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I have a neighbor who told me that he hates Masons. As it turns out his father knew some Masons. His father wanted to be a Mason. He 'knew' you had to be asked. The "2 B 1 ask 1" slogan, in his mind, meant that you could only join if a Mason asked you. So he [the father] stewed about it. As the years went by, his friends all seemed to enjoy being active in Masonry. But none of his friends ever recruited him. So as he got older, he got more and more angry about it. He expressed his anger to his son. Clearly his 'friends' must actually dislike him. They must all think they are better than he was, why else would they exclude him from their activity. My neighbor learned from his father to hate Masons. His father died long ago, My neighbor still carries on that hatred; "Masons are exclusive, and to become a Mason you have to be invited".
I have discussed this topic with my neighbor. Clearly I am messed up, and without any real idea of how the world truly works. He knows much better than I.
I find it amazing that some people think they know so much more about Masonry than the actual Masons. It's kind of frustrating trying to explain something to a brick wall.
As you wish. After I was raised as a Master Mason, one day we visited my grandparents. When my grandmother learned that I was a Master Mason, she told me a story about when she was a child.
Her father had been a Mason. He died when she was small, leaving her mother to raise 3 daughters. After a few years, her mother had gotten behind on the farm's mortgage so the bank decided to auction their farm. For some odd reason it was decided to hold the farm auction well before day-light one morning. On that morning a group of men with shotguns came out in a buggy, they did not come onto the farm, they just stopped at the road, near the path to the farm, with lanterns and shotguns. Then the auctioneer, the banker, sheriff and a group of her father's friends came up to the farmhouse. The auctioneer started the auction trying to get bids going, but nobody would bid on the farm. So he had to keep lowering the price, down and down. Finally he asked if anyone would start the bidding at $1. After another minute, one of the men asked for the auctioneer to take a 5 minute break. He then said that he had long forgotten that he had owed the widow's husband a dollar, and he was terribly sorry that he had forgotten until right then, that owed her a dollar. So he gave the widow $1. When the auctioneer started up again, he asked for an opening bid of $1. Everyone was silent. Another man said to the widow, 'You have a dollar, why don't you bid on the farm?" "She responded that I only have a dollar, and surely someone else will out-bid me". but it can't do any harm, so she went ahead and she made a bid of $1 on the farm. Nobody bid against her, and she won the auction. She was given the deed to her farm, with no debt against. My grandmother told me that when she became a teenager, her mother insisted that she could only court Masons. She made each of her daughters promise to only marry Masons.
As I understand it, the Masons like to keep a lot of secrets.
Ok, tell me all about the Masons then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mensaguy
Every Mason is free to discuss Masonry. (We're here now discussing Masonry, aren't we?) Some aspects will not be divulged, such as signs and tokens by which Masons recognize each other. However, there is nothing particularly unusual about that. The same things would be said about the Knights of Columbus, the Pythians, the Odd Fellows, the Loyal Order of Eagles, etc.
mensaguy is right, there are things that masons are told not to talk about, but they deal with masonic business and ritual.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Gringo
Sound secretive.
are you willing to tell every secret about yourself? if so then break out, well?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner
As you wish. After I was raised as a Master Mason, one day we visited my grandparents. When my grandmother learned that I was a Master Mason, she told me a story about when she was a child.
Her father had been a Mason. He died when she was small, leaving her mother to raise 3 daughters. After a few years, her mother had gotten behind on the farm's mortgage so the bank decided to auction their farm. For some odd reason it was decided to hold the farm auction well before day-light one morning. On that morning a group of men with shotguns came out in a buggy, they did not come onto the farm, they just stopped at the road, near the path to the farm, with lanterns and shotguns. Then the auctioneer, the banker, sheriff and a group of her father's friends came up to the farmhouse. The auctioneer started the auction trying to get bids going, but nobody would bid on the farm. So he had to keep lowering the price, down and down. Finally he asked if anyone would start the bidding at $1. After another minute, one of the men asked for the auctioneer to take a 5 minute break. He then said that he had long forgotten that he had owed the widow's husband a dollar, and he was terribly sorry that he had forgotten until right then, that owed her a dollar. So he gave the widow $1. When the auctioneer started up again, he asked for an opening bid of $1. Everyone was silent. Another man said to the widow, 'You have a dollar, why don't you bid on the farm?" "She responded that I only have a dollar, and surely someone else will out-bid me". but it can't do any harm, so she went ahead and she made a bid of $1 on the farm. Nobody bid against her, and she won the auction. She was given the deed to her farm, with no debt against. My grandmother told me that when she became a teenager, her mother insisted that she could only court Masons. She made each of her daughters promise to only marry Masons.
a similar thing was done in the 30s in americas heartland, though there was little if any masonic involvement. when farmers in the dust bowl were having problems making the payments on their farms, they would be foreclosed on, and put up for auction. since auctions had to be advertised in advance, the farmers banded together and colluded to not out bid each other when ones farms came up for auction. often times the original owner would bid as little as a nickle for their farm and no one would bid any more than that, thus preserving the farm for the owner.
but it is true that masons will come to the aid of other masons. lions club members did the same thing for each other.
Our next door neighbors were with that organization. I would never be comfortable being in an organization that is so secretive. Our neighbors were wonderful people but I was a little shocked they would join something like that.
Maybe that is why they are wonderful people...
They are not a secret organization, they are an organization with secrets...
the freemasons do require that their people believe in a greater power than themselves, they call that power the great architect, however that does not necessarily mean god, just a greater power. there is one masonic degree though that does requires that its members be christian and that is the knights templar.
Knights Templar is not a degree within Free Masonry, it is a separate body affiliated with the Masons, it is actually within the York Rite...As an independent it is by invitation only...
Plenty of bad info in this thread. The Masons are not a cult. They raise lots of money for their charities and are usually upstanding members of their communities. Yes, Masons have secrets. They're not really secrest anymore with them all being out there on the internet. As mentioned earlier, you'll never be asked to join. It's against the rules to recruit members. Surely many of you have seen "2B1ASK1". It's that simple. Ask for a petition and you'll get one. You'll need a Mason to sign for you, vouch for your character. You'll be investigated. You'll meet an investigative committee. If all goes well, you'll go through the degree work.
There are no sinister plots or evil acts. That's all conspiracy theory junk that's been spread by people who don't know what they are talking about. There are plenty of powerful men who are Masons. Being a Mason does not grant one preferential social status. We have to do that on our own. True, certain doors are opened, but that is because Masons can typically trust fellow Masons and they know it.
Actually, you will need two Masons to vouch for you and 7 references from people who know you...The investigative committee can be two or three Masons and they visit your residence and speak with you and ask how your spouse feels about you joining this organization...
I really don't know the facts about the Masons, but I was once invited to (and attended) a ceremony for the daughter of a Mason. It was quite solemn, not a party, but some type of 'coming of age' ceremony. The only thing I remember other than that was the teenager spoke lovingly of her grandmother (maybe her parents, too), wore a formal gown. I didn't get it. It was a very conservative affair. I always wondered years later when I saw the teenager, (now in her 20's very different - tats, red (really red) hair, punked out clothing, piercings...) what the ceremony meant. Never asked.
spartacus, had you fully read my post that you quoted, you would have seen where i indicated that one of the masonic degrees is in fact the knights templar. it is the ONLY masonic degree where you HAVE to be a christian to obtain that degree.
here is a list of some of the degrees of freemasonry, note that the knights templar is part of the york rite of freemasonry.
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