many of America's leaders who were both freemasons and prominent members of the insidious Ku Klux Klan. When the author delves into the influence of secret societies on American history, the work is absolutely great and powerfully important. A small criticism is that, in this reviewer's opinion, too much space is devoted to the supreme court and its penetration by the aforementioned freemasons and Klansmen. This notwithstanding, the book is, in the whole, important and well recommended. May the Lord richly bless the author, his publisher, and any future readers.

47 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book's Background, May 17, 2001

By	Paul A. Fisher (Clermont,, FL United States) - See all my reviews

I am the author of Behind The Lodge Door, and believe it may be helpful if potential readers knew the type of research and findings which the book brings out.

First, of all, before writing the book, I was generally favorably disposed to the Masonic Fraternity after viewing a Shriner's Parade. Accordingly, to find out more about the "Craft," as initiates call Freemasonry, I read each monthly issue of its flagship monthly magazine, "The New Age," for each of the 10 annual issues for each year from 1921 through 1984. The majority of those issues ran about 110 pages per month, with very little advertising. The magazine's length shortened considerably about 10 years prior to its name change in less than a year after my book was published.

From that research, augmented by Inernal Revenue Records, personal papers of five Supreme Court Justices, Civil War Records, Presidential papers, etc., I learned that Masonry was a militant opponent of the Catholic Church. The fact is that Church issued more than 50 major documents condemning Masonry for its Naturalism, and its unceasing efforts to overthrow Church and State.

A crucial part of the book discusses how America was changed from basically a Christian nation to an agnostic country. That was accomplished through the Supreme Court of the United States when that body was dominated by Freemasons in ratios of 5-4 and 8-1 during the period 1941-1971 when it completely reversed 162 years of prior Court decisions regarding the religion clauses of the Constitution, as well as Congessional and Presidential actions.

One of those Justices, Hugo Black, an ardent Mason, was found to be 1. A lifetime Member of the Ku Klux Klan, and was Constitutionally disqualified to sit on the Court. The latter reason is that when he was a U.S. Senator, he voted to increase the salaries of Justices from $10,000 to $20,000 per year, which is in violation of Article 1 of the Constitution.

An interesting aspect of the Court's religion clauses decisions is that the arguments set forth in the Court's negative opinion on Christianity in America were predicated on arguments previously set forth in "The New Age." Moreover, they were brought before the high bench almost in the identical sequence in which they were complained about in the "New Age."

That is the general thrust of the book. But interestingly enough, shortly after my book was published, Scottish Rite Masonry changed the title of its flagship magazine.

Read the book. There is none other with such devastating documentation.