Masons - any here?
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Is anyone on the board a mason? I've been doing some reading about this group and it appears to be a pretty incredible organization. It's reported that millions of dollars a day is donated in charity by masons. Anyhow, it seems (at least in my area) that it's kind of dying trend to be part of a men's group (masons, elks, etc.) Are these groups truly a thing of the past or are people still joining them? Anyhow, just curious.
“I suppose our capacity for self-delusion is boundless.”
― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America
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so youre to blame for steve guttenberg.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
The fact is, that you are only let in on secrets as you progress through the stages - and why are these secrets so closely guarded? I'm not particularly into conspiracy theories, but there is no doubt some very strange shit involved in Freemasonry. I had a long conversation with the one friend who has recently joined up, and he's so naive (and thus a perfect candidate), it had me laughing hard - I knew more about it than he seemed to!
Interesting. It does seem that a "society" with secrets must have a reason for keeping so many secrets. I wonder though... from your line, "What better way to put a nice spin on something than to do a load of charity work?" the fact that a load of charity work is done seems to be a good thing. Since there is nothing concrete about the "secrets" it seems like the good must outweigh the bad -- unless the bad is REALLY bad. But once again, I too have read information on strange ceremonies seemingly targeted around morality. The rituals seem cryptic but are they actually destructive? Once again, just curious.
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I know my ex's grandfather was a mason and like others have said we didn't know until his funeral.
Prior to what I have seen on T.V., I thought masons were bricklayers or people who made structures out of brick or concrete.
Never heard of him, read his bio on wiki and do not get it lol
The charity work is nothing more than propaganda. The basic premise of Freemasonry is that you must believe in a higher being, they say it doesn't matter who that being is - you could be a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist etc. However, whilst Masons deny that it is a religion of itself, their practices and beliefs tick all the right boxes of a religion. They have a different name for this god, or higher being - The Great Architect Of The Universe, they use symbols, rituals and have their own particular explanations and understandings of what 'god' is.
If you are of a particular faith and join the Masons, it is more than likely that pledging your allegiance to them on your chosen holy book (part of the initiation ritual), will actually go against the teachings of your faith; hence why Freemasonry is so heavily opposed by certain religions.
So anyway, if you feel the need to partake in a hokey religious order just to do some charity work, I guess there's nothing wrong with it.
I certainly don't. I just find it interesting that an organization that has been around for so long and has so many secrets has maintained most of those secrets. It's just a curious topic.
Oh totally, I find it pretty fascinating. I think most of the 'secrets' are out there, it's just a case of trawling through all the information out there.
I'm not a Mason, but am close to someone who is. I can pretty much "promise" you that most of the secrets are indeed NOT out there.
This guy would and has trusted me with his life, family, and all he holds close to him. all but the "secrets" of the Masons.
It could all be BS though, who knows ?
"To question your government is not unpatriotic --
to not question your government is unpatriotic."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel
Yeah but there are people who have gotten really high up and then come out of it and spilled the beans.
Never heard of him, read his bio on wiki and do not get it lol[/quote]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBav72i7I3s[/quote]
Still don't get the Steve Guttenberg reference?
My Grand-Father was a freemason, my Dad is one and I know many that belong to this fraternity. Admittedly, most are my Dad's age, some a bit younger or around my age (I would be considered 'old' on this board!). It's not a secretive society and there are no real 'secrets' (except the passwords and handshakes!). Masons will talk freely about what freemasonery is, what they do, etc., the have rings/pins that can easily identify them (ie they are not hiding their freemason status). Yes, to be a freemason you must be a believer. They do open meetings with a prayer but they are not a 'church' or an organised religion and a freemason worships at his church, not at Lodge meetings.
Of course they have rituals (I have certainly never heard of coffins, knives and nooses!) and 'names' to identify position (if I can call it that) - just like in any structured organisation.
There is a lot of 'urban legends' surrounding the masons - the truth is very different.
it's not a total religious thing that's for sure, and the nonsense about it being about coffins knives and nooses IS total nonsense
having said all that i would love to know more/all...but if my brother/father ain't talking, then who is :shock:
there's a secret handshake too...but that's all i know...
Well that shows how little you know about it. The initiation ritual for the first degree involves exposing the left breast, rolling up a trouser leg, being blindfolded with a noose around your neck and having a dagger held to your chest. During this, you swear that you won't divulge any of their secrets, or you face having your tongue ripped out, your throat slit and being disembowled. This is well established stuff and discussed in this video by a Mason on the BBC's Heaven and Earth show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ZZsVNnSDE
Firstly I haven't just read the Wiki page, I've read a lot of stuff, wathced videos with former Masons, spoken to my friends who are Masons, and my dad knows a lot about it from a guy who used to try to sign him up at every given opportunity!
The religious aspect is totally central to Freemasonry. You have to believe in a higher being in order to become a Mason. So you have to be religious to partake. If you look up the definition of the word 'religion', like I said before, Freemasonry ticks all the boxes. They may not choose to see it that way, but by naming 'god' as the Great Architect Of The Universe, they are giving a unique spin on the idea of a higher power - which is what all religions do. By eschewing the traditional names for religious 'gods' and naming the higher power as The Great Architect Of The Universe, they are essentially implying that this higher being transcends other traditional ideas of religion, thus making it an alternative religion in itself. Like I said, they may not see it is a religion themselves, but their behaviour, practices and beliefs fulfill every criteria of what a religion is.
Or maybe a lot of it is true and people just use the 'it's not a secret society' line to try and deflect attention away from what they are doing.
Still don't get the Steve Guttenberg reference?[/quote]
One of the lyrics to the stone cutters song is " Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star" and you said jokingly that you're a stone cutter. So someone else jokingly blamed you for making Guttenberg popular.