Freemasonry/The Masons

[Guest]

Anyone have any thoughts/knowledge of or about them?

Personally am naturally suspicious as see them as an extension of a glorified 'control system', but one of my supposedly enlightened mates claims to be a member(Says they're not just fat white middle-aged men!!) and is going on about how wonderfully universal they are in their relative appeal....as in reaching out to all religions and races.
Yeah right?
But do admit being ignorant about them overall and unsure of Google.

Have my own major doubts, but surprise me??

[George]

Freemasonry/The Masons

I probably know even less than you but the tendency for there most vehement 'enemies' to be followers of the Abrahamic faiths incures in me a degree of sympathy for them.

[Max Payne]

Freemasonry/The Masons

Who keeps the Martians under wraps? We do!

[Moonlight Shadow]

Freemasonry/The Masons

The latest Fortean Times has some good stuff about Masonic influence in London's architecture, the place is really full to the brim with symbolic buildings it seems...

[Levin]

Freemasonry/The Masons

One of the few things I know about them is that they will accept followers all religions as members but not atheists. Part of the swearing in when you join affirms your belief in a supreme being.

[pebblethefish]

Freemasonry/The Masons

A friend of mine is a mason and as far as I can work out, it just means that all the other masons use him when they need their roofs repaired, and he uses them rather than other tradesmen. Apart from that, he says, it's just an excuse to get pissed (although to be fair, to him everything's just an excuse to get pissed).

[evilC]

Freemasonry/The Masons

There you go, EIM - you were playing it wrong all along, applying for various jobs. You should have just joined the masons and Bob would have been your uncle. (Actually, I can't remember if you're an atheist or religious, so just ignore me.) I'm an atheist, so I'm fucked, then.

An old boss of mine - a nice bloke (and young, too) - who was a mason said the same thing about it just being an excuse to get pissed.

[sw2borshch]

Freemasonry/The Masons

No - we do.

[Wyatt Earp]

Freemasonry/The Masons

OK to slag off fat white middle-aged men now, is it? Harrumph.

[Wyatt Earp]

Freemasonry/The Masons

(I've met the chubby little bastard, as well.)

[EIM]

Freemasonry/The Masons

Clivey baby, I think me joining the masons is the worst idea since I nearly joined the army. But yeah. I'm an atheist. Have been ever since I started at CofE primary school. Some of the shit they tried to pass of to me during assembly was cringe worthy. Good job I was even more cynical as a seven year old as I am now.

[Guy Profumo]

Freemasonry/The Masons

Ricky Lenin wrote:

One of the few things I know about them is that they will accept followers all religions as members but not atheists. Part of the swearing in when you join affirms your belief in a supreme being.

Not entirely.

Grand Orient de France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The GOdF practices Continental style Freemasonry (what GOdF calls "Traditional Liberal Masonry"), the defining features of which are complete freedom of religious conscience and heavy involvement in politics. This is in antithesis to the "Anglo" tradition of Freemasonry, which requires a belief in Deity but which otherwise bans discussion of both religion and politics. This difference affects which other Grand Jurisdictions give GOdF "recognition" and deem it "regular". Those Grand Lodges and Grand Orients that follow the Continental tradition tend to recognize GOdF, while those that follow the Anglo Tradition do not.

Atheism

The GOdF believes in freedom of conscience, which allows them to admit atheists. On the other hand, those Grand Lodges following the English tradition require their members to profess a belief in deity. The Anglo-Masonic Jurisdictions withdrew recognition from the Grand Orient over this issue, and they now deem the GOdF "irregular".

[willie1foot]

Freemasonry/The Masons

My perception of reality is that, in the West of Scotland anyway, Catholics do not, as a rule, join the Masons.

My father, a 3rd or 4th generation member of the Order (Lodge Robert Burns, to be exact; my Grandfather was 'Worshipful Master' for a time)), told me it had something to do with the conflict between keeping a secret and confession, but I think it's more likely to be that W of S Masons didn't like 'Tims', so 'discouraged' them from joining. Not that I believed a word my Father told me when it came to matters of religion, given he was a died-in-the-wool bigot from the Reverend Ian Paisley mould.

They always put on a good Christmas party for us kids. Best ones I ever went to.

[cookie]

Freemasonry/The Masons

W1f, Freemasonry is seen in West of Scotland as an extension to the Orange Order, which is probably the main reason there are very few Catholic members here. I had a number of family members, both grandfathers and several uncles (including a couple of Catholic uncles btw), who were members. My maternal grandmother was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, for wives and daughters of Freemasons.

It did appear to be an excuse for them to get pissed.

[Guest]

Freemasonry/The Masons

Why on Earth... wrote:

OK to slag off fat white middle-aged men now, is it?

They were my mates' words, suspect he may have been being 'ironic', though he does match most of that criteria.

[Sam]

Freemasonry/The Masons

After my grandad (mum's dad) died I was told he'd been a member of two Lodges in the Nottingham area. Brilliantly, my grandma told us he'd have happily joined another five and gone to a different once each night of the week, but she wouldn't let him because, 'I thought it was a lot of silly nonsense.'

There are plenty of Masonic buildings in Bristol as well, including one or two very close indeed to the centre, with certain motifs on the capitals of the doorways which give them away - sphinxes and whatnot. Interesting stuff if you know what you're looking for but yes, from what I've been told about my grandad and by a friend who worked in the kitchens of the Lodge in my village a few years ago, it is largely an excuse to get pissed and indulge in secret handshakes.

[Guy Profumo]

Freemasonry/The Masons

SamLKelly wrote:

After my grandad (mum's dad) died I was told he'd been a member of two Lodges in the Nottingham area. Brilliantly, my grandma told us he'd have happily joined another five and gone to a different once each night of the week, but she wouldn't let him because, 'I thought it was a lot of silly nonsense.'

There are plenty of Masonic buildings in Bristol as well, including one or two very close indeed to the centre, with certain motifs on the capitals of the doorways which give them away - sphinxes and whatnot. Interesting stuff if you know what you're looking for but yes, from what I've been told about my grandad and by a friend who worked in the kitchens of the Lodge in my village a few years ago, it is largely an excuse to get pissed and indulge in secret handshakes.

Yeah.

Because some of these "hidden clues" they put on their buildings are damned hard to decipher, aren't they?