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@Pemerson,

Pemerson wrote:

I've also read that the Templars sorta hid themselves among the Masons in America.

Oh please . . .

wanna buy a bridge?

@Setanta,

The Templars were rich enough to buy a bridge. Magic enough to fly.

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i have a little collection of masonic pins and badges, don't know why exactly, i worked next door to an antique shop for awhile and just started buying things i thought looked kind of cool, maybe i'll lay them out and take a picture

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@Linkat,

Quote:

It wasn't just the internet - I've seen lots of advertisement on TV for this organization that is why I was wondering if membership was up.

If you mean some of the negative stuff - I always take things with a grain of salt - partly why I posted here to see if anyone had insight to this organization. Overall what I get from it - is they do lots of charity work. I didn't realize that the Shriners were a part of this - I know they do lots of good work with children.

Interesting about the TV ads. In my state (NC) we don't advertise or recruit, that's one of our traditions. If anyone asks, I'm happy to answer any questions, and usually invite them to come have dinner at the lodge and meet the guys.
In the old days, a prospective candidate used to have to ask three times before he would be given a petition to join.

Charity is our main focus in the community, and each Masonic branch has their own particular causes they support. The Shriners, Scottish Rite, and York Rite, as well as a few others are what we call appendant bodies to regular Masonry.

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@LionTamerX,

I always thought they were like the Brotherhood of Eagles or Elks -- bars with a bunch of cronies sitting around getting drunk and occasionally doing good works for charity.

Edit: I should qualify that by acknowledging the good works done by the Shriner's Hospitals.

1 Reply

@LionTamerX,

You know the funny thing is I have heard of Masonic branches and lodges - I just didn't connect it with freemasons until I starting seeing some of the commercials. The commercials refer you to the local website for further information - so I took a look.

More power to this organization if they do lots of charity work.

1 Reply

@JPB,

Quote:

[I always thought they were like the Brotherhood of Eagles or Elks -- bars with a bunch of cronies sitting around getting drunk and occasionally doing good works for charity.

Edit: I should qualify that by acknowledging the good works done by the Shriner's Hospitals. /quote]

Interestingly enough, the Shriner's are the only Masonic organization with bars around here, I don't know how it is in the rest of the country, but all of our lodges are dry.
Here in NC, we run an orphanage, and a retirement home, and my Scottish Rite body supports a children's hospital.

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@LionTamerX,

Glad to know the fez found an appropriate home.

I'd never have guessed.

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

What the hell do the VFW or the Legion have to do with the Masons ? ! ? ! ?

My grandfather was a Freemason, and was buried with all the appropriate rites and regalia.

Are you a traveling man???

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

I realize the history of freemason and where they originated from. I was unaware that is still a thriving organization.

Used to be big in the construction industry... I always loved those jobs where a mason was the super, and the general forman was a mason, and the union Steward was a mason, and the business agent was a mason... Everybody could talk the same language commonly known as self interest through cooperation, and there would be no bulshit getting in the way of a job well done.. And everyone would make money... Well run and organized...

1 Reply

@LionTamerX,

LionTamerX wrote:

I've been a Freemason for about three years. I know of at least one other A2K' er who is a brother as well.

P.S. No I won't divulge the "secret handshake".

That goofy thing used to be in a book I had, but I had no room for it... The funny thing was that in England it started as a pro Catholic group supporting prince Charles, and yet the church fearing all secret organziations banned it and started the K of C... As my friend used to say: Not a secret organization, but an organization with secrets... I never had any problem... I would ask: Are you a traveling man... They would tell you or let you know, or show their jewelry if they wanted you to know... The worst thing you can say about them is that they take care of their own, but they have no problem with any hand who can carry his own... The K of C take care of their own too... I would have belonged to either group if I would have belonged to any group... I am an incorrible individual, and will stand with any who stand right...Who needs an organization for that???...

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@Pemerson,

Pemerson wrote:

They do tons for charity. My husband's father, who used to own two city blocks in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was a Mason. Our son has his big beautiful ring.

I've read so much about this fraternity. The more one reads, the more confusing. I've quit caring. I've also read that the Templars sorta hid themselves among the Masons in America. Whooptedoo

They are biggg on the East Coast... If you need a hand, ask a Mason... If they won't help you out it may be a sign that you don't deserve a hand...

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@djjd62,

djjd62 wrote:

i have a little collection of masonic pins and badges, don't know why exactly, i worked next door to an antique shop for awhile and just started buying things i thought looked kind of cool, maybe i'll lay them out and take a picture

Do... That is a part of all forms: Recognition... If they were looking for work, some times they would stoke their noses between index finger and thumb to flash their rings, and some times a better man would go down the road... That is what my father, a K of C hated about them... They would also make that A-frame in the air with their hands to show at a distance or moving what their affiliation was... Ultimately, it was only as good as the good it would do... Thus the charity aspect...

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

You know the funny thing is I have heard of Masonic branches and lodges - I just didn't connect it with freemasons until I starting seeing some of the commercials. The commercials refer you to the local website for further information - so I took a look.

More power to this organization if they do lots of charity work.

God also helps those who help themselves...

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I grew up thinking that if a catholic joined the masons or stepped foot in an orange hall, you'd be excommunicated.
I grew up in the only place on earth where the kc's have their own hockey league. My kid played for them. They do some good work too.

1 Reply

@Ceili,

Ceili wrote:

. . . or stepped foot in an orange hall, you'd be excommunicated.

Naw, for that, the boys come around and re-arrange yer dental work.

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My dad is a Mason.
I would be too, quite likely, had I not been an atheist.
They let him stay though, so that was nice.

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@Fido,

"And everyone would make money..."

Everyone except other races that were excluded.

Fine if you are in the 'in crowd'.

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My grandfather was a Freemason. The connection between the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem and the Masons is not provable, but it is an interesting possibility. The Templars were engaged in financing and supervising the construction of many castles, cathedrals and churches all over Europe. They did have a lot of connections with masons, and not every Templar was a knight. A good ratio for knights to men at arms would be 5 to 1, and that doesnt count for squires and servants, let alone the staff to run their many estates. We wont even count sympathisers.

What happened to the Templars who were knights ? Most were pardoned...you couldnt kill that many people and deal with that many upset families. So tens of thousands were involved in the Templars, though they probably only had a couple of hundred knights by the end. Some knights sought refuge with the King of Portugal who was a Templar, some went to Scotland, a lot joined other orders, especially the Teutonic Knights. It is interesting to speculate where those other than knights went....perhaps into guilds and the Freemasons, although it was somewhat later they were known as the Freemasons, there is no reason to believe an embryonic Freemasonry did not exist at the same time as the Templars.

Not proof of a connection, but an interesting possibility.

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@IRFRANK,

Quote:

Everyone except other races that were excluded.

Freemasonry has never excluded anyone because of their skin. This is a myth that is very popular in the USA but if it was practiced in some lodges it was unofficial and a result of a segregated society, not Freemasonry.

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