I'm am finally a Master Mason... Any Questions?

Hi,

I am thinking on digging into freemason architecture, and would like if you could tell me, what the Obelisk means to freemasons - why is it so important and what does it symbol ?

reply to post by PreyBird


People join exclusionary clubs to exclude. That sums it up for me.

I have nothing against it but don't need it. I'm secure in who I am and in my beliefs.

Originally posted by EarthCitizen07

And one comment..(out of 1000s)

BAN ALL SECRET SOCIETIES!

Well people should have the right to meet and discuss whatever they want, luckily Freemasonry isn't a secret society anyhow so that would exclude it.

Originally posted by Blaine91555
reply to post by PreyBird

 

People join exclusionary clubs to exclude. That sums it up for me.

I think the days of exclusion based off gender and race are quickly coming to an end. I'll be the first to admit that Masonry is a bit behind the times, however the majority of it's members still consist of elderly gentlemen who have no desire to see anything run differently than 'the way it's always been'. It won't be long before more progressive generations sit at Grand Lodge and things slowly begin to change. Maybe that's just me being optimistic though.

reply to post by PreyBird


My dad is a mason they are good people no matter what people think and i wouldn't be discussing to much about if you want to stay a master mason

reply to post by PreyBird

I really would like to know how many individuals on this forum have considered petitioning for initiation and membership into Freemasonry

I considered it for about three seconds once.

Feel free to express your reservations and/or interests

I simply have no reason to be a part of freemasonry. Let's consider two possibilities:

a) There is some truth to the notion that freemasonry is somehow "involved" with the NWO, world domination, or whatever. If so, I don't think I'd want to be a peon is such an organization.

b) There is no truth to the idea. In which case freemasonry is basically just a fraternity group. Why would I join? I have only minimal interest in masonry, and I don't get the impression that freemasonry has much to do with masonry anymore anyway. If I like chess, I might join a chess club. If I like yoga, I might join a yoga group. What's the attraction to freemasonry? So far as I can tell it's just about the "mystique" of being part of some vaguely secret social club.

That doesn't interest me.

reply to post by LordBucket


Masonry isn't about the profession at all really. The memory work behind each degree tends to delve heavily into the historical aspects of the organization but that's really about all it has to do with actual masonry as a craft.

Aside from that Masonry is really about charity and fraternity.

reply to post by dashen


No sir... You have definitely been mislead. I had my reservations about initiation. It was fine and I got to keep my clothes on

reply to post by ReAlIzAtIoN


Nothing to brag.... Every member becomes a master mason.

reply to post by JayTaylor

Masonry isn't about the profession at all really.

That's kind of part of my point. If it were about the profession, then at least there'd be some draw. Laying stones is an interesting thing to do. Maybe not interesting enough for me to want to join a social club dedicated to it, but I could understand why some people might. Again, it would be no different than joining a chess club, a yoga club, or whatever.

Masonry is really about charity

Ok, but I'm neither looking for charity, nor do I feel any need to have help giving it. Nor do I feel the need to hang out with a bunch of people patting each others backs about how charitable we are. So this doesn't seem like much of a reason to join to me.

and fraternity

Yes. Absolutely. Freemasonry sounds like a social club. I have nothing against social clubs. I've even been in a few. They can be lots of fun. But a social club really needs some sort of common basis to attract people. "Let's have a social club for the sake of having a social club" doesn't appeal to me.

Honestly, if there's nothing "mysterious" about freemasonry, then why would anyone choose to become a freemason instead of a boyscout? At least they have a theme.

reply to post by LordBucket


I just wanted to clarify in case you were genuinely unsure.

As for why someone might join it over another fraternity, I suppose it's really a matter of preference.

reply to post by JayTaylor

As for why someone might join it over another fraternity, I suppose it's really a matter of preference.

Ok. But what is it that you're preferring? As fraternities go, freemasonry seems to present itself as a fraternity "for men, who believe in some form of divinity and like the idea of being "good and charitable" but only in extremely vague ways."

Being in a "mens only" club doesn't excite me. I'm not opposed to it, but again, it's not enough reason to join a club. "Believing in some sort of divinity" is too vague to really mean anything. Sure...I believe in "some form of divinity" but why would I want to join a social club to hang out with others who also believe in "some form of divnity" when I might be able to join a social club that's more specific? As to charity and kindness and that sort of thing...again, it's all tremendously vague. If I really feel motivated to do good in the world, why wouldn't I choose to join a group that has some specific inclinations about the sort of good they'd like to do? The red cross, the boyscouts, the salvation army, the peace corps...there's no shortage of "do good" charities and organizations in the world.

What is it about freemasonry that you prefer? The way you guys present yourselves is a massive excercise in vagueness and obscurity. What is there to prefer?



[edit on 27-11-2009 by LordBucket]

reply to post by LordBucket


The requirement of a faith in divinity is simply because there are a lot of oaths taken during the degrees. These oaths are usually taken upon the sacred text of your faith because it's believed that without faith in a deity, no obligation you take would be binding.

A lot of masons don't intend to seem secretive, however on that same note many also wish to be careful to not accidentally betray any of the fraternities secrets (all of which can be found online anyhow btw ).

As for why Masonry was my preference? My father and grandfather are members so I joined, it's turned out to be an amazing bonding experience between the three of us as we usually have very little in common.

Originally posted by JayTaylor

Originally posted by EarthCitizen07

And one comment..(out of 1000s)

BAN ALL SECRET SOCIETIES!

Well people should have the right to meet and discuss whatever they want, luckily Freemasonry isn't a secret society anyhow so that would exclude it.

Yes, people have the right to meet and discuss anything they want but I don't see the need for extreme secrecy. We all belong to one species...the human species.

What can possibly be THAT IMPORTANT where people throughout the world have to join a special fraternity just to see what all the fuss is about? Seems very illogical ON THE SURFACE!

Originally posted by JayTaylor

Originally posted by Blaine91555
reply to post by PreyBird

 

People join exclusionary clubs to exclude. That sums it up for me.

I think the days of exclusion based off gender and race are quickly coming to an end. I'll be the first to admit that Masonry is a bit behind the times, however the majority of it's members still consist of elderly gentlemen who have no desire to see anything run differently than 'the way it's always been'. It won't be long before more progressive generations sit at Grand Lodge and things slowly begin to change. Maybe that's just me being optimistic though.

Nice try but the poster wasn't alluding to sexist and/or racial discrimination, he/she was talking about pseudo-elitism. You know, the type where old, wanabe socio-political leaders having nothing better to do than get together and make plans to destroy the world.

[edit on 27-11-2009 by EarthCitizen07]

reply to post by JayTaylor

As for why Masonry was my preference?
My father and grandfather are members so I joined

I'm glad it worked out for you.

For myself, I don't feel the need to "be a part" of something just because someone I know is. I'd even suggest that doing something just because somebody else has is potentially a very bad reason to do things.

The requirement of a faith in divinity is simply because there are a lot of oaths taken during the degrees.

It seems to me that freemasonry has a tremendous amount of silly overhead involved with it. If you guys are really about charity, why spend so much effort on secret handshakes and rituals and oaths and so forth? I have a difficult time imagining the red cross, for example, forbidding memebership to someone who wants to travel the world collecting blood donations because they don't believe in a god so they can't be depended on to take the "super secret red cross oath" seriously.

I apologize, but the whole thing seems a bit juvinile to me.

If you're really about charity, you're doing it wrong. If you're really about being a mens club, so what? If you're really just a social club, why not join a social club that has a theme instead of just being a social club for the sake of beign a social club?

All that really leaves is the obscurity and the ritual and so forth. I'm sorry, but being able to run around claiming that I'm a grand poobah in some secret group and know the secret handshake and have my own secret decoder ring just doesn't appeal to me as a reason to join a group.


[edit on 27-11-2009 by LordBucket]

I am going to expand on THE NEED FOR SECRECY since our masonic friends are not willing to discuss anything meaningful. They prefer talking about membership priviledges and charity work, as though its just another club.

Actions speak louder than words and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out our world has been polluted with bad ideas from day 1. Our economy is in ruins, 2 world wars, disease, famine, no ufo/alien disclosure, pseudo-religions, private banks controlling everything and everyone, illusionary governments, etc.

Is it hard to make the puzzle fit? Why would they need to maintain secrets if they had good intentions? I know from personal experience I keep secrets from others when something isn't "kosher".

We keep hearing about the NWO, population reduction, and absolute tyranny from alternative media, yet mainstream media either downplays everything or ignores it. Why? Who is coordinating everything if not masons and other secret socities?? The answer is both obvious and elusive at the same time because we all know they are behind this enormous, all-encompassing conspiracy yet they will not admit anything.

reply to post by EarthCitizen07

Nice try but the poster wasn't alluding to sexist and/or racial discrimination, he/she was talking about pseudo-elitism. You know, the type where old, wanabe socio-political leaders having nothing better to do than get together and make plans to destroy the world.

Ah my mistake. Still, if you think Masonry has intentions of world domination or destruction then I have to say I just can't see it. Despite all the traditions and secrets at the end of the day Masonry is a very mundane organization even with it's rich history.
I'll admit that Masonry is run by whoever has the most money but that's mostly in regards to the Grand Lodges. On that note however, there are likely more Grand Lodges than I care to count and none of them are united by anything aside from the tenants of Masonry so I simply can't see how they could coordinate any malicious schemes as a whole.

reply to post by PreyBird


Have you read morals and dogma?

Because I read the whole thing. I hope you like worshiping lucifer, because you will do more and more of it as you advance.

reply to post by Choronzon


I went to a museum of Freemasonry, and there were lots of items of regalia on display, many of which had the Skull and bones emblem on them.

reply to post by LordBucket

I'm glad it worked out for you. For myself, I don't feel the need to "be a part" of something just because someone I know is. I'd even suggest that doing something just because somebody else has is potentially a very bad reason to do things.

I can see what you mean and I agree, doing so is potentially very bad. That being said though, it's just a fraternity and no harm came from it.

I apologize, but the whole thing seems a bit juvinile to me.

I apologize in advance to any other masons here but yes it is a bit juvenile. It's just something some guys do however, I'm sure you've seen a clubhouse with a 'no girls allowed' sign on it? It's the same principle but I don't think that really means it's a bad thing. Besides, I've seen some of their wives and I don't blame them a bit.

reply to post by EarthCitizen07


I'll discuss anything meaningful that I can without betraying any of the oaths I've taken.

Ofcourse I also say that realizing that I can, in no way, dispel any misconceptions if somebody has already made up their mind. This is undoubtedly why threads like this crop up at least once a week.

Actions speak louder than words and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out our world has been polluted with bad ideas from day 1. Our economy is in ruins, 2 world wars, disease, famine, no ufo/alien disclosure, pseudo-religions, private banks controlling everything and everyone, illusionary governments, etc.

Is our world a mess? Ofcourse it is, we all know that. Are Masons responsible? Absolutely! Are Masons soley responsible? No way. It's human nature to scapegoat things they don't fully understand when things seem bad but the fact is we've all created the problems we're currently facing, either through direct actions or just inactivity.

I also suspect that things in this world are being controlled by an elite few. If so then I'm sure there's a chance some of them are Masons also, however that doesn't make all Masons evil people by association, you'll find bad people in any organization anywhere in the world.

[edit on 27-11-2009 by JayTaylor]