Secret?

When exactly does a secret society become a not secret anymore society?And when it becomes a not secret anymore society do we consider it an exclusive club?Is there not enough information about the Illuminati,,Freemasons,,Skull and Bones,Knights Templar,Bohemian Grove to recategorize them as not secret anymore societies.
Where I want to go with this is.....lets take Skull and Bones for example.Not very secret anymore which makes it nothing more than an exclusive club.Is it not illegal to refuse someone membership based on race,creed religion, etc.Its happened to mens clubs, golf clubs all over the place.I'm not a lawyer or anything like that but was just a thought I had.Any thoughts or just nonsense?

I would think that it's not a secret society when all of it's policies and activities are publicly known. -Muzz

Any society/group we talk about in this forum can not be considered a secret society/group any more. If they were a secret we would not know about them. I think the name of this forum should be changed to "former secret society"

Muzz-I would think that if the exsistence of the society is pretty much well known then they are going to be watched and scrutinized and eventually thier policies and activities will come out.
Ilovepizza-I agree.Secret society forum would be empty.

Originally posted by mewzik
Muzz-I would think that if the exsistence of the society is pretty much well known then they are going to be watched and scrutinized and eventually thier policies and activities will come out.

I agree with you. I don't think that the Masons ever thought that there would be so many people watching what there doing. -Muzz

Originally posted by muzz

Originally posted by mewzik
Muzz-I would think that if the exsistence of the society is pretty much well known then they are going to be watched and scrutinized and eventually thier policies and activities will come out.

I agree with you. I don't think that the Masons ever thought that there would be so many people watching what there doing. -Muzz

*sigh*

/hands out revision lines to Muzz etc


"The Freemasons are not a secret society. They are a society with secrets."

*sigh*

Secret society is know longer a secret when it discloses all information about how it is run. An example would be the odd fellows society who are open to the public

[Edited on 24-4-2004 by infinite]

Originally posted by infinite
Secret society is know longer a secret when it discloses all information about how it is run.

Infinite has nailed it.

My college fraternity is not secret, but they do have secret rituals that are not disclosed to anyone who is not a member (or is about to become a member).

At one point (during the height of McCarthyism), all college fraternities were required to hand over their ritual books to the Library of Congress. This was to make sure none of them were secret communist organizations (or so it was said at the time). However, since then, some of them have been removed by high-ranking politicians. My fraternity's ritual book, for example, was removed by Ronald Reagan, who was a TKE in college.

So, in fact, most college "secret" societies have been fully exposed and their secrets are available upon request form the Library of Congress. Most of them may have been removed by now, I haven't checked. I just thought you guys might be interested in that.

Originally posted by 23rd_Degree
Infinite has nailed it.

God im good
Old fellows was orignal a secret society, but is now a friendly society who openly discuss the whole in's and out's.

Initially I think these societies where considered secret, because public knowlwege of them was limited. As time went on, and the existence of these societies emerged, then that changed the SECRET from being about the organization, to what goes on in those organizations. Now that many of them, like the Mason have come forward to say they are a fraternal organization with secrets, I think the focus has or should shift to what these organizations know and try so desperately to hide. The secret is not in them being organizations, it's in what they know, and what their agenda's are for this information!

Originally posted by Freeworld_Esq.
Initially I think these societies where considered secret, because public knowlwege of them was limited. As time went on, and the existence of these societies emerged, then that changed the SECRET from being about the organization, to what goes on in those organizations. Now that many of them, like the Mason have come forward to say they are a fraternal organization with secrets, I think the focus has or should shift to what these organizations know and try so desperately to hide. The secret is not in them being organizations, it's in what they know, and what their agenda's are for this information!

Well, speaking as a Freemason, I will tell you this:

If you think we have an agenda that may or may not include world domination, you have obviously not attended a Masonic Lodge General Purposes Committee meeting.

Human nature being what it is, it is often near impossible to gain agreement as whether tea or coffee should be served, never mind who should receive the monies we have gathered. Secret society? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, erm . No.

The term "Secretive Societies" would better fit many of these groups.

Originally posted by mewzik
Where I want to go with this is.....lets take Skull and Bones for example.Not very secret anymore which makes it nothing more than an exclusive club.Is it not illegal to refuse someone membership based on race,creed religion, etc.Its happened to mens clubs, golf clubs all over the place.I'm not a lawyer or anything like that but was just a thought I had.Any thoughts or just nonsense?

Skull and Bones went co-ed a decade ago, and now admits the same number of women as men.
College fraternities have the legal right to admit only men; just as sororities have the right to admit only women.
Although Masonry is not a college frat, it's still a frat, and has this same right under law. For example, you yourself have a right to gather your friends together, name your organization, and grant or deny membership in it. After all, it belongs to you, not the government.

Fiat Lvx.

When a society is secret how would you even be able to join it? Technically no society is secret.

Originally posted by 23rd_Degree

Originally posted by infinite
Secret society is know longer a secret when it discloses all information about how it is run.

Infinite has nailed it.

My college fraternity is not secret, but they do have secret rituals that are not disclosed to anyone who is not a member (or is about to become a member).

At one point (during the height of McCarthyism), all college fraternities were required to hand over their ritual books to the Library of Congress. This was to make sure none of them were secret communist organizations (or so it was said at the time). However, since then, some of them have been removed by high-ranking politicians. My fraternity's ritual book, for example, was removed by Ronald Reagan, who was a TKE in college.

So, in fact, most college "secret" societies have been fully exposed and their secrets are available upon request form the Library of Congress. Most of them may have been removed by now, I haven't checked. I just thought you guys might be interested in that.

Nice try, but false. See: www.phigam.org...

-Senrak