Can Freemasonry be secular?

Get out your passport, call the airlines, and meet me at Conway Hall on Red Lion Square in London this Saturday. The Grand Orient of France ...

Black man installed as Master of traditionally white N.C. lodge

I join Bro. Hodapp (who scooped me on this story ) in congratulating W. Bro. Joseph Adegboyega on his installation on January 5 as Worshipf...

Ron Paul, Barack Obama lead by wide margins in our presidential primary polls

I'm moving our ongoing Burning Taper presidential primary back to the top of the page, in case there are new readers who may be missing...

Masonic blog roundup

Work, family, new friends, and a laid-back and lethargic laziness have kept me from posting on The Taper lately. I must admit... last month...

In memory of Chuckles the Clown

A little song A little dance A little seltzer Down your pants. — Chuckles the Clown (1970-1975) Chuckles the Clown was crushed by an elephan...

The devil is in the details

[For your listening pleasure, you can click here to open a new window and listen to a demon-possessed MIDI file of "Tubular Bells,...

Pimping the red, white and blue?

This article is not meant to be disrespectful to patriots, veterans, law enforcement officers, politicians, American flags, Freemasons, fift...

In memory of Eli Stafford, immediate Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia

The following is reprinted from the Grand Lodge of Georgia's newly designed website . This is the first I've heard that the most rec...

In memory of Elizabeth Reed

A few weeks ago I wrote about and posted a few photos from Rose Hill Cemetery, located on the banks of the Ocmulgee River in Macon, Georgia...

Sex and violence beneath the Planet of the Apes

As you've probably noticed, monkey business is our business. I've written before that the Taper 's masthead should probably be...

An irregular Masonic meeting

Bro. Tom Coste, of Halcyon Lodge No. 2 in Cleveland, Ohio, wrote in to tell us about an "irregular Masonic meeting" he attended ea...

You must conform!

The Prisoner. Chances are, either you're already a big fan, or you've never heard of it. The Prisoner was a British television show...

The Working Tools: New social networking site for Freemasons

Bro. Cory Sigler is the publisher of the impressive online magazine The Working Tools . In the October issue , he said of this blog: " ...

Ron Paul on Jay Leno

As I'm sure you know, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the Republican presidential candidate, was excluded from Fox News' "Fair and Balanced...

Camera-toting flying monkeys annoy Canadian Freemasons

A group of flying monkeys, led by a paranoid videographer who calls himself "Weaving Spider," descended on a Masonic meeting in T...

We all shine on: D.W. Brown

Bro. D.W. Brown, who runs the "The Blue Lodge" online forum, tells us about himself in this our 14th glimpse into the lives of our...

Are you smarter than a pollster?

Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? might be stumping us, but playing along at home during the debates and the upcoming primaries has neve...

We all shine on: Tom Coste

W. Bro. Tom Coste, of Cleveland's Halcyon Lodge , writes in to tell us "This is Who I Am." Thanks, Bro. Tom! Greetings, Brethr...

Grand Lodge of New York hires soapbox specialist

According to New York magazine, the Grand Lodge of New York has hired a publicist. The magazine reported that the New York Times and othe...

Hidden agenda: Mainstream media's political coverage

The publisher of this blog has an agenda. The publisher of every blog has an agenda. The producer of every avenue of expression has an agend...