This is really simple.

The bunch of old men who didn't keep up with the times couldn't seem to get through their shiny ol'heads that they weren't appealling to the next generations.

About 15 years ago when they looked around them and realized that the "young" men in their midst where grandfathers whom they were still thinking of as being wussies who didn't understand anything....well some of them started to realize that their organization was going to the grave with them.

Some of their stuff is very .... campy. A new generation who is even MORE jaded than they could ever have imagined wasn't really into it.

So they had to go back and return to the "mystique." Which seems to be having some impact.

I'm wondering if the Shriners' more gender open ideas will eventually filter in once this group of ol'men die off finally.

[edit on 2009/6/10 by Aeons]

I think you both hit the point I would make, about the numbers going down, and it seeming to be full of old men, so they do have to get fresh blood. My idea of why college students in particular would be targeted, is that they will likely be used to the idea of fraternities and clubs, and also, they are still young and making their minds up about things, whereas someone older may well have already heard people pushing a negative image of masonry and made their mind up that they don't like the idea.

Philanthropic and social organizations period are closing shop or combining chapters to stay afloat. When I was a reporter I regularly wrote stories on membership drives or about plummeting donations to try to drum up business. The Masonic chapters here have had membership drives for many years, at least since the early 1980s. The appeal of "secret" societies is passe, you could stay home and play video games that have some of the same elements without the responsibilities.

Veterans organizations like the VFW and American Legion are really getting hit hard but they are functioning lobbying groups and action tends to attract participation.

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
I did some research and I found an article by CNBC here:

Actually, it's CBS but it's pretty embarrassingly badly written even for an online article. I'm sure they'd prefer you believe it to be from CNBC.

As for the Pike info, it's way-off-the-mark junk, the hallmark of anti-Masons.

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
I know the numbers in their secret society is going down.

Actually, they levelled-off some years ago and are increasing overall, faster in some areas than others but generally increasing. Of course, there are still some Lodges that have reached the tipping point and may yet go dark. But on the whole, the numbers ranging under Masonry's banners are growing.

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
Could freemasons be targeting college students because college students are more into fraternities because they just got out of school and don't see what the problem is-- so-- like these kinds of college students would want to just like join a fraternity right away knowing their past experience was so great?

I think that if that were the modus operandi, it'd do more harm than good because Masonry as a fraternity doesn't have much in common with university fraternities (beyond being called a fraternity, that is). Totally different worlds and mindsets.

My guess is that any appeals won't yield immediate results in terms of a spike in membership but will at least make potential members aware of Freemasonry and I expect that over time, once the sowing-of-wild-oats days are over and these guys start settling down into adult life, that's when they'll start thinking about joining Masonry.

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
It may seem completely altruistic here. They may just want educated people to be part of their members.

That may be part of it although it could just as easily be argued that the better educated you are, the more likely that the central tenets of Masonry, to whit, brotherly love, relief and truth, are likely to affect your view on life and you'd me more likely to think "There but for the Grace of God go I".

The other aspect to be considered is that with college and university graduates today, it's much more likely that their grandfathers were Masons than their fathers and this is a reflection of the males of the Boomer generation turning their backs on what their fathers had considered important. So, it's important to ensure that the generation coming into adulthood now has the information that their fathers ignored.

The part that I find especially ironic now is the number of Boomers who're applying for initiation now as opposed to when they were younger men. Belatedly laying up riches now for the Kingdom Come? The snarky side of me would say 'yes'. But primarily, our candidates in the last 4 or 5 years have been in their mid or late 20's to early 30s, generally past the 'sowing of wild oats' age.

Originally posted by Aeons
This is really simple.

The bunch of old men who didn't keep up with the times couldn't seem to get through their shiny ol'heads that they weren't appealling to the next generations.

Actually, as I just mentioned in my reply to Frankidealist35, the declining numbers in years past had more to do with the Boomers rejecting what was important to their fathers. The numbers stopped declining some years ago. The Boomers' kids see things a little differently.

Originally posted by Aeons
Some of their stuff is very .... campy. A new generation who is even MORE jaded than they could ever have imagined wasn't really into it.

I guess your definition of camp and mind diverge. Where you see camp, I see symbolism. Guess it's that 'mature age' thing. Oh and BTW? I'm in my 40's, not some 'grandfather'. Mind you, I guess to some, I'm Methuselah.

Originally posted by jimminycricket
My idea of why college students in particular would be targeted, is that they will likely be used to the idea of fraternities and clubs, and also, they are still young and making their minds up about things, whereas someone older may well have already heard people pushing a negative image of masonry and made their mind up that they don't like the idea.

As i posted earlier, I think it has more to do with making younger men aware of Masonry, an awareness that their fathers aren't going to be able to pass on to them. The Internet's a wonderful thing and makes research a breeze. But you have to know to look.

As far as older people already having a negative image of Masonry, a closed mind is a terrible waste. Mind you, as I posted earlier, a surprising number of Boomers are petitioning for membership. So perhaps there's a little more to Masonry than meets the anti-Masonic eye.

Things are looking up in my district out in Cali. I belong to the lodge with the youngest group of members an guys my age are coming in semi regularly i guess is a good way to put it. Theres still a lot of old timers but they're passing the torch so to speak.

I'd put a link up to my lodge if i didn't think I would get flamed for 'trying to recruit on ats'... Let it be known though that i live in a university town and we have pretty much 0 college members.

The college frat boys want to party and get drunk. I prefer to take care of my usual vocations, then go drink

Oh I get symbolism.

Some of the stuff is still campy.

Well, watching Mamas Family explains a lot too. To prevent a 1 line post I will say that that show really hits the lowest common denominator, so ratings were good . I saw it once or twice then realized what It was that I was watching.