This is all rather interesting to read. In fact, at our monthly social gatherings the brothers of my lodge get quite a kick out of this baloney. The fact of the matter is, we volunteer in schools to help children with below average reading skills, offer scholarships for college students, assist in funding the Shrine Hospitals and a number of other charitable works.

Some people are bound to say that I am not high enough in Freemasonry to know what is going on. The fact is, once you are a Master Mason in your home lodge, then you are on equal footing with every other Freemason. I am certain that there are naysayers out there who disagree and, to put some of their fears to rest regarding my knowledge, I am also a 32nd Degree Freemason.

We are merely a fraternity of God Fearing men who believe in faith, hope and charity. Lastly, we would like to leave the world a better place than when we came into it.

I only read some of your post because I am impatient, but here it goes:


Should Secrets be hidden? If I were to gather loyal members to a smart and successful organization I would first say that we hold secrets (Whether we do or not).

Not only this becomes attractive but also makes higher members more powerful in appearence by apeearing to "know" something more. It is just a power game.

[edit on 28-5-2008 by '___'eed]

Originally posted by '___'eed
I only read some of your post because I am impatient, but here it goes:


Should Secrets be hidden? If I were to gather loyal members to a smart and successful organization I would first say that we hold secrets (Whether we do or not).

Not only this becomes attractive but also makes higher members more powerful in appearence by apeearing to "know" something more. It is just a power game.

[edit on 28-5-2008 by '___'eed]

It is usually preferable to read the entire thread before posting, impatient or not.
So you are saying if you were a Freemason, or a member of any other 'Like" society, you would want it know that you hold secrets over and above everyone else,(Even though you don't) and you would use this as a power trip, and still sleep well at night and feel good about doing so?
My My My, I'd be real interested to hear what the master masons of this board think of that.

Originally posted by ALightinDarkness

I would think that type of person would never become a mason. Also, I am aware of no masons who have ever went out announcing "we know something and you don't."

I must object. I know masons who pretend to have power and know secrets in order to conceal that they dont.

(Often its done as a humorous thing of course because people actually believe we have some mysterious power which we dont)

And therein lies the crux. As likely as this is to find a receptive ear, the focus of Masonry really is making one's self better and more useful to society in general. It's unfortunately less sexy than the 'control the world' mythology but most 'secrets' usually are. Back in the day, Masonry was threatening to the oligarchal society then in predominance precisely because there were nominal secrets and out of that, came the courage to pursue democracy.

But now? Masonry is about improving society at large by way of unselfish actions for its betterment. That Masonry skipped the Boomer generation by-and-large is unfortunate. But what gives me hope for society in general and Masonry in particular is that there's a new generation coming of age that seems to be eschewing the 'I'm-alright-Jack' ethos that's been at the heart of much of the Boomer mentality. My Lodge has seen a lot of interest in joining from quite a number of 20-somethings and one can only hope that the underlying spirit of Masonry will continue by way of this renewed vigor.