Masonic Organizations & Hazing - Page 3

pledgetrainer2 · #31 03-02-2001, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jae:
I've been wondering this forever ...WHAT EXACTLY IS A MASON??????

Well-a Mason is a member of the Masonic Lodge. It's not associated with a college, but independant of schools. Mostly, older men belong to it.

If you are asking what a mason is-they are builders of buildings, kind of like bricklayers, I think. I know that their symbol has tools of the trade for builders on it.

If I was to guess what they are about, it would be that they are builders of something good in society, because they put a lot of emphasis on family and God, from what I can tell. My dad is not alive for me to ask him any questions about it, so I have to go on memory, from when he was a member.

KABillyMac · #32 03-02-2001, 12:23 PM

Free and Accepted Masons are a Fraternity (an Order actually)
Yes the Masons are mostly older men, but some young ones, like me, are in it. Most fraternity founders were Masons, and alot of fraternity symbolism stems from teachings from Masons. The Masonic organizations is thousands of years old. In the times of King Solomon Masons were just that, Masons. They were builders. Now the principles of the builders are taught to those who enter the lodge.

There are 3 degrees in the blue lodge, then after intiation you can join the York or Scottish rite, and recieve more degrees and Masonic teaching. Upon completeing this, you may enter the Shrine (Shriners as they are called).

Interesting fact- as far as philanthropy goes, the masonic organizations combined contribute 3 million dollars a DAY to philanthropy's. Not bad huh?

Billy Optimist · #33 03-03-2001, 01:31 AM

There are actully several orders of Masons. I know that there are two who are just called Masons, and they were founded as one, but one found or wrote a different rite (Ancient Accepted Scotish Rite). Then there are other orders you can join such as Shriners, Knights Templar, etc. Some you have to be a Master Mason to join, or be in another order, and some you can join right away.

unforgettable · #34 04-14-2001, 07:31 PM

Silly Question...can a girl be a mason? This thread is very informative in that this is the first Ive ever heard of the Masons and ive learned alot so far! Thanks to everyone for all the input!

Billy Optimist · #35 04-15-2001, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by unforgettable:
Silly Question...can a girl be a mason? This thread is very informative in that this is the first Ive ever heard of the Masons and ive learned alot so far! Thanks to everyone for all the input!

No, but you can Join Eastern Star. Or another female Masonic group. But the Free Masons are all male.

Salience · #36 04-16-2001, 02:28 AM

As far as women being masons, generally not in Europe or America, but I saw a website where there was a Canadian lodge that had both men and women in it.

Genreally, though women are OES and other houses associated with freemasonry.

As a Star, I get really TIRED of the "rumors" about lawlessness and satanic backgrounds and anti-religious fervor attributed to my order. How do people not even remotely associated with the Order know? And the Catholic thing cracked me up!! And my square family knows why this is so funny. Man, it's urban legends taken to another level!!

Whee, I guess it's good for me to vent. Thanks!

AngelPhiSig · #37 06-05-2001, 10:05 PM

Hey I dont know if anyone is still posting here, but I was a Rainbow Girl (a younger version of Eastern Star, which is the female version of the Masons) and I was not hazed in anyway... if that helps!

salexan3 · #38 06-21-2001, 11:35 AM

First of all,
I AM A ACTIVE, DUES PAYING, GRAND CHAPTER CARD CARRYING MEMBER OF THE EASTERN STAR
Second of all,
YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ORDER OR MASONARY YOU NEED TO DIRECT THOSE QUESTIONS TO ACTIVE MASONS AND EASTERN STARS.

Third of all,
RAINBOW GIRLS, YOU NEED TO ASK A EATSERN STAR ABOUT THAT.

SECRETS OF THE RITUAL SHOULD NEVER BE GIVEN OUT. JUST LIKE YOUR SORORITY OR FRATERNITY INFORMSATION. OR DO YOU TELL THOSE SECRETS OVER THE NET.

------------------
"The Regulator"
#14
Toledo Alumnae Chapter

Sunny · #39 08-08-2001, 01:41 PM

My family has a very strong masonic tradition (basically, I'm a legacy, many time over). Althought today there are no direct ties between greek and masons, many people are members of both groups. Many Job's daughters, Rainbow girls and Demolay choose to rush when they enter college. For clarification, Job's Daughters MUST be related to a Master Mason. Rainbow Girls require a recommendation, but not a direct relation. Demolay is a similar organization for young men. These organizations are very similar to greek organizations, based on sisterhood/brotherhood, service, and socializing. They teach many wonderful lessons, and provide many useful skills. And in my case, 9 years of involvement in Job's Daughters sparked my intrest in Sororities, because when I went away for college, I felt I needed to find an organization which fufilled a similar purpose. If anyone has any questions, I'd be hapy to help!

dekeguy · #40 03-16-2002, 12:24 AM

Interesting thread. Some good info and some very weird and very wrong info. The Masons are an ancient fraternity who require an absolute belief in God and who encourage you to serve your God according to your beliefs. Lots of info available on the Web. The primary difficulty between the Masons and the Catholic Church was based on a misunderstanding which came about during the French Revolution. Certain French lodges rejected belief in the Deity and actively sought the destruction of the Church during and after the revolution. Regular (legit) Masons rejected this approach and the Grand Master of Masons in England condemned these outlaw masons. The rest of the regular Masonic world followed suit and cut off communication with this irregular branch, known as the Grand Orient of France. Needless to say the Catholic Church was not too happy about a group trying to eliminate religion in France. Ofer the years Catholics were forbidden to join the Masons based on the belief that the Masons were their sworn enemies. During the 1960's a number of senior Masons began talking with a number of Cardinals and the Masons discovered that the Church was not opposed to them in principle but was under the impression that there was a deep animosity between the two. The Cardinals began to realize that while some Masons may not have particularly liked Catholics there was nothing in Masonry that conflicted with the Church, if fact there was rather a lot that both groups held in mutual high regard. This led to a meeting between the Duke of Kent, the Grand Master of Masons in England and Pope Paul VI. They found that they were in close agreement, that they both rejected the outlaw masons position, and that there was no real difficulty. Pope Paul VI then lifted the ban on Catholics joining the Masons and the Masons stated officialy that there was no objection to Catholics joining the Masons. The current Pope, John Paul II issued a pastoral letter about ten years ago reaffirming that there was no reason why Catholic laymen could not be Masons if they joined legitimate lodges and avoided the lodges that main stream Masons condemned as well. These outfits are certain French lodges, some other politically active european lodges, and some South American anti-clerical lodges.
My Grandfather was a Mason and a Catholic and assured me that there was nothing in Masonry that any one could find offensive to his religious beliefs. He also pointed out that Greek letter fraternities are directly decended from the Masons and that any fraternity man would recognize this immediately upon going through the degrees of Masonry. I have since been initiated into my grandfather's lodge in England, have become a Master Mason, and have gone through the York Rite degrees in the USA and have been received in Chapter in the United Kingdom. Wow, I saw what he meant. Would any other masonic greeks please join in and help set straight a lot of misunderstandings? While some things are private, mostly recognition issues and ritual specifics, there is a lot that Masons can, and are encouraged to, discuss openly. I think it is a very appropriate subject because the link between the Masonic world and the Greek world is rather like father and son.

DZTUBAGIRL · #41 03-16-2002, 11:07 AM

Hootie:

I'm not sure if you meant to say Kiwanas but Awanas is a church youth group and have nothing to do with the masons. I don't know anything about Kiwanas, I think it might be some community service organization.

Anne Marie

TrojanGirl · #42 03-16-2002, 05:12 PM

Kiwanas are a co-ed service group that raise money for many local and and national causes that involve children.

Kiwanis National Website

TG

teke4life · #43 03-19-2002, 04:54 AM

you CAN be a catholic and a mason. it is a recent development, but the masons accept catholics now and a catholic can freely associate with the masons. the only thing you can't do is be a mason and a knight of columbus. sort of like the glo rule of not joining another national fraternity.

avalanche06 · #44 03-19-2002, 11:51 AM

This is a very interesting topic. I am a member of both a GLO and a newly raised Master Mason. There are a lot of similarites, but quite a few differences. If you really want to know about the subject of Freemasonry, I suggest that you do your own research and talk to people who are still ACTIVE in their respective lodges. Just like the several chapters of fraterniteis, each lodge does things differently.

FuzzieAlum · #45 03-19-2002, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Silly Question...can a girl be a mason? This thread is very informative in that this is the first Ive ever heard of the Masons and ive learned alot so far! Thanks to everyone for all the input!

Actually, there is a branch of Masonry called co-masonry that is co-ed. I think they have a website.

All the other Mason-affiliated groups require you to be a wife or daughter of a male Mason, except for Rainbow Girls, I believe. And they are "auxillery" groups, not Masons.