National Honor Societies

I have always wondered if National Honor Societies, such as the Beta Club, and other school sponsored national clubs, had any relations or involvement in secret societies.

Is there any evidence to suggest such clubs as being secret societies themselves, such as having dealings with darker and more mysterious things than first meets the eye, or are these type clubs just as normal as they appear?

Being in a National Honor Society myself, I brought this question to my mind upon experiencing the induction ceremony, which just seemed eerie.

Any proofs or speculations would be appreciated.

DOn't know about the Nat. Hon. Soc., but there are academic acheivement Fraternities, so that'd be an offhand connection.

The Boy Scouts of America are also associated with the Knights of Pythias, which isn't quite the same as what you are looking at.

Interesting,

would it make sense to say that National Honors Societies are indirect ways to associate yourself with a larger society? For example: You were in the Beta Club, and a certain group confornts you inviting you into their club. This sounds reasonable to some extent, but I also know that many secret societies "keep it in the family."

Another thing I noticed about my local Beta Club, a large part of them are just rich kids that appear nice but in reality do very bad things, that would go against every code that the Beta creed goes by. And it seems to me that the club sponsors over look these things, almost as if on purpose.

Sound interesting? I have the feeling that there may be some under hand business going on relating to this.

rich kids that appear nice but in reality do very bad things,

That really has nothing to do with anything tho.

that would go against every code that the Beta creed goes by

I can't imagine why anyone woudl bother to 'live by the creed' of some honour society like these things anyway. They're a thing that goes on your record to help you get into a good college. Nothing more.

You were in the Beta Club, and a certain group confornts you inviting you into their club.

Thats not part of a real system tho, its just people that know one another networking and socializing.

Originally posted by Nygdan
The Boy Scouts of America are also associated with the Knights of Pythias, which isn't quite the same as what you are looking at.

This is new to me. What is the tie in with KP and the boy scouts?

[edit on 28-11-2005 by lost in the midwest]

Straight from the horse's mouth:

www.pythias.org...

The Fraternal Order of Knights of Pythias is a partner of the Boy Scouts of America . Subordinate lodges may sponsor Scout units. See below for details.

Zip

What I mean to say is, there are people in a National Honor Society that may be there because their parents are bribing the school system to do so, or have some sort of strangle hold on what they decide. These adults are in the elite class, and intend for their children to have elite privledges no matter what drugs or crimes their children may be involved in, they have to uphold their honor.

Simply put, there may be an elitist conspiracy amongst Honor Societies, as a way for larger Societies to associate with, and recruit other elitist.

E_Pluribus_Unum I def. Know what you are talking about. The induction to the National Honors Society Beta club was very, very cult like. ( & RPG like if you know what I mean )
But on a more serious note, this society is for the top 1% in our school. It is an elitism type club. It is for those that are affluent, powerful, and intelligent. As a member we promised to uphold certain ethical and moral character and sited a creed that upholds these standards. But as we both know, some of the people in this club are everything but these things. It is like looking at an illusion in a mirror. Nothing is what it seems. I bet some of the girls in this club even go out, drink beer over the weekend, get wasted, and has lots of sex. This society is to keep the elite, elite, and for us to get into higher places in society with affluence, and power. Regardless of the outside appearance of the ethical and moral character that each member suppose to uphold.

[edit on 063030p://111 by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy]

Originally posted by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy
E_Pluribus_Unum I def. Know what you are talking about. The induction to the National Honors Society Beta club was very, very cult like. ( & RPG like if you know what I mean

)
But on a more serious note, this society is for the top 1% in our school. It is an elitism type club. It is for those that are affluent, powerful, and intelligent. As a member we promised to uphold certain ethical and moral character and sited a creed that upholds these standards. But as we both know, some of the people in this club are everything but these things. It is like looking at an illusion in a mirror. Nothing is what it seems. I bet some of the girls in this club even go out, drink beer over the weekend, get wasted, and has lots of sex. This society is to keep the elite, elite, and for us to get into higher places in society with affluence, and power. Regardless of the outside appearance of the ethical and moral character that each member suppose to uphold.

[edit on 063030p://111 by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy]

Finally someone who I can relate to. I agree with what you have said about how the elite are making sure they stay elite, no matter what, they have to keep that appearance or else they lose clout in their life. If a person in the elitist class has horrible children, they are looked down upon, well more so on the appearance, because they all know what their kids do.

My ancestors have never been anything but poor, on either side. We wore clothes handed down from friends and strangers. I went to high school with rubber inner-tubes glued to the bottom of my shoes to cover the holes in the soles. My sister received little better.

We were both NHS Honorees, because we *earned* it, not because our parents "bought" it. Same with most inductees I've ever known. Ain't saying it doesn't happen, just that it's not as rampant as you seem to indicate.

For the record, also, I've done reasonably well in life, by the grace of God and my own hard work. Noone's ever given me anything. My sister is nearly 10 years dead, having never accomplished anything -- never even held a job for more than a few weeks at a time. The president of my HS class, rich boy, captain of the football team, etc is a fry cook in a local greasy spoon while I live well in a large home paid for by a white-collar professional job. What separates me from these other people -- equally blessed by God? My own hard work.

Birth Status is one thing, but in the US at least Death Status is a matter of how you spent "the dash."

My life began to change for the better when I stopped blaming my parents and society for our position and began bettering myself and working for what I wanted. Having EARNED it, I appreciate it more.

It's your "Dash" -- use it wisely or spend it blaming others for your failures -- it's your call.

DD

Originally posted by Dedicated_Dad
My ancestors have never been anything but poor, on either side. We wore clothes handed down from friends and strangers. I went to high school with rubber inner-tubes glued to the bottom of my shoes to cover the holes in the soles. My sister received little better.

We were both NHS Honorees, because we *earned* it, not because our parents "bought" it. Same with most inductees I've ever known. Ain't saying it doesn't happen, just that it's not as rampant as you seem to indicate.

For the record, also, I've done reasonably well in life, by the grace of God and my own hard work. Noone's ever given me anything. My sister is nearly 10 years dead, having never accomplished anything -- never even held a job for more than a few weeks at a time. The president of my HS class, rich boy, captain of the football team, etc is a fry cook in a local greasy spoon while I live well in a large home paid for by a white-collar professional job. What separates me from these other people -- equally blessed by God? My own hard work.

Birth Status is one thing, but in the US at least Death Status is a matter of how you spent "the dash."

My life began to change for the better when I stopped blaming my parents and society for our position and began bettering myself and working for what I wanted. Having EARNED it, I appreciate it more.

It's your "Dash" -- use it wisely or spend it blaming others for your failures -- it's your call.

DD

I see that side of what you are talking about too.

Some members of the elitist class fail to qualify later in life, and end up having jobs like this, this is normal.

And being in the Beta Club, I'm not of the elitist class similar to you, but rather earned by club status because of what I have done.

Keep in mind this thread is for discussion of possible conspiracy relating to this, though I accept your remarks about your Honor Society membership to show that it's not only the elite that are in the Beta Club, sorry I did not mention this earlier.

Originally posted by E_Pluribus_Unum

Originally posted by Dedicated_Dad
My ancestors have never been anything but poor, on either side. We wore clothes handed down from friends and strangers. I went to high school with rubber inner-tubes glued to the bottom of my shoes to cover the holes in the soles. My sister received little better.

We were both NHS Honorees, because we *earned* it, not because our parents "bought" it. Same with most inductees I've ever known. Ain't saying it doesn't happen, just that it's not as rampant as you seem to indicate.

For the record, also, I've done reasonably well in life, by the grace of God and my own hard work. Noone's ever given me anything. My sister is nearly 10 years dead, having never accomplished anything -- never even held a job for more than a few weeks at a time. The president of my HS class, rich boy, captain of the football team, etc is a fry cook in a local greasy spoon while I live well in a large home paid for by a white-collar professional job. What separates me from these other people -- equally blessed by God? My own hard work.

Birth Status is one thing, but in the US at least Death Status is a matter of how you spent "the dash."

My life began to change for the better when I stopped blaming my parents and society for our position and began bettering myself and working for what I wanted. Having EARNED it, I appreciate it more.

It's your "Dash" -- use it wisely or spend it blaming others for your failures -- it's your call.

DD

I see that side of what you are talking about too.

Some members of the elitist class fail to qualify later in life, and end up having jobs like this, this is normal.

And being in the Beta Club, I'm not of the elitist class similar to you, but rather earned by club status because of what I have done.

Keep in mind this thread is for discussion of possible conspiracy relating to this, though I accept your remarks about your Honor Society membership to show that it's not only the elite that are in the Beta Club, sorry I did not mention this earlier.

I second that, I earned the Beta club status as well.

[edit on 063030p://111 by LiquidationOfDiscrepancy]

I for one can tell you its not a secret society, at least the National Honor Society isnt. I was in that in High School, all I got was a Piece of paper and a ceremony. It didnt even help me get into any of the colleges I wanted to. So I doubt it. As for the others such as Beta club and others like it, I have no clue what its all about. And my induction into the National Honor Society wasnt cult like, I just had a nice shirt, tie, and a nice pair of pants, so basically I just dressed nice. And it was just a nice ceremony, no candles or anything like that, and it was held in our Schools Auditorium, everyones parents were there. It was just a nice, quiet ceremony. We did have a little band playing for us.

[edit on 11/28/2005 by ludaChris]

Luda,

My ceremony had black candles that we had to light to represent our induction, and some really creepy piano music.

Maybe it was just me . . . but I felt it was very archaic when presented.

I found out that the Beta club comes from the greek letter Beta, that stands for LIFE.

This may be symbolic to how the club involves the exploitation of life, though I can't see how that would be a conspiracy yet except that it may be some Masonic reference or something like that.

Originally posted by E_Pluribus_Unum
My ceremony had black candles that we had to light to represent our induction, and some really creepy piano music...I found out that the Beta club comes from the greek letter Beta, that stands for LIFE.

Would you please share the reference that led to the conclusion Beta=life? According to the Beta Club website "[The Letter Beta] is the initial character of the Greek word Bios, which means 'life'."

B is also the initial character of the words BULLCRAP, BOOGERS, BARNACLES and BOOBIES. Which one does it really stand for? (I vote "Boogers" personally -- no matter how old you are, "Boogers" are still funny.)

This may be symbolic to how the club involves the exploitation of life,

Wha?

Again, from the club's website "The National Beta Club promotes character, develops leadership skills, encourages service involvement, recognizes achievement, and provides technological advantages to students in grades 5 - 12." and from another page on the same website "The purpose of the National Beta Club shall be to promote the ideals of character, service and leadership among elementary and secondary school students, to reward meritorious achievement and to encourage and assist students in continuing their education after high school." and "The National Beta Club, a student-centered organization, continually develops and nurtures individuals by providing opportunities and experiences enabling them to demonstrate the ideals of character, achievement, service and leadership in a global community. "

How does this "involve the exploitation of life"? If so, our society could use a bit more exploitation IMHO...

though I can't see how that would be a conspiracy yet except that it may be some Masonic reference or something like that.

Aw, Geez... Are you serious?

The only possible connection is philosophical -- Masonry indeed "promotes character, develops leadership skills and encourages service involvement" as well as "develops and nurtures individuals by providing opportunities and experiences enabling them to demonstrate the ideals of character, achievement, service and leadership in their community."

There's no association between the organizations that I could find after much very exhaustive research. Men cannot even choose to join Masonry until age 21 in most jurisdictions. Recruiting is prohibited in Masonry, whereas the Beta Club is "invitation only."

There're no "black candles" no "creepy piano music" no "B" and no "Beta Club" in Masonry. None.

All "clubs" ain't Masonry...

DD

Dedicated_Dad,

You did a good job of making me look like a complete idiot.

It was my fault I didn't elaborate that Beta stood for Bios, which means Life.

I also mentioned how the Beta Club may or may not exploit life, and how one would live it, but I never jumped on a soapbox declaring anything about what I meant by that statement; I left it for the interpretation of the reader.

Once again I didn't design this thread to be bashed, but I designed it to help educate myself and others.

I'm looking for the likenesses not the differences between these honor societies and well known secret societies, because I know the difference.

So yes, I do know the difference, I know that Beta club isn't Masonry, but I'm looking for how they may be similar.

Oh, and thank you for supplying links to the website. I really should've done that in the first place.

[edit on 28-11-2005 by E_Pluribus_Unum]

[edit on 28-11-2005 by E_Pluribus_Unum]

Originally posted by E_Pluribus_Unum
You did a good job of making me look like a complete idiot.

If it read that way it was not my intention at all. I am sorry you took it that way.

I also mentioned how the Beta Club may or may not exploit life, and how one would live it, but I never jumped on a soapbox declaring anything about what I meant by that statement; I left it for the interpretation of the reader.

I didn't get that from this:

This may be symbolic to how the club involves the exploitation of life,

Once again I didn't design this thread to be bashed, but I designed it to help educate myself and others.

It certainly wasn't my intention to "bash" -- I've tried to give what I thought were constructive posts. My dander gets up a bit when folks want to tie concepts like "eerie" "cultic" "black candles" "conspiracy" "elitism" "dark and mysterious things" and "underhanded business" with something as ancient and Honorable as the Masonry I know and love. This often happens because of out-of-context quoting and misinterpretation of both fact and concept. You may have noticed I have a tendency to push "focus" and "fact" on these threads. Some misinterpret this as skepticism, but on the contrary only by establishing fact can we draw valid conclusions. I happen to believe that some "conspiracy theories" are absolutely supported by fact, but as (1) this is not the proper forum and (2) these are among the hottest of hot-button topics and I don't wish to get skewered -- I'll quit while I am ahead...

I'm looking for the likenesses not the differences between these honor societies and well known secret societies, because I know the difference.

Again, for clarity, Masonry is not a secret society. I don't even care for the "society with secrets" wordplay, personally. Masonry is rather a very public organization which, like all organizations, prefers to keep some few things private

As One Brother put it: "In the 19th century and early 20th century, "secret societies" flurished.(sic) They were everywhere, every gentleman who wasn't a hermit belonged to one or more, and Masonry was one of them. You could look in the phone book under 'Secret Societies', and there they were, dozens or hundreds of them in large cities. But these 'secret societies' were gentlemen's clubs, philosophical societies, and other sorts of primarily social organizations. They were not the conspiratorial sort of secret society that we think of nowadays."

I've given one very good example of the similarity between Masonry and the Beta Club -- they both have as their stated goals to better their members and, through them, society at large.

That said, I suppose it's possible that Skull and Bones looks for the sort of academic excellence rewarded by the NHS or BC, and either would certainly aid in admission to Yale (a natural prereq for S&B Membership) but honestly I think you're looking for a nonexistent needle in a very big haystack here. NHS and BC are simply ways of encouraging students to apply themselves. Hard for me to find any ulteror motives there... Some others require nice little "contributions" as a requirement of the child's "honorarium" -- these are a bit easier to write off as ulterior...

Free opinion, guaranteed to be worth at least 100x what you paid for it...

DD
[Edit: Double Rookie Formatting]

[edit on 28-11-2005 by Dedicated_Dad]

[edit on 28-11-2005 by Dedicated_Dad]

Interesting topic.

I remember in my middle school, the people who were in the NHS were like nerds who have no life so they spend their whole life volunteering. Not bashing NHS peoples but if anything, those kids were the last thing a secret society would recruit.

But maybe that's just my middle school...

That got me thinking.. are all secret societies about volunteering? Because many give you these assignments and whatnot but you never get anything except being part of the circle..

I think I'm about to call my work a secret society.. heh

Yuriko

One thing you have to keep in mind about secret societies:

They arent always completely secret.

They have to have a public appearance as a normal group, lets for example use the Masons.

They have a good outward appearance, but as many people believe, their higher ranks are involved in darker businesses.

Maybe I havent made this point clear: this thread was designed to arise the possibility that NHS and/or BC may have darker aspects towards the higher roles.

Another group, The Esoteric Order of Dagon, which comes from a series of writing called the Cthulhu Mythos, which in turn was inspired by REAL LIFE CULTS.

The Esoteric Order of Dagon, claims not to worship the fish God Dagon, but is rather a club devoted to spreading the belief that human knowledge is limited and should be explored. They dont go right out and say that they are a cult, but there any person with half a wit can figure out this puzzle.

I can't give the link to the afore mentioned website, because it may be considered "graphic" to some, but I can supply the real cults site.

www.esotericorderofdagon.tk

Not too sure about how this benefits my thread, just thought you may want to know about this. If you'd like to find the one link, just google the EoD and you may find it.

Originally posted by E_Pluribus_Unum
One thing you have to keep in mind about secret societies:
They arent always completely secret.

So, wouldn't that make them NON-Secret Societies then?

They have to have a public appearance as a normal group, lets for example use the Masons.

Why must we always use the Masons? Why don't you use a NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY instead, since that's actually the topic of this ill-fated thread?

They have a good outward appearance, but as many people believe, their higher ranks are involved in darker businesses.

That's quite a Bold Statement....you say it as if it's fact...so PROVE that

a: There are indeed "higher ranks" (which there aren't)
and
b: they are involved in "darker business (which they aren't)

Maybe I havent made this point clear: this thread was designed to arise the possibility that NHS and/or BC may have darker aspects towards the higher roles.

So why didn't you use THEM as an example instead of the poor Masons who just want to be left alone instead of being CONSTANTLY lied about?

Another group, The Esoteric Order of Dagon, which comes from a series of writing called the Cthulhu Mythos, which in turn was inspired by REAL LIFE CULTS.

Tell us more!

The Esoteric Order of Dagon, claims not to worship the fish God Dagon, but is rather a club devoted to spreading the belief that human knowledge is limited and should be explored.

Fascinating! I'm on the edge of my seat.

One thing's for sure though, if it's so "limited" there shouldn't have to be much exploration done, huh?

They dont go right out and say that they are a cult,

Neither does ANY cult. "Oh, please come join our cult! We'll have you brain-washed in NO TIME FLAT!"

But then again, other groups (like the Masons, which you wanted to use as an example) also DO NOT "go right out and say that they are a cult" Which makes sense, because they're NOT.

but there any person with half a wit can figure out this puzzle.

I hope the Moderators are proud of me because I'm going to leave this one alone.

I can't give the link to the afore mentioned website, because it may be considered "graphic" to some,

I'd hate to suggest that anyone on this site might be smart enough to "Google" it up if it's a web-site...[sigh]

Not too sure about how this benefits my thread, just thought you may want to know about this.

Explain one thing. What do we now know?

One thing I'm relatively sure of though is that truly secret societies typically don't advertise on the World-Wide-Web....sort of diminishes that "secret" aspect of them, ya know?

If you'd like to find the one link, just google the EoD and you may find it.

YAWN....

Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me....but you go ahead and Google away.


[edit on 2-12-2005 by senrak]