Masonic Billboard?

I just saw a billboard that had the Mason compass and the words "know the secret?" and freemason.com. Ummm ok? I thought it was a community helper group or whatever... NOT. Any Masons care to elaborate?






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[edit on 10/1/2009 by Sauron]

reply to post by JaneFonda


It might be easier to do if you were to posit a question. A billboard in and of itself isn't a question. In this case, it seems only to be doing what most billboards are intended to do: make you aware of something

Membership in Masonry is declining.
Masons are supposed to be keeping a big secret.
Advertisement.

Originally posted by Fitzgibbon
reply to post by JaneFonda

 

It might be easier to do if you were to posit a question. A billboard in and of itself isn't a question. In this case, it seems only to be doing what most billboards are intended to do: make you aware of something

Dear Cpt. Obvious,
I'm sure the question is, can any Masons or anyone with knowledge
elaborate about this billboard and it's message?!
It may not have been as well thought out as your remark, but the question
is there... "Any Masons care to elaborate"?

reply to post by JaneFonda

the website you listed is the Grand Lodge of Ohio's website. It's probably just a recruiting poster so to speak. Kind of like the 2B1ASK1 bumper stickers.

reply to post by ShAuNmAn-X


I always thought that Masons don't recruit membership from the general public. I thought one had to be nominated or recommended by a current member.

reply to post by Muundoggie

They don't recruit actively. A Person has to want to join of their own free will. It's just an advertisement. Like the bumper stickers. Just getting the word out about their existence to people who may otherwise not know.

reply to post by Muundoggie


They don't ask directly. They generally try to hint without hinting. Flags, stickers, shirts, ect.

I'm only posting anonymously because I don't want to go through registration right now. In answer to the original question, yes they're probably just trying to increase awareness because membership is on the decline. As for active recruitment, some jurisdictions (each state is its own jurisdiction) allow active recruitment while others do not. That's why you see things like the 2B1ASK1 stickers and similar things. The reasoning behind this is that you should join of your own free will, and asking is seen as being coercive. I hope this answers your question, at least somewhat.

sign of the times....

i saw a for sale sign on a masonic lodge in north bennington vt.

Originally posted by zyrktec
sign of the times....

i saw a for sale sign on a masonic lodge in north bennington vt.

Depends. Assuming it's this lodge that you're speaking of located here, it could go either way.

Judging from area, it might indeed be a case of too few members for the lodge to pay its way anymore. It certainly seems out of the way. Of course, judging from the fact that the lodge is nearly 160 years old and it certainly would appear that the lodge building could date from that time, it may be an issue that it's cheaper to sell the old building and set-up in a newer, lower-maintenance brick building (not my favourite approach but better than going dark) and/or moving-in with another lodge to share building costs.

Hard to say. I'm partial to older lodge buildings for the sense of connectedness to previous Masons. However, one also has to be realistic about things, especially with the economy in the crapper as it is.

reply to post by zyrktec


As fitzgibbon has already demonstrated, it really isn't. Freemasonry as a institution is pretty resilent. Membership dropped up until the 90s but since then quite a few lodges have seen amazing growth. I've seen a few presentations projecting unheard of growth within the lodge in the next 5 to 10 years.

People are starting to get back into community groups, and thats spells membership growth all around - including for masons.

reply to post by cluckerspud


Obviously, its there to get interest based on the (mostly false) idea that freemasonry has some big secret that you get to know when you join. Of course, the reality is there really isn't any secret you can't find out on google except for the experience of joining itself - which would probably be the "secret" they are referring to since its the only real one.

Its playing on mostly wrong public perceptions...lodges know that the veil of mystique, even if wrongly placed, causes people to join. I think its the wrong approach. I think they should be honest and say "its all on google, but there is a reason why we still exist...brotherhood"

Its just really weird to see an ad for a fraternity, essentially. Why do they need members if its a non profit organization? I dont see boy scout commercials or anything of the sort.

Originally posted by JaneFonda
Its just really weird to see an ad for a fraternity, essentially. Why do they need members if its a non profit organization? I dont see boy scout commercials or anything of the sort.

Boy scout troops don't own as many buildings. Property taxes keep getting higher, members are dying off. Bringing in new blood is one solution.