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Sunday, December 23, 2012

The Ku Klux Klan – Pieper (and PBS) Part 2 - Secret Societies

This continues from Part 1 regarding Prof. Franz Pieper's comments concerning the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in 1922.  In that article, Pieper covered an assembly in Milwaukee where Charles Lewis Fowler, a Baptist minister, extolled the ideals of this secret society.

In this Part 2, I am presenting another brief article from the same year 1922 – in the June issue of Lehre und Wehre, pages 187 - 188.  This article starts out on a different element of secret societies – student societies (or so-called "Greek societies"), a topic covered in a previous blog post.  But Pieper ended this article by covering also the Ku Klux Klan:

The ban on student societies in universities.  From Springfield, Ill. it is reported:
"District judge Frank W. Burton in Springfield, Ill., on Friday, upheld the constitutionality of the State law against student societies and decided that students in Springfield must resign from such societies.  Lawyers for these societies announced an appeal to the State Court, however they must wait until the June deadline."
As we know, the lower court in the State of Missouri had decided against student societies.  But the State Supreme Court recently annulled this decision. The same can be expected in the State of Illinois.  We can understand the decisions of the higher court.  As surely it is that the student societies in universities mean a parallel government in schools and are dangerous for discipline in these institutions, so surely it is that these student societies are on the same line with lodges and other secret societies.  These actually also engage in a parallel government in the State. This was strikingly proven again by the World War [I] which the lodges orchestrated according to their own teachings, and indeed also therefore because the German emporer [Kaiser Wilhelm] refused to be a lodge member on grounds of conscience.  The defenders of student societies in universities [page 188] are in the same fortunate position as W.J. Simmons, the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, who so successfully defended his Klan on the illustration of the Order of Freemasonry, that the Congress of the United States ceased further investigation against the Ku Klux Klan.             F.P.
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Note well – Pieper is crying out against student societies in public universities.  What would Pieper say about Greek societies in a "Lutheran" university? Or are you "Lutheran", Valparaiso University?

The Wikipedia article on Imperial Wizard Simmons also tells of the investigation by Congress.  They hint the reason that the investigation was called off saying that Simmons "stressed the Klan's fraternal nature".  Hmmm, why didn't they say that Simmons compared the Klan with Freemasonry, like Franz Pieper did?

There is a humorous statement (among many) in the Wikipedia article on Freemasonry that says "No one voice has ever spoken for the whole of Freemasonry."  Actually Franz Pieper did speak for all of Freemasonry by identifying its true anti-Christian nature with the use of "The Proper Distinction of Law and Gospel", something only true Lutherans can do... by faith.  This is something that Roman Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, any of the other "Protestant" sects, "Church of England", or Greek Orthodox cannot fully extricate themselves from, because a true defense springs from the Lutheran Doctrine of Justification.

Many today would not link the Greek societies with Freemasonry.  Almost no one would link them with the Ku Klux Klan.  Why?  Because they do not understand that the world constantly hates and strives against Christianity. John 7:7, 12:25, 15:18-19, 17:14, 1 John 3:13

Both Charles Lewis Fowler and W.J. Simmons of the KKK claimed Christianity, albeit from the sects of Baptists and Methodists – the very same "Protestant" sects that Walther and Pieper battled against in America.

It is Franz Pieper who identifies the real enemies of America – not only the Ku Klux Klan, but also the Freemasons and all secret societies.  Did your history teacher explain that one of the prime reasons for the beginning of World War I was due to the "orchestration of the lodges according to their own teachings"... and that the German Kaiser Wilhelm refused to be a lodge member? No? Could it be that your modern history lesson has been tainted by the influence of those very same secret societies?  Could it be that Kaiser Wilhelm could teach "modern history" something about this?

Actually there is an article in Wikipedia that begins to tell this story that most history books don't include – it is the tale of the Black Hand.  And there actually was a British (BBC) produced film named "Fall of Eagles" that provided a somewhat different portrayal of the monarchies of Europe before World War I than most portrayals.  The portrayal of Kaiser Wilhelm was surprisingly sympathetic, and towards the end of the film, it depicted Wilhelm's aversion to the Freemasons.  We see by Pieper's report that the British historical accounts aren't all tainted...  maybe there is some good to the BBC after all?

Can we blame all secret societies in all of their manifestations for much of the troubles of our modern world today?  ... not just the secret society Ku Klux Klan?  It is true, and we see it reported by the Twentieth Century Luther... Prof. Franz Pieper.  Modern history barely sees a glimpse of it.  If you want to know about "world history", real modern history, "Christianity Today" ... then read Pieper.

OK, this series of blog posts is supposed to focus on the KKK.  A further reading of "Imperial Wizard" Simmons in Wikipedia reveals how he founded the 2nd incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan with a burning cross on Stone Mountain, Georgia.  More will be reported about this in my next post.  There are many quarters today that denounce the Ku Klux Klan (or KKK).  One example was a story on History Detectives on PBS TV stations this year.  In Part 3, I will present portions of this PBS account, and explore and compare Pieper and PBS in their comments on the Ku Klux Klan.

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