Freemasons - I have a few questions.

reply to post by SecretSky


Good question.

Well I'm going to answer out of order if you don't mind. Every group of people has secrets. ours are just grips (handshakes), and pass words. Our rituals are secret, but you can read them on-line. The military has secrects, so do unions, frats, baseball teams, and kids with a tree house. Is it wrong? It is a big group of brothers. I'm in the navy (4yrs left). While in I became a shellback. (look that up on-line). If I opened a business, and a marine was applying that was a shellback, I'd hire him over a navy guy that wasn't. While in college (didn't finish) I was in a frat. Would I hire a frat brother....yes! As we travel, we can meet other masons, and know that they are of the same morals/standers.
Why join? Well for me I was a member of VFW. A good club that does charitable work, but it was more getting drunk at the post. I wanted to be a part of a club that was more respectable, and family friendly.

reply to post by network dude

Yeah guys, he likes moon shine not wine!

reply to post by hiramat357

4-years left? To retirement?

Originally posted by SecretSky
I don't know very much about Freemasonry, other than the little I have read.
From what I have read, Freemasons tend to be helpful people and do a lot of good work for their local communities.
Anyway - I have a few honest questions and would be grateful for your answers.

1. Why did you become a Freemason?
2. Apart from doing good for the community, is there a specific goal of Freemasonry?
3. If Freemasonry reveals any good information to you, which you cannot share with non-masons, why can it not be revealed? If it is good information, surely it would benefit all.
4. Isn't being (somewhat) secretive/holding back information a bit divisive towards the same communities you try to do good for?

Sorry for the many questions - I don't mean them to offend or anything. I'm just curious about how Freemasons perceive these questions. Also, any questions about the reasoning behind my questions - please ask me, and I'll respond.

Cheers!

The true reason i joined the brotherhood was the rich philosophy, and our very interesting method of imparting them. I was exposed to Masonic knowledge long before actually joining the order, and simply joined for the experience and a sincere desire to be a part of something bigger than myself. There was also curiosity, i wanted to see for myself or rather confirm my own theory. Also I'm a big fan of the ritual and regalia and all the titles and recognitions.

The true purpose, as brethren have already mentioned is making good men better. The logic being that these men will inturn make this world a better place all together. It is meant to make good men better father's, husband's, neighbours, and leaders. The concepts of which are not unknown to the world through the variety of philosophic systems and religions.

In my opinion the secrecy is a mode of security and protection from the tyrant and profane. I initially join this site to spread the light contained therein, but have recanted that decision after seeing all the spiritually poor ransacking these forums.

I will agree that the secrecy has been detrimental to our development, as evidenced in the declining, and near death experience of the Brotherhood. We are making a comeback. I myself am 27 years old and am delighted to see some young men like myself in lodge, we just might survive another generation O:-)

reply to post by JoshNorton


uhm e-excuse me sir...but a lot of Freemasons must be alarmed by all the...rumors.you must hear them a lot.i believe that true change can only come from within.the ways to make ourselves better is by standing up for what is right.what's going on in the hive?is the queen sick?

Originally posted by oneeye
reply to post by JoshNorton

 

uhm e-excuse me sir...but a lot of Freemasons must be alarmed by all the...rumors.

The only alarm comes in the idea that someone might actually believe it. There's occasional surprise, the very rare offense, but most of the time it's just comical.

you must hear them a lot.i believe that true change can only come from within.

So do Masons. The point of adopting symbolism from the builders' trades was that Speculative Masonry is about building oneself.

Originally posted by Themadalchemist
I will agree that the secrecy has been detrimental to our development, as evidenced in the declining, and near death experience of the Brotherhood. We are making a comeback. I myself am 27 years old and am delighted to see some young men like myself in lodge, we just might survive another generation O:-)

edit on 1-9-2011 by Themadalchemist because: typo, damn these android keyboards

You know, I felt that way much myself when I first joined, however recently I and other learned brothers have noted, that while the numbers have gone down, the quality is slowly going up. There's more mason's truly interested in the ritual, traditions, and lessons. For sometime the craft was filled mainly with descendents who mainly joined because it was simply expected, and sales people and others who felt it was a way to network for their career. I think truthfully now that the decline in masonic numbers may just be the best thing to ever happen to it. It's returning to a core more interested in the virtues, and lessons of the fraternity.

I'd rather have 20 members taking part, and trying to live by their oathes, then 200 card carrying masons paying dues, and not really attending or adding to the lodge......of course the Treasurer may feel differently.

Originally posted by oneeye
reply to post by JoshNorton

 

uhm e-excuse me sir...but a lot of Freemasons must be alarmed by all the...rumors.you must hear them a lot.i believe that true change can only come from within.the ways to make ourselves better is by standing up for what is right.what's going on in the hive?is the queen sick?

LOL!

The "rumors" are on the internet and in tight little conspiracy circles. I would wager that 90% of the masons in my lodge have never heard a single negative thing about the masons.

If the old /men in my lodge ever did stumble on to something like ATS, they would be dumbfounded by all the baseless accusations and they would assume everyone here was some kind of loon.

No, the queen is not sick, but the country and the society is sick, and its a shame there aren't more good people willing to step up and join a good cause.

Originally posted by oneeye
i believe that true change can only come from within.

I agree wholeheartedly. But I'll also argue that a) having a model to base that change on, and b) having a support group of peers who can offer you advice if you start to slip can both be beneficial to making such change.

the ways to make ourselves better is by standing up for what is right.

Again, I agree. That's why the tenets of Masonry include equality and liberty.

reply to post by OnTheLevel213


I remember playing as a child the classic board game monopoly.i was a shy kid and always played alone,i thought it gave me an edge.yet i always ended up in esoteric debt!! when I joined other players I saw how much...better the game can be.It made me see how the game is improved when other's...strategies for building are involved.Every time it brought us closer and we had a great time,and in the end...we all won!

reply to post by getreadyalready


i have always had a keen interest in architecture and have travelled the world extensively(albeit mostly in my mind)! in a deep cave in a remote corner of the globe i heard whispers from the old ones.They opened my heart to what i like to call "The Great Tapestry".it made me want to help my brothers and sisters.Im not sure if im "good" anymore but am always willing to join a good cause..what do you propose?

reply to post by JoshNorton


agreed.let's work together to...fix this world.each of us carry the flame..if we combine them we can banish the darkness.

I think the reactions to Masons varies from country to country.
In the UK, I am met with the "old boy's club" attitude. In Germany (Bavaria), where I work, I get the Iluminati treatment, simply because I work in Ingolstadt, the home of the Bavarian Illuminati. I have sat in bars and seen people literally freeze for a second and then move away from me on site of my ring or badge.

Now in France, where I live, the reaction is totally different. French Masonry is as corrupt as it gets. So much in fact that the other European Grand Lodges have sent them to Coventryuntil they gat there act together. Most of the high level government officials in France are Masons and the DO use the fact to further their careers.
The Masons are met with total fear and suspision there. You should see the reations I get when I am walking around the streets in Toulouse.

I have tried to explain our ethos to many of the people that enquire, in France, they say they understand, buut you can still see the mistrust and fear in their faces. I hate it. I did not become a Mason for people to fear me and I think that when I finally move back to France to work, I will make it my business to help turn the reputation of Masonry around.

reply to post by SecretSky


let our actions...and the results show us for what we are..i want to believe in you.please hear me.some of us want to help to.you have decide what 'good people" really means...

reply to post by TheLoneArcher

Now in France, where I live, the reaction is totally different. French Masonry is as corrupt as it gets. So much in fact that the other European Grand Lodges have sent them to Coventryuntil they gat there act together. Most of the high level government officials in France are Masons and the DO use the fact to further their careers.

(Finally, someone who tells it like it is!)

Freemasonry obviously isn't any better OR worse than any other group of humans congregating.
People cling to one another in various ways, and this is just one way to do it.

No organization, however, can boast 100% purity, because human nature always has a dark side.

Free masonry started back in Sumeria though no recoded history of it has been found to date. It came about because of rivalries between "So called" brothers Enki and Enlil. Enlil is not Enki's brother.He is literally the devil.
The colors Red,White and Black go back as far and beyond Atlantis. Look at Knossis in Greece. There clan colors... The V represents the female organ,thats how it looks-look up cuniform, Invert the V and it is the first Sumerian cuniform for the male organ. Take the two V's and supper impose them.....see it? Now take the witches pentagram and look at it. Its all the same symbol. The G in the masonic symbol stands for Goddess.
Not God.
Everything is female before it is genetically altered by DNA. lol! Fact.

That even goes for aliens/angels/Gods whatever you want to call us. There's more,but I wont write a book.

Originally posted by Irunini
Free masonry started back in Sumeria though no recoded history of it has been found to date.

Then what's your source?

The colors Red,White and Black go back as far and beyond Atlantis.

Um...yeah. They go as far back as the refraction of light.

Invert the V and it is the first Sumerian cuniform for the male organ.

That's a myth. The cuneiform for "penis" is the first from the left here.

Now take the witches pentagram and look at it.

The "witch's pentagram" is a recent invention. Before that it was the Christian pentagram.

Its all the same symbol. The G in the masonic symbol stands for Goddess. Not God.

Actually, it stands for Geometry, which has its own spiritual overtones (and in English is extended to mean God). Keep in mind that the "G" in the center of the S&C is only present in the English-speaking portion of North America.

Everything is female before it is genetically altered by DNA. lol! Fact.

You don't understand how DNA/genetics works. DNA does not "alter" you, it is you. There's not a "you" that exists somewhere outside your DNA which DNA subsequently invades and changes.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Well, cant you step up for a good cause and join the non-masons? lol prove your cause is good,

reply to post by EddieBee


You can certainly do good without becoming a Mason, no argument there.

But, to "prove my cause is good," how about reading up on a couple of these links:

Masonic Medical Research Laboratory

The Masonic Medical Research Laboratory (MMRL) is an internationally recognized biomedical research institute. For its size, there are few institutes worldwide whose cutting edge research is as productive and influential in the field of experimental cardiology. In recent years, the MMRL has become an international center for genetic screening of cardiac arrhythmia diseases, especially those contributing to sudden death syndromes, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The MMRL is blazing new trails in the development of safe and effective drugs for atrial fibrillation, addressing one of the greatest unmet medical needs facing our society. With its recent inauguration of a Stem Cell Center, the MMRL is making rapid progress in the creation of human models of disease focused on development of innovative therapies and cures.

Keep in mind that Masons do not funnel off any of the Charitable funds or donations. 100% pass through to the Charities. Our own expenses are paid by internal fundraisers and dues. Any donations received are given completely to the ear-marked charities. We gave over $200 Million last year alone.

A short list of Charity Organizations with Contact Info

A different List of Charities

Some anti-Masons have criticized Freemasonry, arguing that based on the number of Freemasons in the world divided by the reports of some Masonic charities means that Masons are not as charitable as they hold themselves out to be. In reality, this attack belies facts.

First, much of the charity work which the anti-Masons examine is limited to less than a dozen activities. Most Masonic charity, however, is far less publicly visible than things like the Shriners Hospitals - and if Masonry itself doesn't attempt to total its giving, we fail to see how anti-Masons can.

Dr. S. Brent Morris has written a book which has brought light to much of the Charity work Masons are doing.

Shriners Hospitals
I have personally witnessed the impact of Shriner Hospital care for children. It is 100% free, and it is top notch care. They also do research and find cures and alternative treatments. It is an amazing thing to witness, and if you have never visited a Shriners Hospital, you should go to one and take a tour. That goes for all my fellow Masons as well. If you show up at a Shriners Hospital and let them know you are a Mason or a Shriner, they will roll out the red carpet, and it will change your life!

Shriner's Hospitals for Children

As one Shriner put it, "We can't put a price on what we do for these children so we do it for free!"

All Shriners are Masons! There are 22 hospitals throughout the United States: three for treatment of burns and 19 which address crippled children's medical problems.

The first Shriners Hospital opened in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1922 and the first Burns Institute opened in Galveston, Texas in 1966. To date, the Shriners have spent over $3 billion dollars on hospital operating costs and over $7 million on construction and renovation.

Funds for this essential work come from gifts, bequests, income from the endowment fund, hospital fund-raising events, and the annual hospital assessment paid by every Shriner (of which there are approximately 600,000). If the children are covered by insurance, the Shrine Hospitals now collect those funds but they do NOT bill parents/guardians for care

Charity runs deep in all of our Degree Work, every Lodge Meeting, and every interaction with a brother Mason.

In the first degree, we are told to practice Charity. In fact, we are told during the perambulation of the second degree:

“…and now abideth, Faith, Hope and Charity, but the most important of these is Charity”
In the lecture of the first degree, we are told:
“The form of a lodge is oblong. It extends from east to west and from north to south, and is said to be thus extensive to denote the universality of Masonry, and to teach us that a Mason’s charity should be equally extensive"
And
"The three principle rounds of which are Faith, Hope and Charity, which admonish us to have Faith in G-d, Hope of immortality, and charity for all mankind. The greatest of these is Charity, for Faith may be lost from sight, hope ends in fruition, but charity extends beyond the grave, through the boundless realm of eternity."

That's my character limit.

I have to continue my post just a little bit.

I love this quote, because this explains the true secret in Freemasonry. It is not something that can be communicated, it is something that must be experienced, and it doesn't happen at one meeting, or at a particular degree reached. It happens through constant interaction, and influence from other good and charitable people, and it is unique to each person experiencing it for themselves.

Those who become Freemasons only for the sake of finding out the secret of the order, run a very great risk of growing old under the trowel without ever realizing their purpose. Yet there is a secret, but it is so inviolable that it has never been confided or whispered to anyone. Those who stop at the outward crust of things imagine that the secret consists in words, in signs, or that the main point of it is to be found only in reaching the highest degree. This is a mistaken view: the man who guesses the secret of Freemasonry, and to know it you must guess it, reaches that point only through long attendance in the lodges, through deep thinking, comparison, and deduction.


He would not trust that secret to his best friend in Freemasonry, because he is aware that if his friend has not found it out, he could not make any use of it after it had been whispered in his ear. No, he keeps his peace, and the secret remains a secret.

Giovanni Giacomo Casanova, Memoirs, Volume 2a, Paris, p. 33

* * * *
Also, I'd like to share a story from two Christmases ago, where a house fire took all the presents and clothing and shelter from a young family. The community pitched in to help them out, but there were several anonymous gifts that showed up Christmas morning where they were staying, and they were never accounted for. Santa Clause did a little research and found out what key gifts were destroyed, and on Christmas morning, the kids had new bikes, and particularly Girly outfits, and several other things that had taken an emotional as well as economic toll on the family.

This was not an organized event, and it was not a publicized event, and it didn't come from any fundraiser, it came from a couple of good men, that happen to also be Masons, but I'm only aware of it, because they are close friends of mine. It wasn't announced to the Lodge, and it wasn't announced on the news, it was just an anonymous gesture.
* * * *
I could also share the story of the woman almost murdered here a few months ago. Her father and fiance were not Masons. They were both murdered in her home by her ex-boyfriend, and he thought he had murdered her as well, but she miraculously survived. Masons took the helm in fundraising, and visiting the hospital, and setting up a scholarship for the baby. They even helped to counsel the young woman, and attend her physical therapy. She was known to one of the Masons in the Lodge, but she was helped financially, and emotionally by dozens of Masonic strangers without even asking. And keep in mind, it was not just some anonymous do-gooder writing a check out of guilt. These were people showing up at the hospital, asking how they could help, running errands on her behalf, going to the banks, going to the scene of the crime and cleaning up and helping her move, coordinating with her family, and being available in any way they could. This was real effort, by real people, doing it without any ulterior motive whatsoever.
* * * *
I could also tell the story of a suicide we had a year or two ago. A young man that was conflicted and had a rocky past, and almost didn't get the chance to become a Mason. After he visited the lodge many times, and we got to know the young man, he was eventually voted in. He was progressing rapidly, studying hard, and even mentoring other new members with his newfound knowledge. Unfortunately one night, he fell off the wagon, and he wound up dead. It was a very distressing time, but at the funeral, his mother approached several of the Masons and thanked them for all the time invested into her son. He had never had the mentorship and brotherly love like he was receiving there, and she said he had never been happier, more mature, and more focused in his life than during those last few months. It still pains me to think we didn't do enough, or we didn't have enough of his trust to get a phone call on that fateful night, but knowing that his mother appreciated our efforts was heart-warming.
* * * *

Those are just a couple of stories, from my experience over the last few years, and they are a very, very small window into the "goodness" that Masons possess and share.

Sure, anyone could make those same gestures, and these were not organized Masonic events, but they are reflective of the good men that join the Masons, and how they conduct themselves in real life.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
,,,but there were several anonymous gifts that showed up Christmas morning where they were staying...and particularly Girly outfits...

God bless you networkdude, God bless you.