What are all the good things the Masons have done?

The Masons know how I feel about their fraternity.

So here is your chance to post the good things the Masons

have done in your community.

Credible sources would be nice, but good stories will be listened to too.

I know the Masons are tired of the Mason bashing, so I wish to open a

conversation towards the positive.

Thanks.

They turned me into a newt!

The lodges in my district (the 4th) sponsor the local veterans home (Paramus, NJ). We alternate in taking the Veterans to Sunday services, reading to them and generally providing some well needed friendship and companionship. We are currently running a gift drive for these same Veterans and will be providing them with presents for the holiday season. I do not feel it is necesary to provide verification of the above mentioned functions as you can easily check these yourself if you disbelieve me.

This is just one of many, many endeavors that we as Masons undertake to help better the lives of others without any type of recompense except the spiritual contentment it brings us. I can easily consume all 4000 of the alloted characters in this post with the donations of money and the contributions of time our lodge makes in the course of the year but I think you already know that we are overachievers in this regard.

Originally posted by stompk
The Masons know how I feel about their fraternity.

So here is your chance to post the good things the Masons

have done in your community.

Herein lies a conundrum for Masons because, as one of the Masons assembled last night for another Lodge's Installation night, we were reminded that our charitable acts are to be done for their own sake without looking for or expecting acknowledgment and/or praise, either personally or collectively.

For that reason, I'm not going to detail the charitable works done by my Lodge as I don't think any list (no matter how long) is really going to change your position to any appreciable degree. There's certainly more than enough resources available to you that you should be able to ascertain the extent of charitable works carried out by the various Masonic groups.

[edit on 8-12-2007 by Fitzgibbon]

Originally posted by Scalamander
They turned me into a newt!

But you got better... right?

Sorry... I couldn't help myself!

I'll actually contribute to the thread now. It's minor, but when I was in dancing class as a child, a local masonic lodge let us use their building to practice in while ours was being remodeled or something. It's nothing huge, but it was nice of them.

reply to post by Fitzgibbon


... couldn't agree more Fitz. Freemasonry follows the words of Jesus in this matter. Matthew 6:1-4:

Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Of interest here also is this webpage

Having said that, I believe that this is most pertinent on an individual level. It is a well known fact that freemasonry gives to charitable causes, and indeed that this is one of our tenets. In the modern age there is a public interest in masonic activities (hence the popularity of this site) and much information is in the public domain. I have no problem directing people to this information - one of the best can be found at www.grandcharity.org... .

Something I am curious about - and I am being sincere here:

Stormpk, you have spent a lot of posts looking up "negative" information about masonry: why is it you would not also look for the positive things? We are, of course, happy to tell you although as it has been mentioned we prefer to do good without talking about it - but I think you'd actually find that finding out about masonic charity and acts of kindness is much easier to find than the - er - "negative" stuff. You don't have to answer, but I am curious.

But to answer your question directly - my particular lodge does a lot monetarily and volunteering wise with a nearby masonic children's home. The home is called masonic because thats where most of the support comes from, I believe the entire staff and board of directors are actually non-masons.

My grandfather and some fellow members help build a local environmental center free of charge. They had had trouble getting funding and the showed up and offered to help.

This one came up earlier today:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

RacerX and I made the books for bikes program happen for one blue lodge, it is a success, the schools are happy, the kids even happier.
We are on to a Shrine children hospital now. Our goal for the first year is to increase the donation by 10 times.
Why? because we can.

reply to post by LightinDarkness


That is like the 5th time you've spelled my name StormpK. Is that funny to you?
I'll just put you on the ignore list if you want to play that way.


Now, back to the thread.

Intrepid, good one. I'm glad to see a few examples.

Two things. It seems the Mason do a lot of their charity through hospitals. Is their a reason for that? Has their been a lot of Mason come up with cures?

Second. There are millions of Masons in the US. Each one pays monthly, yearly, and sign up dues, plus all the clothes and jewelry and books, and fund raisers and dinnners. Show me some real substantial projects the Masons take on with all that money they raise.

And if not, where does all the money go?

I helped a homeless man. That doesn't make me a good person.

[edit on 9-12-2007 by stompk]

Hey bro- I live in Mahwah. (Hawthorne Fortitude 2nd District)

Talk about a small world!

Cory

Originally posted by AugustusMasonicus

The lodges in my district (the 4th) sponsor the local veterans home (Paramus, NJ). We alternate in taking the Veterans to Sunday services, reading to them and generally providing some well needed friendship and companionship. We are currently running a gift drive for these same Veterans and will be providing them with presents for the holiday season. I do not feel it is necesary to provide verification of the above mentioned functions as you can easily check these yourself if you disbelieve me.

This is just one of many, many endeavors that we as Masons undertake to help better the lives of others without any type of recompense except the spiritual contentment it brings us. I can easily consume all 4000 of the alloted characters in this post with the donations of money and the contributions of time our lodge makes in the course of the year but I think you already know that we are overachievers in this regard.

I know I've mentioned it a couple times on ATS over various threads...

BUT...

In 1985 there was a nurses strike here in Victoria, Australia, which closed all but emergency beds in public hospitals...

At the time, my parents had no private insurance...so the option for me was to go home and be very ill from a kidney infection..

Fortunately, the FreeMasons private hopistal in Melbourne agreed to take me in at the Medicare rate (which was way under the normal rate they charge) and to have my treating specialist visit me daily at said rate...

I've always thought of the FreeMasons as a group who potentially saved me from life long serious health problems....And a bit after my 40th year, the way these people helped my family and me so long ago means so much to me...

Thanks to the FreeMasons and their generosity, I may not be here...or I may be on my last legs...

What I do know, without that amazingly generous act, I would not be here in the health I am today...

Have I thought about joining the FreeMasons, yes I have...Due to a lack of self confidence, I'm not sure I'm worthy to join such a fine body of men...

But I will be forever in debt to the FreeMasons due to their kindness and love for their fellow man...They took a sick kid in, and he grew to be a man...How good a man, I don't know...

But I give thanks and credit where due...

Thankyou FreeMasonry, you most likely added years to my lifespan...There is no price anyone could place on this

Peace

Tony

reply to post by stompk


Ah, you see, the real agenda comes out. You see, this is exactly why I asked that question about your intentions - I made sure to ask it politely, and without malice - but your true side still came out.

As for spelling your name wrong, if you take "storm" to be offensive all I can do is laugh. No worries, because now everyone else sees your agenda AND sees all the good things masons are doing.

Ignore all you want, it won't change reality. Stop it with your fallacies, its getting old. Grand Lodge finances are open to the public and have balance sheets that show exactly where all the money goes - if you so desperately want proof of all of this, go google it yourself.

To everyone else - great examples of all of masonry's good works. I didn't even know about some of these things, it's amazing some of the stuff that masons have done/are doing in their community. Rilence, your story is especially moving. As for joining - as long as you join with the good intentions you have, you are exactly the type of person lodges are looking for. You should contact your local lodge about joining them at one of their dinners or other event open to the public to get to know the members better - you might find yourself joining very shortly thereafter!

[edit on 9-12-2007 by LightinDarkness]

reply to post by Rilence


Rilence,

I second LightinDarkness' opinion that you should petition. You are exactly the type of person who could benefit most by joining the Fraternity. It will also give you a chance to pay forward the help and assistance you and your family received. I truly enjoy hearing stories such as yours, it makes all our hard work that much more rewarding.

[edit on 9-12-2007 by AugustusMasonicus]

Originally posted by stompk

Two things. It seems the Mason do a lot of their charity through hospitals. Is their a reason for that? Has their been a lot of Mason come up with cures?

Second. There are millions of Masons in the US. Each one pays monthly, yearly, and sign up dues, plus all the clothes and jewelry and books, and fund raisers and dinnners. Show me some real substantial projects the Masons take on with all that money they raise.

And if not, where does all the money go?

I helped a homeless man. That doesn't make me a good person.
[edit on 9-12-2007 by stompk]

StormK, did you read my post about 1 million dollars a DAY coming from the Masons? Or did you just ignore it? Either way, that response alone should tell you where the money is going.
They are very community-minded and many are good Christians. What's your problem with that?
I think hospitals are at the top of the list because there is such a need. With at least 20% of Americans not being covered by health insurance (I think it's actually much higher) many children need the medical help that the Masons have provided. Also, with the Veteran's Admin being what it is, our veterans desperately need all the help they can get.
Did you notice as well, that the Masons actually spend time with driving veterans to church, visiting them and reading to them? All of that takes time, something which no one has very much of any more.

reply to post by forestlady


forestlady? Truth be told, I don't think stompk's honestly looking for answers that will make him view Masonry in a favourable light. I think he's looking for Masons to give him a litany of charitable works at which point, he'll turn around and point to all the Masons 'bragging' on his thread and what a self-important bunch we are.

That's my read on things anyway. I'll be glad to be proved wrong though.

reply to post by Fitzgibbon


Wrong again. I have not interjected once, except to compliment Intrepid... This is your turn to shine. If I were a proud Mason, I would make every post count.

Otherwise, your just looking for a fight.

[edit on 9-12-2007 by stompk]

reply to post by stompk


Pride goeth before a fall. I just don't sense that you really care to find out anything positive about Masons and Masonry in general. As I said in my initial post in this thread, there's plenty of information available on the Net if you're truly interested in finding out the good works that Masons have done and do. There's no real need for each Mason to delineate every charitable act done as that diminishes the act.

reply to post by Fitzgibbon


Fitz, I think you are 100% correct. If he was genuinely interested in finding out about masonic charity he (1) probably wouldn't ask it in this forum and (2) even if he did, he would not be asking questions in the way he has been. Its very evident from his questions demanding to see "proof" that he will - exactly as you say - come out and conclude that masonry doesn't do anything for charity because there is no proof (even though there is, he won't know how to read a balance sheet), and its all funneling money from some sinister purpose.