reply to post by applebiter
I wish I had a dime for everyone who believes Freemasonry is about power. If Freemasons are plotting to rule the world, they're doing a damn poor job
of accomplishing it. My Father was a Freemason. It wasn't until several years after his death that I decided to become one. I researched them,
investigated their practices and got to know some. I can tell you most of them don't really care what your or anyone else's perception of them is.
What they care about is how being part of this brotherhood affects their lives. It's a fraternity of Men who want to be better men. They are a
society that offers wisdom, advise and support to one another and charity to those in need. They seek to become a "more servicable creature" to
their fellow man. How surreptitious and covert! How evil! It's not a religion. I have Brothers who are Jewish, Christian and Muslim. I have Brothers
who are Mexican, African, Russian, Isreali, British, Swedish and American. From what I've observed, most peoples curiousity and misconception of
Freemasonry is from the fact the Masons elect not to let just anyone join. They have the audacity to tell people no! They take oaths not to share what
they experience during rituals. The outsiders can't satisfy their urge to be nosey and it seems to piss them off. If Freemasons are so secretive,
then how is it we know so much about the famous ones? Why aren't they a mystery? George Washington, Gerald Ford, Red Skelton to name a few are well
known Masons. The basics of our rituals are available in printed form. (Which I read first, then joined and found they aren't much different from
print) We don't let voyeurs watch our ritual but we aren't hiding in shadows either. We choose to hold closed meetings because, as free men, we
can. To quote our Monitor (which is clear text so not secret), "Its tenets are Brotherly love, Relief and Truth. It is builded upon the abiding
foundation of an unfeigned belief in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man and the immortality of the soul." There you have in a nutshell,
the core of Freemasonry.