Introduction to the Masonic Digest. Thank you for expressing an interest in the Masonic Di

                  Introduction to the Masonic Digest.

     Thank you for expressing an interest in the Masonic Digest. You
should each be receiving a copy of the latest issue soon after this
message.

     To those who included queries with their letters: I'll try to
respond to each of you individually. You may want to request and read
the back issues, as well as the pamphlets I have online.

     Masonic Digest is a mailing list for people interested in
Freemasonry, its affiliated bodies, and other fraternal and sororal
organizations.

     It is distributed periodically in digest format. At the moment,
I'm getting out about one issue every 3 weeks. This frequency is
driven mainly by the number of submissions I get. Each issue is about
300-500 lines of text (10-22 kbytes). The list up until now had a
little over 80 recipients. With the new influx, it's over 200.

     In this digest we are concerned with the actual, real-life
Freemasons (many of the people on the list are members, including
myself). Judging by some of the queries I've received, it's clear that
many people have formed inaccurate opinions of Freemasonry based on
sensationalist conspiracy literature. While I am always happy to
include well thought out criticism in the digest (as a perusal of back
issues will show), I have promised to maintain a fairly high standard
in the postings, and to terminate debate after a reasonable period.

     This digest is moderated. I, and all other Masons, are obligated
not to discuss certain matters with non-Masons. There is no way I can
restrict distribution to Masons only, and every message potentially
passes (unencrypted) through every machine on the world-wide internet.
Masonic Digest will not include messages which contain, or purport to
	contain, matters which I am obliged not to reveal, or which I believe
members of other groups are obliged not to reveal. This restriction is
pretty light - in the time I've been running this list, I've had to
turn down one message, and request that another be rewritten.

     Since Masonry is frowned upon in some places I allow anonymous
posts. To do this, you must say in the top of the post that you desire
anonymity, and give a preferred pseudonym.

     Each issue is sent out as a private mailing to each recipient.
Your name will never appear in another persons' copy unless you submit
an article and do not request anonymity.

Administrivia:

     All correspondence should be addressed to .

     In postings, please keep to one topic per message, with a
relevent subject line (I'd much rather get 5 messages, each with a
different topic, than one omnibus covering 5 topics)

     Do not quote articles extensively - just enough to establish
context.  Remember that the list is fairly stable, and most people
have seen the previous issues.

     Don't republish digests or articles without first getting
permission from the author(s) involved.

     I tend to reformat messages for a consistant appearance, and do
very light copy editing of obvious errors.

     While there is no real FAQ file as of yet, I do have the text
online of a few standard introductory pamphlets, which I'm happy to
send to anyone who asks. The same goes for back-issues (up to 280k
now).

About the moderator:

     I'm 34, married with a baby daughter. I've been a Mason since
1988, when I was raised in Courland-Centennial Lodge #763 in New York
City. I am also currently Senior Warden of Wilder Lodge, in
Leominster, Massachusetts, USA. I am also a Companion in the
Leominster Royal Arch Chapter.

						yours fraternally,
							Peter Trei

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    ³ Peter Trei, a travelling man.  PTrei@mitre.org !linus!mbunix!ptrei ³
    ³ Disclaimer: My employer pays me for my skills, not my opinions.    ³
    ³ Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth...               ³
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