How many Freemasons do we have on B&B

Junior Warden Blue Lodge
Past Vice President Local Shrine Club
14th Degree Scottish Rite Mason
5th degree Royal Arch Mason
It is a great fraternity I love it and I think I have the most supportive wife in the world. It helps she was raised in a masonic family...

Blue Lodge and Scottish Rite here!!

I'm interested as well. But I heard that you need to be recomended by a another Freemason to join a lodge and I don't know anyone who is one (at least I don't think I know one).

buffdaddy said:

I'm interested as well. But I heard that you need to be recomended by a another Freemason to join a lodge and I don't know anyone who is one (at least I don't think I know one).

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It looks like you're in IL?

Try here. http://www.ilmason.org/

Click the link "Ask to become a Mason"

I have an update for everybody!
Its been a while since I've updated this thread, or even been on this site....life has been crazy.

I was passed to the degree of Fellow Craft last week! I am studying my proficiency and hope to be raised to Master Mason this month.

If anybody is still looking for more info on what Freemasonry is all about, a friend and brother of mine has a great facebook page about it. Its very informative. I encourage everybody to take a look!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Freemason-Conspiracy-What-is-Freemasonry/267731649908635

salazch12 said:

I have an update for everybody!
Its been a while since I've updated this thread, or even been on this site....life has been crazy.

I was passed to the degree of Fellow Craft last week! I am studying my proficiency and hope to be raised to Master Mason this month.

If anybody is still looking for more info on what Freemasonry is all about, a friend and brother of mine has a great facebook page about it. Its very informative. I encourage everybody to take a look!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Freemason-Conspiracy-What-is-Freemasonry/267731649908635

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Congratulations on being passed and your upcoming raising later this month-- I can assure you that your MM will be a night you'll never forget. Which lodge did you join? (If you'd rather PM about this, feel free)


Regarding the conspiracy questions, I often explain it like this. Freemasonry teaches and encourages men to be the best they can be and to help better society through good works, etc. As a result of this organizational mindset of constant self-improvement, it leads many to strive towards positions in government/politics, business, community, and everywhere imaginable. It was not that Freemasonry put them in these positions or directly made it happen through some conspiracy, but rather that the philosophical teachings inspired these men to achieve great things and to have a positive impact in the world. Thus, people often think of Freemasonry's influence in a clouded way as it didn't actually make [...fill in the blank...] happen, but rather gave these men the tools to do great things.



F&AM (MM), AASR (32*), AAONMS, etc.

DBlair said:

Congratulations on being passed and your upcoming raising later this month-- I can assure you that your MM will be a night you'll never forget. Which lodge did you join? (If you'd rather PM about this, feel free)



F&AM (MM), AASR (32*), AAONMS, etc.

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Progress Lodge #22
Salt Lake City, Utah

I will be petitioning for membership next Monday at the lodge right down the street from my house! About time!!

Me n my wife liked watching this show...

http://law.rightpundits.com/?p=2581

Turned in my petition tonight. Now just wait and see

SeattleSparky said:

Turned in my petition tonight. Now just wait and see

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Congratulations and good luck

Andy said:

Congratulations and good luck

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Yes good luck, (future) brother!

Good luck to you sir! Enjoy the journey.

Progress Lodge #22, F&AM
Salt Lake City, Utah.

I found this on Mama Bear's site. I am gonna have to try it.

Masonic Lodge fragrance 4 oz Shaving Soap

salazch12 said:

I found this on Mama Bear's site. I am gonna have to try it.

Masonic Lodge fragrance 4 oz Shaving Soap

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For obvious reasons, this soap got my curiosity, and so I ordered a sample. It's an interesting scent of leather, wood, musk, and musty old books. Unfortunately, not a scent I'll be ordering.

the beav said:

At a church picnic.

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Or an AA meeting
or a Buddhist retreat
or The Theosophical Society
or The Rosacrutions (spelling might be off, but I did go to one of their secret meetings once)
or a Sukh restuarant in many Arabian countries

My dad is a mason and he had nothing but good to say about the organisation. He was incensed when I was younger and had them mixed up with the Orange Order and was extremely voluble in his distancing himself from them. Bear in mind thoguh, there are few organisations which don't at least pay lip-service to principles which are worthy of respect. It's how well those principles are maintained which defines success or otherwise. It's very easy to take something very good and simple and turn it into someone else's nightmare.

BurkDarkpatches said:

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

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Walker said:

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.

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BurkDarkpatches said:

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

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salazch12 said:

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.

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Here's my $0.02 on that: Cops give warnings all the time! They let off little old ladies, young people, Democrats, Republicans, rich people, poor people, etc. Cops generally don't like having you curse them all the way home because of a ticket, and will frequently look for any possibility to come away looking like the good guy for letting you off with just a warning. Being polite and apologetic is usually sufficient to get out of a ticket, and much cheaper than initiation fees and lodge dues.

There is no conspiracy among freemasons to circumvent traffic laws, and the lessons of the fraternity do not encourage members to look the other way while a brother breaks the law. We hold each other to a high standard, and an officer who is a mason would likely be very insulted by a brother who breaks the laws he's paid to enforce, then expects special treatment on top of it.

All that said, my own father (also a freemason) was let out of a speeding ticket by a masonic state trooper. After asking a few questions that indicated both were masons, the trooper put his entire head through the driver's side window (Smokey-the-Bear hat and all), pointed to the dashboard, and said "Do you see that round thing with the needle that moves around? That thing's called a 'Speed-O-Meter' and on the highways of my state, you need to drive in such a way that the needle stays at 55 or below." That was followed by a stern lecture on obeying traffic laws, and setting a good example when driving any vehicle with a square and compass sticker on the back. In this case, being a freemason got him a roadside lecture that was far beyond what another driver would have received. It wasn't particularly friendly, and I honestly think my father would have preferred a ticket.

DBlair said:

For obvious reasons, this soap got my curiosity, and so I ordered a sample. It's an interesting scent of leather, wood, musk, and musty old books. Unfortunately, not a scent I'll be ordering.

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Ewwww.... Thanks for the post. I think I'll avoid that one.

I am happy to report that tonight I was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. It was an awesome experience.