John Ratcliff's Weblog

I just received the question "So which religions do openly accept Free Masons in their church as members? " in a comment to one of my previous blog posts. This is certainly an interesting question, though I think it would be easier to list the ones that openly *reject* Freemasonry, as they are easier to identify. The single religion at the top of the list which is opposed to Freemasonry is Catholicism. This has a lot to do with history and the fact that the Enlightenment ideas in Freemasonry largely came about in response to the ideological oppression of the Roman Catholic Church in past centuries. Freemasonry and the rise of protestantism also have a lot in common. Today the Catholic Church is still 'officially' against Freemasonry and has reaffirmed that position fairly recently. That said, few Catholics actually abide by every rule and regulation set forth by the Roman Catholic Church. For example, the RC still says you shouldn't use condoms but I'm

My daughter got her senior pictures taken recently. I think they turned out great!

It seems as though I have pretty much stopped blogging on any issue of significance for the past few months. I suppose that must mean there is nothing much going on in my life to talk about; right? Actually, it is almost always just the opposite. There is a lot going on in my life, just nothing that is appropriate to air in a public forum such as this weblog. It is deeply personal family stuff that, even though it is affecting my life, would be horribly inappropriate to air in public. I even created a blog at one point just so I could write about it. I flagged it as 'hidden from public view'. I only updated it for a few days and then I decided I was obsessing about the problem enough without taking it any further. Speaking of obsession, I actually suffer from OCD. I suppose I can talk about personal issues, so long as they are just about me and not anyone else. I take medication for my OCD problem and it seems to work exceptionally well except under times of extreme st

This evening I decided to delete all of the posts, and comments they have received, for the past week. Of course I can't really make the words I wrote go away. They still sit in newsreader feeds and those who were hurt by them are still impacted. However, by removing the posts I can stop things from getting any worse and I can remove them from future search results on the web. Not a single opinion I hold or expressed in those posts has changed. I still feel strongly about all of the points I raised and stand by everything I said. However, it has been brought to my attention that my strong expression of disbelief in certain religious views can be hurtful to those who embrace them. I did take an oath to be tolerant of the religious views of others and there was not a great deal of tolerance showing through in my recent posts and comments. What gets me in trouble is a combination of things. First, writing a rant late at night after I have had a few beers tends to loosen my fing

On Friday, January 11, 2008 a unique musical performance will be held in Wentzville. This event is sponsored by ‘Appetizers for the Soul’, a Lake Saint Louis social group that promotes fellowship with food on the second Friday of each month. This will be a free concert and is open to people of all spiritual beliefs. Musicians Bradford Smith and Mike Web, of Kirtan St. Louis, will perform in an ideal setting at the Wentzville Masonic Lodge (602 Meyer Road). Kirtan is singing or chanting to create a spiritual connection. Kirtan comes from the Bhakti yoga movement of 15th century India where they used singing as one of many ways to experience and enhance their connection to God. The song structure evolves from a call and response format. This allows for the group to be guided on an emotional journey, starting slow and relaxed, then picking up the tempo to create tension, followed by relaxing again and finally settling into a silence that creates a space for meditation. Many of the Chan

I know my son would love to be able to see a video of his new puppy. This morning General got a chance to play with a Mastiff puppy nearly his same age. I'm sure this video is probably too long, but it was surely a delight to watch these two guys play fight for a while.

I was fortunate enough to have a very nice weekend. In fact, technically, it is not quite over. In a little while I am going to sit down and watch the colts/patriots game and have a few beers. On Friday evening my son called to tell us he had bought a puppy. Of course, his buying a puppy pretty much meant that we were getting a puppy as well. He bought a 4 month old Sheltie from a pet store. The dog was originally $1,200 but had been marked down on clearance to a little under $400 because it was getting so old. The puppy is very nice but acts a little bit skittish and afraid. I think it has been somewhat traumatized by spending the first four months of its life living in a cage. Hopefully he will adjust soon and start coming out of his shell. From what I have read about Sheltie's they are excellent dogs; very intelligent, loyal, and full of energy. On Friday evening I took my son out to the Comedy Forum to see an act. Unfortunately they didn't actually have a comedian,

Ever since the 'metaphysical' discussion group I was in dissolved I have really been missing it. It was such a great group of people and everyone provided so much support. I have theories as to why the group dissolved, and mostly I believe it is because we didn't have a fixed date for a meeting each month nor did we have a specific social agenda. I also feel like the label 'metaphysical' made it seem a bit to restrictive and we quickly found that even those who share metaphysical beliefs vary quite widely in their personal expression of them. This time I am focusing exclusively on the social aspect of the evening, sharing food and drink in a safe and relaxing setting. I have already heard from a few of the old members that they are anxious to get a new group started again. I will have to report how things go after the first meeting.

(My daughter Lauren and the sign I make her stand next to whenever boys are around.) Last Saturday evening my daughter Lauren and her friends threw a huge Halloween party. It was hosted by her friends Eric and Kelly. An enormous amount of work went into the decorations. The theme of the party was some sort of mix of techno-hippie-dance. The evening was chaperoned by a number of parents and proved, yet once again, that young people can still have a lot of fun, even when supervised and without alcohol present. My wife took all of the pictures and, unfortunately, forgot to check her lens. There was a large smear right in the middle of the lens and pretty much messed up almost all of the photographs. Many of the ones I have posted here were actually cropped from the edges of a group of people to avoid the big smear in the middle. This evening I will probably be attending the Lake Saint Louis community association Halloween party with entertainment by the band Max Thrust. Last year