Is your profile pic Carrol O'Connor? He was a Mason.
How many Freemasons do we have on B&B
- Thread starter edenri
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Is your profile pic Carrol O'Connor? He was a Mason.
S
surpera1
not sure if he was
I think it has to do with the secrets; as she understands it, the meetings aren't to be discussed with anyone outside the organization. And women aren't allowed, either.
This is gonna be a little drawn out, but please bear with me.
Every organization has secrets. You can't go volunteer at Coca Cola or get a new hire position and expect them to open up about their secret recipe. The reason that the fraternity doesn't talk about its ceremonies outside of the lodge is simple.
The ancient stone masons guilds, from which the fraternity originates, had to keep trade secrets to secret so they could stay competitive and keep making a living. So they developed secret handshakes and passwords so they could identify who was a legitimate mason and who was an poser trying to steal trade secrets. Thats why they never discussed their craft outside of a lodge (tents and huts where they lived next to their construction sites). As the need to Gothic buildings and cathedrals dwindles during the post dark ages, the masons were left without work. At this time the focus of the fraternity shifted from using their tools to build buildings, to using them to symbolically build character in men. It became a philosophical and philanthropic organization.
There seem to be two main reasons for all of their meetings being secret. This is Masonry according to Christian, but most of the Masons here can probably agree with me.
1) Honesty, brotherhood, and morality are some of the core teachings of Freemasonry. If you can trust a brother to not break his word to reveal the fraternity secrets you can probably trust him outside the lodge too. This is also about making lifelong friends. If somebody breaks their word and blabs all the secrets, what is their word worth?
2) Those who want to receive the full impact of the lessons that Masonry teaches in its rituals, and feel their full emotional impact, will be disappointed if they get to know before hand what happens. Kinda like having the end of your favorite book ruined for you, or having somebody blab that Darth Vader is Luke's dad before you get a chance to see the movie for yourself.
As for women not being allowed, that needs some clarification.
Freemasonry has apendant bodies that do allow women. There are some differences, such as that women don't participate in the rituals and ceremonies of Freemasonry, but they do have their own ceremonies.
Keep in mind that college fraternities and sororities are don't allow members of the opposite sex to join.
I just filled out my petition. This thread had me intrigued so I did more research. The idea of a place where the President of the U.S. and his gardener can sit as equals has some real appeal as a brotherhood that can guide me into my middle age years and beyond.
I still don't know what's in store, and can't say I truly know what freemasonry is (other than the basic teachings and principles), but I look forward to the journey.
When I went to the local Lodge for dinner, I was met with open arms by a truly kind and sincere group of gentlemen. Eating at the same table was a postman, a Wall Street trader, a corrections officer and a college professor--a very cool vibe.
Where else does that possibly happen?
I still don't know what's in store, and can't say I truly know what freemasonry is (other than the basic teachings and principles), but I look forward to the journey.
When I went to the local Lodge for dinner, I was met with open arms by a truly kind and sincere group of gentlemen. Eating at the same table was a postman, a Wall Street trader, a corrections officer and a college professor--a very cool vibe.
Where else does that possibly happen?
Congratulations!
I would highly recommend Freemasons for Dummies. Its written by a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason and he makes it all easy to understand. It opened my eyes and was th final piece that I needed and I decided to join after that.
No! That's not true! That's impossible!
A friend of my mine is a Mason. Told me a story of how it once got him out of a speeding ticket. That's when I knew I didn't want to be a Mason.
Steve
S
surpera1
my
another poor blind candidate
hehehehehehheheh
another poor blind candidate
hehehehehehheheh
I never had that happen to me. In fact he shouldn't have been speeding in the first place. You can buy books off the shelf that describe everything that goes on at Masonic meetings so if it supposed to be a secret we didn't do to good of a job keeping it hid. Freemasonry is not a secret fraternity, it's a fraternity with secrets. It helped me become a better man and for that i am truly grateful and i haven't even went through all the degrees yet.
Bill, Thanks for the response. Though I did, I don't really mean to generalize from my single experience what Freemasonry is all about. What I'm opposed to is having more loyalty to another person than I do to my own code of ethics (e.g. the speeding ticket incident). You tend to get that in close-knit organizations (or families, real and mafia), such as the police (blue wall) and the military. I don't know enough about the Masons to have painted them with such a broad brush (by implication).
Steve
Steve
I turned in my petition tonight! Way excited. It'll be about a month before the investigative committee meets with my and my wife. From there it will probably be a couple more months till they vote since the lodge is closed during the summer. I'm going to be a nervous wreck till then. Wish me luck! 
Actually, anybody who attempts to use their membership to get out of a ticket is not adhering to the teachings of Masonry and is behaving in a very unMasonic fashion (not sure thats a real word, lol). LIkewise, any Mason who is a cop would be breaking his obligations if he show'd favor on another member and neglected his duties as a police officer. Masons do not place each other in that position.
I have great news to report.
I have been elected to receive the Degrees of Freemasonry and will receive my EA Degree next Monday.
I have been elected to receive the Degrees of Freemasonry and will receive my EA Degree next Monday.
Congratulations. You're about to embark on a great journey.
Good news. Pay attention to what you are going to experience. Please report back.
It was good enough for Mozart and Haydn.
I was interested in joining, but I'm not a believer in God, so am therefore disqualified. Bummer.
At a church picnic.
half-mason thinking about it every now and again...
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