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Originally posted by SecretSky
1. What is your favourite memory of time spent at your lodge?
2. Have you ever experienced alienation (in real life - not online) because of Freemasonry?
3. Is it true that Freemasons tend to help promote each other if working in the same company?
4. Have you ever been nervous, embarrassed or scared about anything you had to do during a ceremony?
Originally posted by SecretSky
Baahh! I can't hold off any longer, my curiosity is killing me. I have a few more questions for you, I hope you don't mind:
1. What is your favourite memory of time spent at your lodge?
2. Have you ever experienced alienation (in real life - not online) because of Freemasonry?
3. Is it true that Freemasons tend to help promote each other if working in the same company?
That is part of the fun, and the main reason for the secrets!
4. Have you ever been nervous, embarrassed or scared about anything you had to do during a ceremony?
Originally posted by raiders247
Heres my opinion from what I have found out:
Lower ranking free-masons usually get together for harmless fraternal activities and such, while the higher degree masons congregate in secrecy for World domination.
Yes. I am alienated by what conspiracy-theories do to peoples heads. I mention Im a Freemason and people go pale or think I am evil incarnate. Knowing that I am as harmless as it gets, this is both alienating and fascinating. Inadvertently I am taught a lot about perception and how peoples beliefs distort their perception.
4. Have you ever been nervous, embarrassed or scared about anything you had to do during a ceremony?
That is part of the fun, and the main reason for the secrets!
Originally posted by Skyfloating
2. Have you ever experienced alienation (in real life - not online) because of Freemasonry?
Yes. I am alienated by what conspiracy-theories do to peoples heads. I mention Im a Freemason and people go pale or think I am evil incarnate. Knowing that I am as harmless as it gets, this is both alienating and fascinating. Inadvertently I am taught a lot about perception and how peoples beliefs distort their perception.
I would say two moments stand out.
Originally posted by SecretSky
1. What is your favourite memory of time spent at your lodge?
Nope. I've had to explain Masonry to a few people in person, but never been cast out because of my affiliation with it.
2. Have you ever experienced alienation (in real life - not online) because of Freemasonry?
I'm sure some do, but I've never worked with another Mason so I can't say I've ever seen it happen personally. Like others have stated, knowing that someone is a Mason should pass along a sense of trust in that person, knowing what virtues they're supposed to hold true, and what promises they've made to uphold those values. But ultimately, if they're not actually qualified to do the job, only a fool would hire or promote them to it.
3. Is it true that Freemasons tend to help promote each other if working in the same company?
There's always fear of the unknown, but you have to have faith that your brothers won't steer you wrong. I think being blindfolded, putting faith in your fellow man is an important lesson.
4. Have you ever been nervous, embarrassed or scared about anything you had to do during a ceremony?
Your own ignorance on the subject shows. The Grand Master is the elected head of the Grand Lodge (in the US, usually one per state (not counting the Prince Hall lodges...)). So the Grand Master of Louisiana is the highest ranking Mason in the state of Louisiana. He's elected by representatives of the lodges under that Grand Lodge, and serves a one year term. There is NO body, Masonic or otherwise, that controls all the Grand Lodges. They're each independent of another. The Grand Master only answers to his own constituents. And after his year in office, he's out. That's the way it's worked for hundreds of years.
Originally posted by ILovePeace
On a site that denies ignorance, and this is my opinion i mean no offense, that sentence is ignorant. I'm sorry but you nor me will ever know the leaders at the 'tip top', nor the strings they pull to keep most of the world in chaos...
Originally posted by SecretSky
Baahh! I can't hold off any longer, my curiosity is killing me. I have a few more questions for you, I hope you don't mind
1. What is your favourite memory of time spent at your lodge?
2. Have you ever experienced alienation (in real life - not online) because of Freemasonry?
3. Is it true that Freemasons tend to help promote each other if working in the same company?
4. Have you ever been nervous, embarrassed or scared about anything you had to do during a ceremony?
Some try to enlighten our detractors, others just ignore them. We've suffered such attacks for hundreds of years, and we're still doing ok.
Originally posted by RisenAngel77
Given what is happening to the world and people linking the NWO with the mason's. What are the mason's doing to try and ease the publics view and give them clarity without revealing the secrets?
Since there's no centralized Masonic authority, no. A particular state might try to promote awareness through some sort of marketing campaign, but they'd only be speaking for their lodges, and not Masonry world-wide.
If there is nothing being done, is there any plans for the future?
A, I'm not sure what my personal view has to do with anything, and B, I'm not sure what the actions of the Federal Reserve, criminal or not, have to do with Masonry. So it's a moot point either way.
What is your personal view on the Federal Reserve and it's criminal actions?
Oh, I have no doubt they will. Hitler rounded up the Masons along side the jews. Saddam made it illegal to be a Mason in Iraq, punishable by death. Tyrants are always going to be afraid of us. It comes with the territory as long as we've taken an oath to support liberty and equality.
The reason I ask this, is because more and more people are having negative thoughts on secret society's and if there ever is a revolution in the U.S the masons may end up being targeted by those who blindly points fingers without knowledge.
Originally posted by RisenAngel77
Given what is happening to the world and people linking the NWO with the mason's. What are the mason's doing to try and ease the publics view and give them clarity without revealing the secrets?
What is your personal view on the Federal Reserve and it's criminal actions?
The reason I ask this, is because more and more people are having negative thoughts on secret society's and if there ever is a revolution in the U.S the masons may end up being targeted by those who blindly points fingers without knowledge.
Originally posted by JoshNorton
I would say two moments stand out.
Originally posted by SecretSky
1. What is your favourite memory of time spent at your lodge?
I went through my degrees shortly after my first child was born. One night, in my sleep, I was woken by some sort of seizure... uncontrollable blinking, severe vertigo, etc. It only happened once, but I immediately made an appointment with a neurologist to make sure everything was ok.
Well, my appointment was set for the day after I was going to be raised to Master Mason, the 3°. That ritual has a lot to do with mortality, as well as having as part of the obligation, the promise to take care of a Master Mason's widow or orphans. So here I was, scared stiff that there was something unknown possibly wrong with my brain, and all the sudden I had the reassurance that if anything happened to me, my brothers would make sure my wife and daughter would be cared for. You can't imagine how much that meant to me at that time, and again, since I was just going through, I really didn't know too many other members very well, but I knew they'd all made the same vow I just made. It was incredible.
(The the doctor the next day told me it may have been a mini-stroke, but thankfully, I haven't had any issues since then...)
Originally posted by getreadyalready
#1
I think maybe Sky spends more time on ATS than I do, or perhaps has more conversations about conspiracy theories than I do, or even perhaps just doesn't enjoy confrontation as much as I do. I can honestly say that I have never had anyone make me feel alienated by my affiliation with Masonry, but then again, I might not notice if they had. Outside of ATS, I am a normal guy, I ride my motorcycle, work, bbq, hike, camp, etc. If I mentioned being a Mason, and somebody had an odd expression or reaction to it, I probably wouldn't notice.
A pastor from a local church that I attend from time to time likes to come by my house in the evenings. Come to think of it, him and the deacon with him seemed a little odd when I mentioned Masonry, but I was in the process of debating with him about whether any real Christians were still left in the world, so I figured that was the reason! My thoughts on Christianity are for another thread, but the preacher did impress me with his willingness to let me corner him and then stick to his convictions. He did OK, LOL! He still stops by from time to time, and I still go to his church sporadically from time to time. So, I guess I wasn't alienated.
#2
As for being embarrassed, scared, etc. Yes. It is always scary to go into any unknown situation, especially if you are intentionally built up to feel that way and placed in a compromising situation! Our first degree has plenty of opportunity to be surprised, scared, or embarrassed, but it is all a learning mechanism. Those opportunities are expounded upon in later degrees, so yes, each degree has opportunity for those things, but it really is part of the fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it each time, and I still do.
To be perfectly honest, I might have chickened out of the first degree, if I wasn't so confident in my own physical abilities, and also trustworthy of my father-in-law and some other men that were present. If I had been a stranger, in a strange lodge, and not confident in my own physicality, I probably would have opted out at the last second. I'm glad I didn't, but I have to admit, I was a little scared!