Would You Join a Masonic Lodge?

[PhiPsiRuss]

Related to this thread: http://GreekChat.com/gcforums/showth...threadid=45382

Would you join the Masons? Why?
If you are a Mason, why did you join?

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I know very little about the Masons, and no one who I know, that I'm aware of, belongs to the Masons (except for friends who live over a thousand miles away.) I really have no desire to join, especially because it would take away time that spend with friends, and working on fraternity matters.

[ISUKappa]

It is discouraged by our church (the entire Synod of the church, not just my sigular church) to join fraternal organizations such as Masons or Shriners but other charitable orgs such as Lions Club or Kiwanis are okay (I think it has to do with the ritual/heirarchy of the Masons). No one I know personally is a member of a masonic organization. But if it's what you want to do, then, hey, more power to you.

[risingstar]

Originally Posted by ISUKappa

It is discouraged by our church (the entire Synod of the church, not just my sigular church) to join fraternal organizations such as Masons or Shriners but other charitable orgs such as Lions Club or Kiwanis are okay (I think it has to do with the ritual/heirarchy of the Masons). No one I know personally is a member of a masonic organization. But if it's what you want to do, then, hey, more power to you.

This is new to me too. Where do you people get your info??? How would you people know about the rituals or if it has anything to do with the rituals????? Once again, DISCRETION......WOOOOOWWWWW....

[risingstar]

If one is not in an organization, one cannot speak on it intelligently. It would be strictly hear-say. I cannot speak on any of your organizations just based upon what I have read or heard. We deserve just as much respect as other organizations and I am starting to get offended as I read through this whole thread. Because if we were tearing apart another organization, you people would REALLY be offended.

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by risingstar

This is new to me too. Where do you people get your info??? How would you people know about the rituals or if it has anything to do with the rituals????? Once again, DISCRETION......WOOOOOWWWWW....

Woah, Nellie. No need to get your knickers in a twist. None of us are tearing apart your organization, nor did we reveal any seekrits (besides, that post is from, like, 3+ years ago). If anything, this has been an informative, respectful thread with regards to Masons.

I simply stated my church's (Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod) official position/beliefs on membership in Masonic groups (which you can find here). I don't know how they came to that conclusion, maybe they had members infiltrate Masonic groups with teeny tiny microphones and spy cams. If you have a problem, take it up with them. FWIW, my church is on the conservative end of the Lutheran/Christian spectrum, so it's not a surprise to me that membership is discouraged/prohibited.

[risingstar]

Nobody is getting bent out of shape. I said what I had to say about my organization. Bottom line.

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by risingstar

Nobody is getting bent out of shape. I said what I had to say about my organization. Bottom line.

Originally Posted by risingstar

We deserve just as much respect as other organizations and I am starting to get offended as I read through this whole thread.

...

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally Posted by risingstar

Nobody is getting bent out of shape. I said what I had to say about my organization. Bottom line.

You are definitely bent out of shape. Furthermore, you have no idea whether our organizations sent someone in to find out your ritual and see if it's compatible. I'm guessing that somewhere along the line maybe some Catholic priest or LCMS pastor managed to be initiated into the Freemasons and discovered their doctrine was not compatible. It's not that far-fetched.

Also, hearsay doesn't have a hyphen. Just so you know.

Also, the Catholic church is Christian. So is the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

[4est]

Originally Posted by ISUKappa

It is discouraged by our church (the entire Synod of the church, not just my sigular church) to join fraternal organizations such as Masons or Shriners but other charitable orgs such as Lions Club or Kiwanis are okay (I think it has to do with the ritual/heirarchy of the Masons). No one I know personally is a member of a masonic organization. But if it's what you want to do, then, hey, more power to you.

woops sorry forgot to quote this =D my bad...

[pirate00]

Alas, Freemasonry also gets a bad rep not just for being elitist, but also racist. In the beginning of Masonry as we know it here in the United States, African Americans were forbidden to join lodges, and not just because most were slaves or former slaves (because one requirement for an applicant to become a Mason is having to have been "free-born"). All that changed when a man named Prince Hall and 14 other black men became Masons through a British Masonic military lodge stationed in Boston in 1775.

The next year these men petitoned the UGLE (United Grand Lodge of England) for a charter so the could become their own lodge. In 1784 their request was granted and Prince Hall Freemasonry was born. In 1827 Prince Hall Masons declared independence from the UGLE just as the Most Worshipful Massachusetts Grand Lodge A.F.&A.M did 45 years earlier.A problem quickly arose for black men wishing to become Masons in the newly formed United States: the members of a Lodge must agree unanimously in an anonymous vote to accept a petitioner to receive the degrees. As a consequence of the unanimity requirement, if just one member of a lodge did not want black men in his Lodge, his vote was enough to cause the petitioner's rejection. Thus, although exceptions did exist, Masonic Lodges and Grand Lodges in the United States generally excluded African Americans. And since the vote is conducted anonymously, this created a second problem: since no one knew who had voted against the applicant, it was impossible to identify a member as pursuing a policy of racism. This allowed even a tiny number of prejudiced members to effectively deny membership to black petitioners, and in some cases even exclude black men who had legitimately been made Masons in integrated jurisdictions. Thus there arose a system of racial segregation in American Masonry, which remained in place until the 1960s and which persists in some jurisdictions even to this day.

Today, predominantly black Prince Hall Grand Lodges exist in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Liberia, governing Prince Hall Lodges throughout the world. After nearly two centuries of controversy, the Grand Lodge of England was asked to decide the matter of Prince Hall Masonic legitimacy. Carefully studying the records, the Grand Lodge of England concluded that the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts was indeed entitled to Masonic recognition, and this against the tradition that, per state, only one recognized Masonic body should exist. As a result, most (though not all) "mainstream" (i.e. predominantly white) Grand Lodges in the United States and elsewhere have extended full fraternal recognition to their Prince Hall counterparts.

I am a PROUD Prince Hall Freemason and I embrace both A F & A M, and Prince Hall Freemasons as my Brothers.

[DeltAlum]

As I said in the other thread, my Grandfather, Father and late uncle are/were Masons.

I'm not, and have no real interest -- but also have nothing at all against the organization.

[aephi alum]

I lack one of the main qualifications...

My family is very anti-Masonic, as well as anti-greek. (My going greek went over real big with the fam. )

My husband, however, is a Mason, as is his father.

I've been thinking about Eastern Star, but haven't gotten around to making any serious inquiries yet.

[AlphaSigOU]

I am a very active Mason (and along the same line, a 32-degree Scottish Rite and a Shriner), as well as the chaplain for my local Order of the Eastern Star chapter.

To me, I found the sense of fraternity as close or even closer than being an undergrad in a GLO. Hardest part was memorizing the required ritual work (which is not written) necessary to prove to another brother Mason that you're 'on the square'. But don't let that discourage you from considering membership. "You get out of it what you put into it" rings very true to any organization and how one gets involved.

[AchtungBaby80]

I might consider joining if I were a man...

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by AchtungBaby80
I might consider joining if I were a man...

You can always get a sex change!