Why join freemasonry, give good reason.

Hello,

Sorry if this was already asked but ive looked through some of the threads (some of which go on forever!! ..LOL!) and i searched and I dont believe this has been answered properly.

So... why join? I mean whats in it for ME. All I hear is we help the local community, well anyone can do that, and they say well the comradery is good, well dont we all have friends for that?

i KNOW 32ND degree mason here, and hes a nice bloke, I have gone to some of the charity do's he organizes here, it all looked fairly harmless, I asked him about joining but he sais im the one who has to knock, but im not sure why id want to, it looks like too much hard work to be honest.

I mean what can you get out of it, apart from having to do loads of things for other people, it dosnt sound that appealing to me, for something to join.

Am I wrong?

[edit on 30-8-2008 by Boostah]

Because many men are just little boys in a bigger body, they still need a club house and secret ceremonies and cryptic hand-shakes and the "need to belong" and ..................

My 38¢ (inlfation, what the hell ya gonna get for 2¢ anymore? lol)

no, you are right. It's lots of hard work, and you pretty much spend your time helping other people out, and volunteering. If you don't get any benefit from helping others out, then I wouldn't really expect more out of it.

Free coctail sausages and nuts ?
Sorry...
I'll get me cloak.

Originally posted by Boostah
So... why join? I mean whats in it for ME...
...it looks like too much hard work to be honest.

I mean what can you get out of it, apart from having to do loads of things for other people, it dosnt sound that appealing to me, for something to join.

From what I've ascertained by reading various threads, your question answers itself. I have gleaned enough out of them to essentially understand.

1) Have a desire to help others and a dedicated attitude
2) Team your efforts in a brotherly coordinated way to multiply the effect

The origanization, lodge and degree ceremonies help cement that in one's mind more squarely. You are the block, the organization is the mortar, together it makes something much grander than each piece alone.

I suppose many degrees of interpretation are possible.

Apologies for the double-entendres; I couldn't help it. Nonetheless the my point is made.

reply to post by Boostah


The question you have asked is one of the primary questions every mason has to answer.

If you ask a dozen masons you will probably get at least a dozen different answers. Most of us join for one reason but end up staying for a totally different one. As simple as it sounds the most common reason for staying a mason and participating in our various functions is friendship. We simply enjoy the time with our friends, doing good things for others doesn’t seem like “work” when you are having fun.

What you will get out of it is not something that you are likely to be able to pick up and hold in your hand, or something that you can show off to others but something that will be inside yourself. Masonry won’t make you a rich man in the material world, but can make you one of the richest men in the world.

Freemasonry is not “required” to have friends, or to do good things for others. It does provide a place for like minded men to meet, become friends, combine their efforts and achieve things that individuals are unlikely to achieve alone.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with joining masonry to learn some “secrets”, you will likely be disappointed with what the “secrets” are, but if join with an open mind and are willing to put forth the effort you will be surprised with what you will get back.

in reality if you are joining looking for a return on investment, you should look elswhere. Not to say that Masonry isn't rewarding, quite the contrary, but you will not get a finacial windfall, or super powers, or even a great secret that will answer long awaited questions. You have to expirience it to understand what you get out of it. And it appears it is different for everybody. You will meet some amazing people you would not have otherwise met. To me that is probably one of the coolest things. You will have the ability to travel all over the world and have a friend anywhere you go. That is monumental in my opinion. To answer your question I was curious as to what was realy going on and all the masons I knew were great people whom I admired, and I couldn't picture any of them doing the things the crazy waco antis claim. Best advise I could give you, know why you want to be a mason.

A freemason I know told me straight up he thinks the best reason to join is to get connected with influential people. My grandfather was a freemason and was nothing like this guy, he was prolly in it more for the Samaritan reasons stated above.

Why join? What's in it for me?

Well the stock answers, cliche though they may sound, are true. You get out of Masonry what you put into it. If you join, go through the degrees, pay your dues and never attend another meeting your entire life, you're still a Mason, but chances are you really haven't gained anything from the experience.

If you go every week and watch your brethren confer the degrees, and slowly learn the parts of the degrees yourself so you can take part in their conferral, well with any luck the meanings of the words & ritual will start to sink in, and in the process, you'll be helping uphold the tradition.

As a source of friendship and camaraderie, you may make lifelong friends in your lodge or on your travels. Or you might not. Depends on who you are and how important that is to you.

As a place to practice philanthropy and charity, you may find a great way to give back to your community. Sure, you may only be able to spare $10 every now and again, but when that is alongside the contributions of others, it can turn into $1500 annual scholarships for needy kids going off to college.

As a place to explore the esoteric, certainly the ritual and symbolism is ripe for the picking, and you could spend your whole life deciphering the meanings and the "why" of what we do if you so choose. It's fairly complex, and there are entire dedicated research lodges who've been at it for hundreds of years. There's still a need for those with that thirst for knowledge, if knowledge is what you desire.

Or maybe you're anal retentive or militaristic and like being able to practice something to perfection. The ritualists focus heavily on the how, more than the why, and through their dedication, again the tradition that spans hundreds of years can be carried on. There are certificates & awards for being able to do perfect degree work if you seek recognition or have such goals.

Ultimately the motto I've come up with, and it isn't necessarily the best yet, is "You do the right thing not for recognition or reward, but you do the right thing because it is the right thing to do." My friend's mother passed away recently, and the family was naturally distraught and had a lot of loose ends to cover in very little time before the funeral. I have some experience with typesetting and graphic design, and have friends who could get me discounts at a local copy shop, so I volunteered to do the funeral program. I didn't do it for credit, I didn't need thanks, there was a need for it to get done and it was within my ability to do it so I did. This, more than anything, exemplifies the Masonic spirit of charity. And yeah, I felt proud of the program I designed, and felt good that I was able to help a friend in need.

Masonry gives you the working tools to reshape your life, should you so choose. Through allegory and symbolism, in some ways it's no different than a self-help program, but you'll probably never see it described as such in Masonic literature.

Cool, thanks for all your replies, its very interesting to hear, I suppose its a bit like life, the more you put in the more you get out of it.

The knowledge of the esoteric in specialized research lodges sounds very appealing to me, that us something id certainly be interested in, never heard of that one before.
i can certainly understand wanting to get involved with influential people, maybe a string pulled here or there, or a helping hand right where you need it, personally I don't think I'm in a position to need that myself, i.e not a doctor or a lawyer or a politician or in any particular business where i need to climb a ladder.

All in all I must admit I think im far to lazy to put that much effort in to something, Ive never been a club sort of man or team player, i hated the scouts and grew up skateboarding and making my own way, although I understand $10 can turn into thousands to aid better help, two heads are better then one as they say, although the meetings sound terribly boring, the degrees must be something special i gather just from the different posts I've read, and from what i see on google its quite theatrical, perhaps people who enjoy that would be more suited to a role in hamlet? (not being facicious, honest question,)

I just though of another quite interesting question, what if there is someone you dont like in your fraternity, i mean we are all only human, and not all the same and some people dont like certain qualities of others or dont get along, i suppose it would be much like a large circle of friends where you just stay away from those you dont get along with best, Im sure animosity can arise for whatever reason it may be.

Very interesting to hear what you think, would be equally interesting to hear from non masons on this what their thoughts are.

(PS: I just watched V for vendetta for the first time, great movie)

[edit on 30-8-2008 by Boostah]

My father was a Mason. My grandfather was Mason. I was in Jobs daughters when I was a kid. My grandmother is Eastern Star. I have never seen anything weird like the stories you hear.

Now the wrong people can join. Example, my old roomates ex husband, joined the masons, and he and his buddies got kicked out because the set up an election fraud and got caught. They do not want people like this in the organization. The only reason he joined was for business contacts and that is not a reason to join, and in fact is stated.

Its great to meet people though, and do something for the community. Like a previous poster said, you can walk into any lodge in the world and are welcome.

I have thought of joining Eastern Star, but I am pretty young, and its mostly wive of Masons. My husband has no interest in it. Its a personal choice.
Is it something you like to do ? Do you enjoy the comradery?

Ama

Hey Boostah.

I will echo Josh's comments, and he hit the nail on the head. After some time in the Fraternity, if you work at learning the ritual work, some very good moral lessons emerge, and this is the part of Masonry which is appealing to me, as well as the more Esoteric meanings. You can go as deep s you want, or not go deep at all. It is very much up to the individual where Masonry will take you, and what you take from Masonry.

Originally posted by Boostah
the degrees must be something special i gather just from the different posts I've read, and from what i see on google its quite theatrical, perhaps people who enjoy that would be more suited to a role in hamlet? (not being facicious, honest question,)

Who says you can't do both? The Scottish Rite degrees, in particular, can be VERY theatrical... to the point of having 3 or 4 dozen hand painted backdrops that can be lowered in a well-equipped theatre to convey all the scenes of the 32°s of the Scottish Rite. A well-equipped Scottish Rite temple will have a fully-outfitted theater with props, costumes, light, sound, etc. As those degrees are only conferred at most 3-4 times a year, the theater can get rented out for other events in the community. It wasn't unusual to see brothers from my lodge running around behind the scenes running lights & sound for local dance recitals, beauty pageants, or other events that needed a good-sized, well equipped room for their function.

The best thing about being a mason is business connections - at the higher levels it's stock tips.

If you want to leap frog over the honourable folk, join the masons.

Secrecy might be repugnant, but you'll be able to drown your guilt in money and power. Don't fall into the trap of being a charity sucker. Such masons are merely a Public Relations tool.

And if you are involved in politics, well lets just say Masonry is the place to start. This is Especially true in municipal politics, try finding a mayor without masonic connections or who isn't a mason themselves.... so don't believe the masonic lobbyists on this site.

[edit on 31-8-2008 by TruthTellist]

Originally posted by In nothing we trust
If you don't mind mingling with homosexuals and jews then join the masons.

By all means, yes! There are a fair number of both in my lodge. Perhaps even a homosexual jew or two. What of it? We're all equals in the eyes of the Lord, created in His image. We meet upon the Level and we part upon the Square.

Perhaps you'd favor discrimination?

reply to post by Boostah


Boostah,

Join it because you believe you can help those less fortunate than yourself. If it's a question of "what's in it for me" then you've got your answer. Not enough

Originally posted by TruthTellist
...at the higher levels it's stock tips.

Where did you come up with that bit of nonsense?

I can see it now, FED Chairman Ben Bernanke is going to be a guest speaker during lodge this year, the topic: How to invest your Templar Royalty check and maximize your earning potential.