A Catholic View of the Blue Book
of the John Birch Society

by fr. stephen delallo

Status Quaestionis: The Blue Book is the official handbook of the John Birch Society, a politically oriented “educational organization” founded in 1958, to fight Communism and to work for a better world. It seeks to accomplish its goals by solely natural means, thus, without Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.

It is true that many good-willed Catholics are members or were members of this organization, no doubt because of its conservative position and its work in exposing the evils of Communism. Also, Catholics may have been drawn into it because it showed leadership in the fight against Communism, whereas the Catholic Church, which had always been the principal leader against Communism and every other social disorder, had been invaded by liberalism and modernism within its own ranks, which caused her campaign against Communism to be neutralized. It is, therefore, understandable why concerned Catholics would perhaps look favorably on the John Birch Society, seeing in it a practical way to fight against Communism. Unfortunately, these people are being led astray into a naturalistic and liberal spirit, perhaps without realizing it, as this study will show.

The main error of the John Birch Society is that it seeks to battle Communism and other social evils on a purely natural and materialistic plane in the political order, ignoring completely the absolute necessity of using mainly supernatural and spiritual means as the foundation of such a work. Rather than working toward the conversion of people back to the Catholic Faith, the John Birch Society officially respects the beliefs of all different religions, i.e., Protestants, Catholics, Moslems and Jews, as if they were all on the same level. This, however, coincides with the spirit and objectives of Freemasonry: to unite men of all religions into a universal brotherhood working for a better world.

This Freemasonic spirit which animates the John Birch Society is common to any political or social organization which bases its work on religious pluralism (actually indifferentism). Of course, this liberal spirit is quite common in the United States, because, as we saw above,[1] the very foundation of the American Republic and Constitution was laid upon the principles and spirit of Freemasonry. It is understandable, therefore, how the American people in general would be imbued with this same spirit.

This appendix is focusing on the John Birch Society in particular because this organization is attracting and leading astray many patriotic Catholics of good intentions who sincerely want to defend their country. For instead of directing its members to work for the establishment of a truly Christian America, the John Birch Society inspires its members to promote the Freemasonic (and Protestant) spirit and principles of the Founding Fathers and the US Constitution. Unfortunately, this only serves to promote the same erroneous principles which have produced the evil consequences of today’s society.

A truly patriotic work would be to bring the American people and government to the profession of the Catholic Faith. Of course, we can, and should, love and safeguard those American customs and traditions that are consonant with the laws of God and the Church. However, we must not promote the Freemasonic and liberal principles so prevalent in our country which work against the establishment of a true Christian society, such as separation of Church and State, religious liberty, the economic individualism of unrestricted free enterprise, and a negative view of the role of the government. Unfortunately, these are some of the errors promoted by the John Birch Society. Catholic members of this organization who become aware of this should clearly understand why they cannot remain members.

It is, therefore, necessary for Catholics to take a deeper look into the John Birch Society, and to realize that it is not the answer to the problems it sets out to solve. The main solution to today’s social problems is not a political organization and feverish political action.[2] The true solution is Catholic Action in the temporal order by which Catholic men, well imbued with the principles of Catholic social doctrine governing politics and economics, make a united effort to make these same principles known and understood by others. Then, little by little, we will have formed a group of men, an “elite,” in Catholic social principles. These men, in turn, will be influential in the political domain of our country, and, when the opportunity presents itself, may run for public office.

Of course, the members of this organized activity should already be men of spiritual Catholic Action, having first established a solid spiritual life.[3] In this regard, Pius XI says, Catholic Action “does not wish to be nor can be anything other than the participation and the collaboration of the laity with the Apostolic Hierarchy.”[4] And in his encyclical against Communism, the same Pontiff says that the fundamental remedy for Communism and the other problems of the world “lies in a sincere renewal of private and public life according to the principles of the Gospel by all those who belong to the Fold of Christ, that they may be in truth the salt of the earth to preserve human society from total corruption.”

Catholic Action in the temporal order is not a political organization per se. It rather refers to the organized activity of Catholics in the political (and economic) domain, guided by the Catholic principles of social order. Thus, Pope Pius XII declares: “Members of Catholic Action—which is not and never will be a political organization, but a chosen band showing good example and manifesting religious fervor—will demonstrate not only that they are the most fervent Christians, but also perfect citizens, familiar with the high obligations of a national and social character, loving their country and ready to give even life for it every time the legitimate welfare of the country requires this supreme sacrifice.”[5] As we saw above,[6] the same Pontiff gives a good practical outline for men of Catholic Action in five main points.

Of course, Catholic Action can also include lay organizations, but only those which are completely Catholic. Furthermore, all Catholic Action, because it represents the Church, must be under the guidance of the Church, at least in some way. Those activities which have primarily a spiritual and educational purpose[7] need to be under the direct guidance of the bishops and priests (for this is the primary role of the Church: “Teach all nations”). Those activities, however, which are in the purely temporal domain, such as politics and economics, should be under the indirect guidance of the Church, by adhering strictly to her social doctrines and by showing docility to the priests whenever their duty obliges them to point out errors which go contrary to Church doctrine and which are harmful to souls. The final goal of all Catholic Action is to work for the establishment of a true Catholic society, which can only be done by seeking to win souls to our Lord and His Church. For it is not possible to work for a better society without first striving to bring souls to our Lord and the true Faith.

The purpose of this appendix, therefore, is to take an in-depth look at the Blue Book of the John Birch Society, which was written by Robert Welch, the Society’s founder, and to expose the anti-Catholic nature of the principles and spirit contained in it.

1. Foundation of the John Birch Society

The John Birch Society was founded by Robert Welch at a seminar given by him to a small group of men on December 8th and 9th, 1958 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The purpose of that seminar was to found a new organization of men and women to combat Communism. The official handbook of the John Birch Society is called the Blue Book, which is actually a written account of that seminar given by Mr. Welch. In the forward to the second printing of the Blue Book (Dec. 9, 1959), Mr. Welch himself says: “It required the two whole days to set forth the background, methods and purposes of the John Birch Society. The pages which follow are simply a transcript, practically verbatim, of that presentation.”[8]

Since the Blue Book contains the official doctrine and purposes of the John Birch Society, it follows that those who join this organization cooperate in promoting and defending the principles laid down in it. Of course, many members are probably unaware or ignorant of all the principles outlined in it, especially those which are clearly opposed to Catholic doctrine. Consequently, they would not be fully responsible for promoting the errors contained in it.

The principles laid down in the Blue Book were reiterated in the Congressional Record of Sept. 3, 1980 by Mr. Larry McDonald of Georgia in the House of Representatives. That reiteration clearly demonstrated that the John Birch Society still officially endorsed the principles and methods explained by Mr. Welch in the Blue Book.[9]

Mr. Welch used the name John Birch Society due to his great admiration for John Birch, a young fundamentalist Baptist preacher, who was a US Army Captain in World War II stationed in mainland China, and murdered by the Chinese Communists after the war. On page 146 of the Blue Book he says, “You will find, and I believe agree, that John Birch possessed in his own character all of those noble traits and ideals which we should like to see become symbolized by the John Birch Society.”

2. The John Birch Society and Its Two-Fold Mission: The fight against Communism and Building a Better World

A. The First Purpose of the John Birch Society: The Fight Against Communism

The first reason Mr. Welch established the John Birch Society, which is the most pressing and practical one, is the fight against Communism[10] and the fight against the “control” of the government over the people in the United States. However, Mr. Welch’s condemnation of Communism seems to be motivated by an exaggerated notion of liberty, i.e., the desire to be free from the authority of the government. This is clear from what he says throughout the Blue Book. And it is likely that those who are interested in and eventually join the John Birch Society do so for this reason. This false idea of personal liberty actually stems from the errors injected into our Constitution and Bill of Rights by American Freemasons and Protestants of the American Revolution.[11]

Furthermore, Mr. Welch and the John Birch Society tend to see Communism, and the Communist conspiracy, as our only enemy. In the Foreword to the fourth printing of the Blue Book (Feb. 22, 1961), Mr. Welch declares that “our enemy is the Communists, and we do not intend to lose sight of that fact for a minute. We are fighting the Communists—nobody else.” He also says, “Stopping the Communists and destroying their conspiracy... not only must occupy the front spot and most important spot in all of our thinking. It is the driving danger which should determine our thinking about almost everything else, and most of our actions, too, for the foreseeable future” (p. 156).

But even here, Mr. Welch fails to see that the Communists, and the Communist conspiracy, are not our only enemy. For the enemies of true civilization are all those who, in an organized manner, are trying to destroy the Catholic Church and Christian civilization, such as the anti-Christian forces of Judaism,[12] Freemasonry,[13] and Islam.[14] Communism and Socialism are simply the means used by the forces behind the Bolshevik Revolution to overthrow Christian civilization and establish a new world order.[15]

We, therefore, must firmly grasp the reality that the Communist conspiracy, and all the other conspiracies around the world, are actually part of a much broader and more pernicious conspiracy against Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church. Those behind these conspiracies absolutely deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, and are waging a continual war against the Church and her Priests.

B. The Second Purpose of the John Birch Society: To Make a Better World With America Holding the Torch of Leadership

1) To Make a Better World and Usher in a New Age

The second objective of the John Birch Society, which is actually its ultimate and more important purpose, is to work together with people of all religions to help establish a better world; to work for the temporal and spiritual good of mankind. For in the Blue Book, Mr. Welch says:

For the last 50 years, our age has been a dream that was dying. To this very group, at this very moment, I am proposing that we turn our faces forward instead of backward, begin to make even our defensive actions fit into a constructive design, and do our part to usher in a new age that is coming to birth. (p. 134)

It is my fervent hope that the John Birch Society will last for hundreds of years, and exert an increasing influence for the temporal good and the spiritual ennoblement of mankind throughout those centuries. (p. 146)

...we are not a copy of any movement of the past. We are unique. We are ourselves. We are something new, as befits a moving force for a new age... Without donning sackcloth and ashes, we shall try to inspire saintly men to join our efforts to make this a better world. (p. 156) [16]

I have tried to establish fundamental and permanent objectives, much broader than the fight against the Communist conspiracy, because I am convinced that these ultimate long-range objectives are more important than the defeat of the Communist conspiracy. But also I am utterly convinced that we cannot stop the Communists unless our efforts are a part of such a broader and more constructive purpose. (p. 156) [17]

At first glance, Mr. Welch’s idea of a new age does not seem to be connected with the New Age Movement so prevalent in our day, and which is promoting Hinduism, Pantheism, Evolutionism, and all sorts of Eastern mysticism. It rather seems to refer to the advent of a new and better world, marked by great temporal prosperity and spiritual ennoblement effecting a wonderful harmony among men. As such, it seems to coincide with the dreams of a new world order in the minds of the Founding Fathers of the American Constitution, and in the minds of those who were behind the American and French Revolutions, both of which were spear-headed by Freemasons and Rationalists.

However, since Mr. Welch’s idea of a new age comes from the spirit of Freemasonry, then it ultimately does have a connection with the New Age Movement, for the mystic philosophy behind Freemasonry is Gnosticism, the origin of which, according to most scholars, is placed in the pre-Christian Oriental mystical religions.[18] Members of the John Birch Society, however, who are ignorant of the true nature and goals of Freemasonry and the New Age Movement, would not be aware of this connection.

The John Birch Society’s goal of “building a better world” also has a spiritual or religious principle driving it, for as we saw above, its purpose is to help provide for the spiritual ennoblement of mankind. In the Blue Book Mr. Welch also says to the charter members of his organization:

I want to convince you, as I am convinced, that even under such leadership [i.e., his leadership] we have no chance unless the specific battles are fought as part of a larger and more lasting movement to restore once again an upward reach to the heart of man (p. 115).

We must again become equally dynamic in our spiritual influence; in our positive leadership and example to provide a governmental environment in which individual man can make the most of his life... (p. 129).

Mr. Welch’s ideas of a new and better world contradict the teachings of our Lord and Savior. For as Pope St. Pius X says:

But for the realization of this temporal and eternal happiness, He (i.e., Jesus Christ) has laid down with supreme authority the condition that we must belong to His flock, that we must accept His doctrine, that we must practice virtue, and that we must accept the teaching and guidance of Peter and his successors. Further, whilst Jesus was kind to sinners and to those who went astray, He did not respect their false ideas, however sincere they might have appeared. He loved them all, but He instructed them in order to convert them and save them...

He did not announce for future society the reign of an ideal happiness from which suffering would be banished; but by His lessons and His example, He traced the path of the happiness which is possible on earth and of perfect happiness in heaven: the royal way of the Cross. These are teachings that it would be wrong to apply only to one’s personal life in order to win eternal salvation; these are eminently social teachings, and they show in our Lord Jesus Christ something quite different from an inconsistent and impotent humanitarianism.[19]

It must be emphasized as well that the work of reforming and improving society is a religious work by its very nature. For society can only be reformed by true morality, which is found only in the true religion. Since the Catholic Religion is the only true religion, it follows that only the Catholic Church, and those organizations animated by Catholic principles, are able to reform society.

As Pope St. Pius X states: “To work for the reform of civilization [is] an undertaking which is above all religious in character; for there is no true civilization without a moral civilization, and no true moral civilization without the true religion: it is a proven truth, an historical fact.”[20]

Non-sectarian social organizations on the other hand, like the John Birch Society, pretend that it is possible to have a morality without God’s grace,[21] and to reform society without Christ. For they do not base their work on Jesus Christ, His Church and the priesthood, but rather on the principles of that so-called “natural goodness” held in common by all different religions, with Christianity considered only as one religion among many. This is obvious in the John Birch Society whose membership includes people of all religions, e.g., Catholics, Protestants, Moslems, Jews, etc. Consequently, it is based on Naturalism.

Referring to non-sectarian social organizations, Pope Leo XIII says:

Societies not subject to the influence of religion and, as such, easily exposed to be more or less directed and dominated by Masons, must in general be looked upon with suspicion and avoided ...familiar intercourse should be cut off, not only with the openly wicked, but with those who hide their real character under the mask of universal toleration, of respect for all religions, of the mania of reconciling the maxims of the Gospel with those of the Revolution, Christ with Belial, the Church of God with the State without God.[22]

Unfortunately many Catholics in the United States have become confused and lax with regard to these Catholic principles. This is due in large part to the fact that our very Constitution is based on liberalism and religious indifferentism. Consequently, our country is completely imbued with the idea that men should set aside religious differences when working together for a common goal. The Church, however, has never allowed Catholics to work side by side with Protestants and those of other religions to rebuild the social order simply on natural goodness. The reason is because the social order cannot be rebuilt except on Jesus Christ and the Catholic Faith, which necessarily includes the Catholic doctrine of union of Church and State, according to which Jesus Christ is recognized as King over society and Catholicism is recognized as the official religion of the State. Protestantism, on the other hand, being a bitter enemy of Catholic social doctrine, proclaims separation of Church and State along with religious liberty, thereby excluding the necessary means to rebuild a true Christian society.

2) The Role of Government and Americanism

Concerning the role of government in Society, Mr. Welch promotes ideas which are contrary to Catholic teaching (and even to the natural order). First of all, he says, “The purpose of the John Birch Society, as officially stated, will be to promote less government, more responsibility, and a better world” (BB, p. 149).[23] He also says, “The greatest enemy of man is, and always has been, government. And the larger, the more extensive that government, the greater the enemy” (BB, p. 127). But doesn’t this seem to advocate a form of anarchy and rebellion against legitimate authority? Mr. Welch’s idea of government actually stems from the Protestant notion of government. For Protestantism attributes only a negative role to the government, i.e., that the government exists only for the sake of punishing evildoers, while refusing to see its positive role which, according to nature itself (and thus, established by God), is to direct all things to the common good in society.

It is true that the State must also make laws to protect the common good and the rights of its citizens from being violated by the wicked, but this does not alter the fact that the principal role of the State is a positive one, i.e., to direct and organize all things in society to the common good of the citizens, especially of families. Even in a society of saints, a government would still be necessary to direct their wills toward the common good.[24] For they would still have free will, and even though they would never think of doing evil to their fellow man, nevertheless God desires to direct them to do His will through the mediation of other men.

As St. Thomas Aquinas says: “Social organization, i.e., the government of man over man, is not due to the Fall” (i.e., Original Sin). “The Fall made necessary repressive measures on the part of the social rulers charged with preserving the common good from being violated by the wicked. Before the Fall, men’s wills were in perfect order, thanks to supernatural life and to the preternatural gift of integrity.”[25] In fact, there is a hierarchy of authority, or government, in all of God’s creation: God governs the lower choirs of Angels through the higher choirs; He governs man by means of His Angels, and through other men who are constituted in authority. Consequently, we must see God’s authority in the men who govern us (and not simply in the laws by which they govern). To belittle or to wish to diminish legitimate authority is actually to rebel against the authority of God.

We must also be careful not to fall into the liberal and anti-Catholic error that the authority of rulers is simply contained in the laws that are legislated, for this actually takes away their personal, and God-given, authority. As we saw above,[26] it was Jean-Jacques Rousseau who formulated this liberal system in order to defend his notion of man’s liberty, which he said was harmed by any submission to the authority of other men! Consequently, he only admitted a submission to a set of laws which were composed by and voted in by the collective will of the people. Any men elected to public office (by popular vote) would simply represent the general will of the people and uphold the laws. Consequently, in obeying the laws (which they made), the people would simply be obeying themselves, and not the men in office. For Rousseau, any State not founded on such a government of laws would be considered a tyranny which should be overthrown.

In the Congressional Record on the John Birch Society, these same liberal and anti-Catholic principles of Rousseau are officially taught:

In a republic, we must constantly seek to elect and to keep in power a government we can trust, manned by people we can trust... We think it is even more important for the government to obey the laws than for the people to do so... We want a restoration of a ‘government of laws, and not of men’ in this country; and if a few impeachments are necessary to bring that about, then we are all for the impeachments.[27]

Mr. Welch’s doctrine, and the very spirit of the John Birch Society, can only lead Catholics to lose the respect and submission due to the government and other lawful authorities when they do not go contrary to the laws of God. It actually stems from the error that authority is delegated to the rulers by the people governed, and does not come from God.[28] Remember the words of St. Paul: “Let everyone be subject to the higher authorities, for there exists no authority except from God, and those who exist have been appointed by God. Therefore, he who resists the authority resists the ordinance of God... Render to all men whatever is their due: tribute to whom tribute is due; taxes to whom taxes are due; fear to whom fear is due; honor to whom honor is due” (Rom. 13:1-7). Our Lord Himself said, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (see Matt. 22:15-21).

Mr. Welch also seems to identify the cancer of collectivism with any degree of government control over the people in society and their “free enterprise.”[29] As we saw above,[30] unrestricted free enterprise, (i.e., modern-day capitalism), which Mr. Welch so strongly promotes, is a result of the erroneous opinion that society is essentially based on the economic system, which has for its primary purpose the efficient production of goods and the making of money. This naturally leads to the error of economic individualism, which sees principally the good of businesses and their financial profits, but not the common good of society. This error denies the true role of economics, which is to assure the common good of families and all citizens in society with regard to their material and temporal well being, without denying at the same time the right for businesses to make money so as to remain stable and secure and to pay just wages to their employees.

Furthermore, we know that Communism intentionally uses the modern system of Capitalism, or Unrestricted Free Enterprise, in order to create the social and economic conditions necessary to prepare the people for the principles of Socialism and Communism. Why, then, does Mr. Welch and the John Birch Society promote so vigorously that which is also promoted by the Communists? [31]

When trying to fight the abuses of government, the John Birch Society and its members are misled into believing, despite their good intentions, that they can fight political enemies mainly with worldly weapons.[32] This was the same error promoted by members of the Sillon movement in France at the beginning of this century:

Some organizers of Catholic Action imagined that they could fight political enemies with more or less worldly and political weapons. In defending the Church against State persecution, they thought the most important thing was to gain and preserve political and social power. They believed that these gains could best be consolidated by a great material expansion. They expended all their efforts in running newspapers, holding conventions, publishing pamphlets and magazines, and, above all, they measured the growth of Catholic life by the number of new school buildings, new Church buildings, new hospital buildings, new orphanages, new social centers..., as if the Church of God were built exclusively of bricks and mortar!

Buildings, newspapers, meetings, conventions, all these things were important, vitally important. But they were not the one essential thing. And those who had become entirely absorbed in this work of more or less material growth seemed to have lost sight of the fact that the Church is built of living stones. It is built of saints. And saints are made only by the grace of God and the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, not by speeches and publicity and campaigns which are all doomed to sterility without the essential means of prayers and mortification.[33]

This spirit and mode of action comes from the poison of Modernism and Liberalism, which are the result of a purely materialistic and secular culture. We must be careful not to fall into this same error. For the only true remedy for the present political and social disorder is to lead the people back to the Catholic Faith in all its integrity. We must, therefore, base all work of social reconstruction on the solid foundation of the Gospel as presented in the purity of Catholic Doctrine.[34]

Holy Mother Church offers us supernatural weapons with which to fight the enemies of God. It would be a serious error to fight our enemies on a purely materialistic and secular level. In fact, we will fail if we proceed in this manner. For our real enemies are not flesh and blood, but the powers of darkness and Satan himself! As St. Paul says:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not make war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but powerful before God to the demolishing of strongholds, the destroying of reasoning—yes, of every lofty thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every mind into captivity to the obedience of Christ (II Cor. 10:3-5);

For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the Principalities and the Powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness on high (Eph. 6:12).

In connection with his governmental views, Mr. Welch holds to the philosophy of Americanism. In the Blue Book he says that an “americanist” is one who “believes that the individual should retain the freedom to make his own bargain with life, and the responsibility for the results of that bargain; and that means are as important as ends in the civilized social order which he desires.” (p. 127). Mr. Welch extols America as the world leader for a better world—an America permeated with the spirit of Americanism. He says, “Americanism should again come to mean, and to be, a positive, forward-looking philosophy; a design and example of social organization which boldly and confidently offers leadership along the one hard but sure road to a better world” (p. 128), and that America “can still go ahead to fulfill its great destiny, and to become an even more glorious example for all the earth than it ever was before;” and that it is “the highest torch of civilization” (p. 46).[35]

This promotion of Americanism by Mr. Welch is simply a call to reduce government in America. This is the goal. For in his own words, by diminishing government there follows more personal responsibility, and with “less government and more responsibility, the result is increasing opportunities for human happiness” (p. 129). Again, this is nothing but pure utopianism; nothing but pure naturalism. Mr. Welch mentions nothing of the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus over mankind. Since, therefore, he leaves Christ out of the picture, he must fall back on man’s “sense of responsibility,” which (he claims) blossoms of itself with less government! This is an implicit denial of original sin by professing that mankind of itself can bring about its own happiness.

How can an America, as described by Mr. Welch, be the leader for the world, when its own government (as well as the general public) has officially refused the yoke of Christ and His Church by espousing the principles of pure naturalism endorsed by the Freemasons? What kind of “better world” does Mr. Welch want the John Birch Society to help to establish without Jesus Christ and His Church?

This sounds similar not only to the ends of the New World Order and the United Nations, but also to the Communist dream[36] of ushering in a new age of an earthly paradise and material prosperity. Mr. Welch says that the John Birch Society must do its part “to usher in a new age that is coming to birth” (BB, p. 134). In fact, he himself says that this goal is much more important than the defeat of the Communist conspiracy:

...while we are destroying and after we have destroyed the Communist tyranny, let’s drive on toward our higher goals of more permanent accomplishment; toward an era of less government and more responsibility, in which we can create a better world (p. 160).

This whole idea of less government, more responsibility and a better world is found in the cry of “Liberty and Equality and Fraternity” of the Jacobins[37] who were one of the driving forces behind the French Revolution.

We must, therefore, not fall into the error of this so-called “Americanism“ advocated by Mr. Welch. We should rather try to fight effectively against anti-Christian legislation in our country by leading the people back to the Catholic Faith, and by seeking to establish the Social Reign of Christ the King. This should be done by making available official Church teachings concerning Catholic social principles, thus enlightening others, especially public officials, with the true principles and methods needed to solve the social problems and abuses we are faced with today.

As Pope Pius XI says:[38] “Catholic Action must organize propaganda on a large scale to disseminate knowledge of the fundamental principles on which, according to the Pontifical documents, a Christian Social Order must build.” Thus, it will not do any good to march hand in hand with Protestants (and Moslems and Jews) in the fight for economic and social justice, because the very principles of Protestantism have paved the way for the Freemasons to take control of our system of government. Protestantism itself is based on liberty of conscience, the touchstone of religious liberty.

The Freemasonic and Protestant background of our country has “hijacked” America to make it the primary force in ushering in a New World Order, based on the principles which ignited the French Revolution. The law or norm of these so-called “Rights of Man“ of the Revolution is not God, nor divine revelation and the Catholic Church, but man himself. It is the Protestant and Freemasonic background of our country which is responsible for the separation of Church and State, and, consequently, responsible for the exile of Christ the King from society![39]

Logically, therefore, although perhaps unwittingly, Mr. Welch and his John Birch Society are actually promoting the continuation of an anti-Christian State by advocating the “Americanism“ hinted at in the Blue Book. Members of the John Birch Society certainly want to love and serve their country, but they need to be made aware of the errors of the John Birch Society so that they are not led astray in spite of their good intentions.

3. The John Birch Society and Freemasonry: A Religious-Philosophical Similarity

A. Religion, “Circle of Faith” and the “Upward Reach”

The main similarity between the John Birch Society and Freemasonry is seen in Mr. Welch’s view of religion and faith, and his desire to have the John Birch Society work to help effect a so-called “upward reach” to the heart of man (thus giving it a spiritual goal). At first, Mr. Welch gives the impression that he does not intend to start a religious movement, for in the Blue Book[40] (p. 155) he says, “Far from founding a religion, we[41] are merely urging Protestants, Catholics, Jews and Moslems to be better Christians, better Jews, and better Moslems, in accordance with the deepest and most humanitarian promptings of their own religious beliefs.”[42] But then he continues: “And we are simply trying to draw a ‘circle of faith’ in God’s power and purpose, and of man’s relationship to both, which is broad and inclusive enough to take each man’s specific faith ‘into that circle’ without violation.”

Now it is precisely this notion of “circle of faith” which coincides with the Freemasonic philosophy of religion and faith.[43] For the Freemasons teach that all religions ultimately worship the same God, but under different names; that God is to be identified with the power of the universe; that God (Whom they call the Great Architect) has manifested Himself in various ways through different religious leaders (e.g., Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, etc.). It is precisely this evolutionist (and Gnostic) teaching of the manifestation of God which constitutes the so-called “upward reach” or “human urge” in each man toward “God.” Consequently, Freemasons insist that all religions are part of a much broader religion, or faith, to which all men should subscribe.

This is the Freemasonic idea of religion. It is actually a kind of “super-religion” or “universal faith” which all men can join without violating their own religious beliefs. All religions should be respected so that, with religious differences set aside, all men, focusing only on those doctrines they hold in common, may work together for the spiritual and material advancement of mankind.

Now this is the same idea of religion that is promoted by Robert Welch in the Blue Book. Consider the following rationalistic remarks he makes which clearly indicate the religious or spiritual principle of the organization he is founding:

That brings us next to a consideration as to the very nature of our undertaking which needs to be made clear. For all revolutions, as Metternich once pointed out, begin with the best minds and work downward, while most religions begin at the bottom with the masses, and gradually acquire both respectability and acceptance at the top. We are neither and both (p. 162).

But I believe there is a broader and more encompassing faith to which we can all subscribe, without any of us doing the slightest violation to the more specific doctrines of his own creed or altars of his devotion. And I believe it is an ennobling conception, equally acceptable to the most fundamental Christian or the most rationalistic idealist, because its whole purpose is to strengthen and synthesize the ennobling characteristics of each man and the ennobling impulses of his own personal religion. It is a conception which the Baptist John Birch, the Catholic Hilaire Belloc, and the agnostic Thomas Jefferson would alike have welcomed (p. 55).

For those who already have such a bedrock of faith, and stand on it and abide by it, I can offer nothing, and I would certainly take away nothing. But for those who are no longer sure exactly where they do stand, on what rocks or how firmly, I want to try to show them that all of these bedrocks together constitute a foundation with room and strength for us all (p. 140).

Those same interpretations and recordings and expressions of man’s developing experiences, beliefs, and faith do not come to us today as further books added to our Bible; but they are being given to us, with greater and easier understanding than we might otherwise achieve, by the same kind of reverent and poetic minds. So here is Carruth’s justly famous poem:

‘A fire-mist and a planet,--

A crystal and a cell,--

A jellyfish and a saurian,

And caves where the cave-men dwell;

Then a sense of law and beauty,

And a face turned from the clod,--

Some call it Evolution,

And others call it God.’ (p. 142)

In this last citation, Mr. Welch is saying that the Sacred Writers of the Bible were simply men of reverent and poetic minds, like Carruth, and not inspired directly by the Holy Ghost to convey faithfully and inerrantly all the truths God wanted them to convey. Thus, he is attributing the writing of Sacred Scripture to these men and their inner, poetic abilities, and not to God. This logically denies the fact of divine inspiration, and is an explicit profession of rationalism.

Mr. Welch makes it very clear that he wants all those present at his seminar (thus the charter members of the John Birch Society) to embrace his explanation of the concepts of deeper faith and eternal truths when he says:

The nature of these truths and the tenets of this faith, which I hope and believe every man in this room can accept and approve, I shall come to later on this morning (p. 114).

I want to convince you, as I am convinced, that even under such leadership we have no chance unless the specific battles are fought as part of a larger and more lasting movement to restore once again an upward reach to the heart of man (p. 115).[44]

It is clear, therefore, that Mr. Welch wants his organization to be motivated by a spiritual or religious principle similar to that of Freemasonry, which is broad enough to unite all personal religions into one broader religion of the brotherhood of man. This whole concept of religion is evolutionary and is based on Naturalism. It is a denial of the true religion established on earth by our Lord Jesus Christ. It is basically the religion of man, not of God. This is the same notion of religious immanentism and brotherhood that has been promoted by the Modernists who have infiltrated the Catholic Church, and which was condemned as far back as St. Pius X in his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis.

B. A General Look at Freemasonry

At this point, it is important to give a brief background of Freemasonry so that the similarities between it and the John Birch Society can be recognized.

As we saw above,[45] Freemasonry is a secret society which was officially founded in London, England, on June 24th, 1717, with the union of four Masonic lodges into the Grand Lodge. In 1723, the Grand Lodge received its new practical and philosophical Constitutions from Rev. James Anderson, a Presbyterian minister. These new Constitutions were based on pure naturalism and rationalism, denying divine revelation and the divinity of Christ and His Church.

Members of the Masonic Lodges are united by those main natural truths they all hold in common. Freemasonry teaches that religious differences are to be overlooked for the sake of peace and unity, although they are to be respected, seeing that every man has the right to hold any doctrine that corresponds to his conscience and inner convictions. All religions are considered equal, for according to Freemasons, they are simply various manifestations of the same God Who operates in the inner consciousness of men in different ways.

Working side by side, members of Freemasonry are trying to establish a universal brotherhood on the earth, by which all men of all creeds should be united together in peace and harmony, with respect for each other’s religious beliefs, and based on the natural goodness they all have to offer in working for the improvement of society (and of mankind as a whole), both in the material and spiritual domains.

Freemasonry, therefore, is declaring to the world that Jesus Christ is not the exclusive Savior of mankind, and that Christianity is no longer the necessary institution to effect peace and harmony among men on earth. In fact, we can say that Freemasonry is actually working to supplant Christianity with its own diabolical form of religion, which is simply the incorporation of all religions and creeds into one super-faith and worldwide fraternity, based on the principles of pure rationalism.

Considering these principles of Freemasonry, it is evident that it is the spirit of Freemasonry which animates the work of the John Birch Society.[46] Americans should realize that our country was founded on the spirit of Freemasonry by the Founding Fathers. Catholics, therefore, must not associate with any social organization to improve society that is founded on the principles of religious liberty and religious indifferentism, for these errors form the main arm of Freemasonry.

4. The Blue Book and Christianity

A. Mr. Welch: Divine Revelation and Agnosticism

In the Blue Book, Robert Welch makes the following statement: “Most religions begin at the bottom with the masses, and gradually acquire both respectability and acceptance at the top.”[47] This is the Rationalist’s way of denying Divine Revelation by attributing the existence of religion (and God) to the invention of man. The logical consequence of this kind of thinking is the error of “Agnosticism,” which teaches that man cannot know with any certitude that God exists, and that he cannot know anything about this God (if He exists!). Thus, the God of the agnostic is the “unknowable” God.

The agnostic proceeds from the false principle that we cannot know God. Now this is absolutely untrue, for we can know with certitude that God exists, and we can know many things about Him by the sole power of our natural reason when we behold the things in the world around us. It is true that we can never have perfect knowledge of God, since He is infinite and we are finite.[48] Nevertheless we are able to know about His perfections in our limited (or finite) way. For we understand perfectly well the spiritual concepts of personality, intelligence and free will, truth, love, goodness, justice, etc., because we participate in them in every day life. We can, therefore, understand many things about God, for He possesses to an infinite degree all such perfections which do not include any intrinsic limitation (for example, matter, being limited by its very nature, cannot pertain to God).

Furthermore, we know many supernatural truths of the intimate nature of God by the fact that He has revealed these truths to us in a special way, both through the Sacred writers of the Old and New Testament (Sacred Scripture) and through His words spoken to the Apostles and passed down to their successors (Divine Tradition). As the First Vatican Council has defined:

God, the beginning and end of all things, can be known with certitude by the natural light of human reason from created things; ...nevertheless, it has pleased His wisdom and goodness to reveal Himself and the eternal decrees of His will to the human race in another and supernatural way.” St. Paul also says, “for the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world are clearly seen, His everlasting power also and divinity, being understood by the things that are made” (Rom. 1:20); and, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days hath spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1) (Vatican Council I, session 3).

Now Mr. Welch sees God as an unknowable Being, very distant from man, and very impersonal. Obviously, then, he denies the fact that God has revealed Himself to man. In the Blue Book he says: “...But I am not in favor of trying to reimpose all or any of the strands of a fundamentalist faith on those whose reason, whether right or wrong, has honestly told them that we cannot know such positive things about the unknowable...” (p. 52). Although some may argue that Mr. Welch is only stating that some people think that God is unknowable, we see clearly in the following statements that he, too, considers God as an infinite unknowable Being:

It is hard for man to realize that the Infinite still remains infinite, untouched in Its remoteness and unreduced in Its infinity by man’s most ambitious approaches; or that all of man’s increasing knowledge leaves the unknowable just as completely unknowable as before. But I think that, being allowed now to grasp this truth, we should cease to quarrel and disagree over how close we are to God. For we are using a term which, in a literal context, or objectively, has no meaning. We can then each put the God we worship as close to ourselves, subjectively, as our own faith and understanding dictate (Blue Book, p. 137).

For our fathers and their religious preceptors had become too specific and too finite in their beliefs about the Infinite; too egocentric and almost patronizing in their adoption of a Deity as Himself somehow created primarily to be a Father to man (Ibid, p. 51).

It is quite plain that Mr. Welch does not consider God as a Personal God. He rather follows the typically Masonic idea of a distant, unknowable and impersonal God, who simply started the evolutionary process of the universe, and even this is not considered an intelligent action on His part. In fact, Robert Welch would not even say Him of God, but rather It (e.g., Its remoteness, Its infinity).

These thoughts of Mr. Welch contradict Catholic teaching. God, of course, is not created, but exists from all eternity as a First Cause must, or he would not be a First Cause. The doctrine that God is truly a Father as well as other things to man does not come from human imagination, but from God Himself. We know from many places in Sacred Scripture, as well as from the Our Father, that God is truly a Father to us, Who loves us very much, and Who desires that we be united with Him in His infinite love forever in heaven.

Of course, man does not adopt God but rather God adopts man. The infinite love of God for mankind is seen in the Fatherhood of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave His only-begotten Son, that those who believe in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting” (John 3:16). It was God the Holy Ghost Who was sent by God the Father and God the Son to set the Apostles aflame with divine love and to confirm them in the truth so that they could go into the whole world to make disciples of all nations.

God the Father will adopt us as sons, but only if we believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and give our lives to Him, by following Him on the way of the Cross, according to Rom. 8:15-16, “...you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by virtue of which we cry, Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself gives testimony to our spirit that we are sons of God. But if we are sons, we are heirs also; heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ, provided, however, we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him” (cf. Gal. 4:5-6).

Those who do not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ cannot be adopted by God the Father, for Christ said that no one can come to the Father except through Him.[49] This is why the Catholic Church has always sent missionaries into the world to bring the knowledge and love of our Lord to all nations. For without Jesus Christ, there is no salvation.

God, therefore, has infinite mercy and love for man. He desires “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim 2:4). His desire to forgive the repentant sinner is also seen in the beautiful story of the prodigal son (Lk. 15:11-32); and His love and care for us as a true shepherd is clearly seen in the parable of the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10).

To deny that God loves man as a father to a son, and that He desires ardently to save the repentant sinner, is effectively to destroy man’s motive to love, honor and serve God. Instead, with man considering God as untouchable and unknowable, as some cold, distant energy source somewhere out in the darkness of the universe, he will no longer have any reason or desire to seek and love this God during his lifetime. Man will, consequently, focus on man and fall into pure naturalism and humanism, living solely for this world and not for Heaven.

Mr. Welch, furthermore, logically denies divine revelation by attributing our concepts of God, heaven and hell, etc., to man-made inventions, which, he claims, are now proven false by the intelligent men of the scientific revolution:

For the next part of the truth we must face is that for the past several hundred years our morality, in Europe and America was tied to a belief in the rewards and punishments delineated by Christian dogma; to the accepted commandments of a very real and very majestic Deity; and to the desire of the true believer to become worthy of the love of an omniscient loving God (Blue Book, p. 50).

Here it should be noted that Christian morality is more than 3,500 years old, as we must date it back at least as far as Moses, who lived about 1,500 B.C. It is based first of all on divine revelation, i.e., on the laws and truths revealed to man by God Himself. These principles of Christian morality are contained in the Bible (Old and New Testament), Divine Tradition, the unanimous teaching of the Fathers of the Church and in the dogmatic decrees of the Councils of the Church (e.g., the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Trent, Vatican I, etc.).

Mr. Welch continues:

Now the trouble is that in the minds of a vast majority of worshippers, their God had become too close, too concretely defined, and all the details of heaven and hell and of their God’s creation and rule of the earth had become too vividly and too rigidly put in place. This whole framework of belief could not withstand the sheer facts and convincing rationalization of the scientific revolution.

When Herbert Spencer relegated his own divine being to the infinitely remote and impersonal classification of a first cause, these increasing thousands of intelligent human beings who followed his convincing analyses found that the celestial palace they had built in their minds began to look empty, unnecessary, and perhaps ridiculous. And by the time Ernest Haeckel came to write his “Riddle of the Universe,” that palace and all the foundations of dogma and doctrine which supported it were crumbling into tragic ruins (Blue Book, p. 51).

In these texts, Mr. Welch tries to insinuate that the truths of the Christian Faith and of the intimate nature of God actually originate in the minds of men. Consequently, not coming from God Himself, these “truths” could be incorrect, or at least, could become corrupted because of the possibility of error in the human intellect. A logical conclusion of this would be that Christianity itself was a man-made religion, resulting from the minds of men, and that Christian morality, also being man-made, is subject to error, and thus, needs improvement and adaptation to times and circumstances.

But the “definitions” of which Mr. Welch talks do not come from the minds of men, but rather from God Himself through divine revelation! God revealed these things to us about Himself so that we could know more about Him and His love for us, and so give us a greater desire to love and serve Him in return. There are no sheer facts and convincing arguments of rationalism that have disproved any Christian Dogmas! What Mr. Welch is referring to here are simply the foolish fairy tales of Spencer and other atheists and agnostics who refuse to use their own intelligence to recognize God’s existence and personal nature.

Furthermore, to make God impersonal or remote is a typical idea of Freemasonry, which embraces the doctrine of agnosticism and divine immanentism. Note, too, that God must be Personal,[50] for a First Cause, above all others, must have intelligence and free will (which constitute a person), for He already possesses those spiritual perfections (to an infinite degree) which He creates in spiritual creatures. How, then, can that First Cause be impersonal and remote?

**B. The Blue Book and the Rejection of the Divinity of Jesus Christ and His Church.**

As a consequence of Mr. Welch’s denials of Divine Revelation and of a personal and knowable God, it follows that he must logically deny the divinity of Jesus Christ; for if God has spoken to us in the Person of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, then God is knowable. Mr. Welch, therefore, logically denies the mystery of the Hypostatic Union, that is, the union of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, with the human nature in Jesus Christ. Because he does not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, he must likewise reject the divine institution of the Catholic Church and of Her divinely ordained authority.

If Mr. Welch believed that Jesus Christ is God, then he would have to believe in the divinity of the Church He established on earth. But he does not. In fact, he claims that the Church, and Christianity as a whole, has failed in its mission.

Now our Lord instituted His Church as a visible and authoritative Society, with a monarchy and a hierarchy, i.e., Pope, Bishops, Priests and Deacons. Our Lord entrusted His very same mission to His Apostles and their successors.[51] Since Jesus Christ is truly God, His promise will certainly hold true. Consequently, His Church will exist on earth until the end of the world, and Christianity will always be the sole means of salvation and peace for the world. To claim that it is no longer effective in fighting the enemies of the world, and that its structure is crumbling into ruins, would be to admit its failure, and, consequently, to admit that Christ could not possibly be God, for His promise would have failed. But this is in fact what Mr. Welch claims according to the Blue Book, as we saw above,[52] when he says: “...that palace [of Christianity] and all the foundations of dogma and doctrine which supported it were crumbling into tragic ruins.” Consider also the following quotes from Mr. Welch in the Blue Book:

A religious faith had somehow come to rest its case in the minds of men on these and similar minute and unjustifiable projections of its more important certainties. As increasing knowledge of history and science made it more and more impossible for the intelligent mind to accept the projection; the more general and deeper articles of faith began to lose their hold as well (p. 52).

Through many centuries Christianity, despite all of its splits and schisms, supplied the fabric of morality for the whole Western World–through its threats of punishments, promises of rewards, and the humanizing effect of its proffered love by and for a Divine Father. But despite all the billions of words they have written to the contrary, the fabric is now pierced and torn and weakened beyond dependability. For a vast majority of those who proclaim themselves Christians today and attend church services, do not really and literally believe in either the punishments, the rewards, or even in the physical and biological existence of a Divine Father with any interest in their personal lives and actions. The momentum of a former belief and the customs which grew out of it, still have great value. But the fabric is worn too thin to have its old effectiveness (p. 52).

The grave error of Mr. Welch is that he sees Christianity and the Church of Christ as a human institution, capable of defection. Of course, it should be noted that this is true with regard to the Protestant denominations, for they originated with the various heretics who broke away from the Catholic Church. Consequently, they are man-made institutions and are doomed to failure. But the Catholic Church was founded by Christ Himself! And even though most Christians today really do not live as though they truly believe, it would be false to conclude that Christianity (i.e., Catholicism) is not able to combat the evils in the world today.

Notice, too, how Mr. Welch so proudly speaks of the intelligent minds and the intelligent human beings who have finally come to realize that science has disproved Christian Doctrine! This is an insult to our Lord, Who is Author of not only the Supernatural Truths of Faith, but also the natural truths of Science!

We know that the Church is the divine institution of Jesus Christ, and, therefore, cannot fail; it is Christ’s very mystical Body.[53] Men may fail the Church during different periods of history, but God will always raise up many and great saints during these difficult times, and so the Church will always rise glorious and victorious over her enemies!

The Church will overcome Her enemies by the Priesthood instituted by Christ, not by any secular organization founded by man and independent of the Catholic Church. For it is through the priests, through the daily offering of Holy Mass and the administration of the Sacraments, their prayer life and preaching, etc., that our Lord will dispense His grace to souls. And it is through their instrumentality as “dispensers of the mysteries of God” (I Cor. 4:1) that Divine Grace will touch the hearts of men, including those men who will be influential in converting the governments of the world to the Catholic Faith, thereby acknowledging our Lord Jesus Christ as King of their nations!

It is true that the Church needs not only the clergy but also lay organizations to work for a Catholic society which acknowledges the social Kingship of Christ. But these lay organizations must be Catholic, i.e., subordinate to the clergy and with teachings that are not contrary to Catholic Doctrine. For Catholic social action “does not wish to be nor can be anything other than the participation and the collaboration of the laity with the Apostolic Hierarchy.”[54] The reason is because the work of improving society is a religious work by its very nature, which can only be accomplished by promoting true morality, which in turn requires the true religion. Consequently, Catholics should not be affiliated with non-Catholic organizations, such as the John Birch Society, which strive to work for a better world not only without the true religion, but with respect for all religions. Even though the desire to make a better world is a noble one in itself, nevertheless it cannot be accomplished without our Lord and His Church.