Why Freemasonry is secret

Originally posted by gdifly

Originally posted by Cug

Originally posted by wellwhatnow
What if you are a woman?

Well there is always Co-Masonry

Co-Masonry is not Masonry. It is a second-rate option for people who are not 'good enough' for real Masonry, which isn't acceptable.
I'm going to give the OP benefit of the doubt and assume he didn't MEAN to imply this, but the first post (and attitudes of all the masons in this thread) imply that everyone is potentially "good enough" to know the secrets that should be hidden from the public... except women. To the men you say "if you want to understand these things, you can always join and find out." But women don't have that option. It's the 20th century and even if freemasons aren't doing all the things the conspiracy theorists think they are, they are still doing one thing, reinforcing patriarchal heierarchies and oppressing women.
That's not to say that I don't think there's value in a brotherhood of just men or a sisterhood of just women, but Co-Masonry and the other Masonic women's organizations are still second rate substitutes for real Masonry. And women still aren't considered 'good enough' for the organization that even someone like SkepticGreek could potentially join, by mere virtue of the fact that he is possessed of a penis and a Y chromosome

[edit on 8-2-2007 by gdifly]

Would you care to explain how Masons oppress women ?
By denying them membership do we take food out of their mouths, injure them or prevent them from doing anything other that joining our group ?

Can you define " Fraternity" ? Do Fraternities include women ?
Do Sororities include men ?

What is so all fired wrong with belonging to a men's club. I'm sick of all this political correctness BS. There are fundamental differences between women and men. Maybe some of these men join so that they can spend some time with other men of like mind. Look, I am very fond of the women in my life, but sometimes I need to get away from them. You know what I mean? Why can there be women only clubs, but men in this modern age get to be chastised for wanting to be in a fraternal organization with only me in their ranks. Give it a rest.

None of the masonic traditions is copyrighted. The girls are free at any time to go start girl masonry. The boys can have boy masonry and not worry about getting tangled up in affairs. All us boys know that we like lookin at the girls. It is easyer to subdue your passions and pursue moral and intellectual attainments when you can, for a few hours a month, remove yourself from the dramas of sexual attraction.
The original reason that masonry was (it is no longer) a secret society was to keep from being burned at the stake for wanting religious liberty. The protestants and the catholics were loping off heads left and right. Even pretending to be on the winning side could get you killed when they became the losing side. Read up on 'Bloody Mary
Even after the need for secrecy was gone, it was noticed that keeping the traditions resulted in keeping a strong bond of brotherhood. Now as you may know, plenty of masons have changed their mind about being a mason and gone off and blabbed everything. So why do we refuse to tell you something you could easily look up on the net? Tradition. One thing that the masons excel at is being civilized and peaceful with each other. This is because they share special little peace of culture. Like two guys who served in the same military unit or a few guys who grew up in the same neighborhood. War and strife constantly occurs between people with no common frame of reference, no common culture to understand each other by. This is why we do not speak of religion or politics in lodge. These things are divisive and we strive to keep our common frame of reference, if only for a short time, so that religious and political differences can be set aside. And for a time we can behave like civilized humans and maybe use that time to grow a little.
This is only my opinion and I do not pretend to speak for all masons.

Hi gdifly

I can see that this is a topic about which you are passionate. Let me add to the mix.

Originally posted by gdifly
Co-Masonry is not Masonry. It is a second-rate option for people who are not 'good enough' for real Masonry, which isn't acceptable.

I agree Co-masonry is not proper freemasonry, but to characterize its members as 'not good enough for freemasonry' is not really accurate. Almost all co-masons do what they do by choice, and are perfectly happy as co-masons. They could join other types of freemasonry if they wish but choose not to.

...but the first post (and attitudes of all the masons in this thread) imply that everyone is potentially "good enough" to know the secrets that should be hidden from the public... except women.

Women have their own Grand Lodge - in fact there are two orders - OWF and HFAF. There is much dialog and pooling of resources between 'male' and 'female' freemasonry, and certainly the HFAF use an identical ritual book to many UGLE lodges. All the 'secrets' of the men are fully available to the 'women'.

To the men you say "if you want to understand these things, you can always join and find out." But women don't have that option.

Yes they do - see above.

It's the 20th century and even if freemasons aren't doing all the things the conspiracy theorists think they are, they are still doing one thing, reinforcing patriarchal heierarchies and oppressing women.

Are you referring to all freemasons, or just the male ones? How do you feel about men not being allowed to join either the OWF or the HFAF? BTW its been the 21st century for a while now...

That's not to say that I don't think there's value in a brotherhood of just men or a sisterhood of just women, but Co-Masonry and the other Masonic women's organizations are still second rate substitutes for real Masonry.

Feel free to post this viewpoint on the HFAF website (you can find it here). See what kind of a reaction you get from the good lady masons there...

And women still aren't considered 'good enough' for the organization that even someone like SkepticGreek could potentially join, by mere virtue of the fact that he is possessed of a penis and a Y chromosome.

Do you feel that there is no place whatsoever in the 21st century for single-sex assemblies? Where would you draw the line... single sex schools? single sex rest rooms?

Please accept the FACT that there is male freemasonry, female freemasonry and mixed freemasonry, and that some people chose to practice their freemasonry in a single sex environment and that other people chose not to. Its about CHOICE, not social engineering.

[edit on 2/9/07 by Trinityman]