is it worth the price?

1st degree -$75
2nd degree -$75
3rd degree- 100

Then there's only the yearly $100 fee left.

So my question to all masons is it worth the price??

reply to post by ElOmen


Totally. Without a doubt.

Learning the official Mason handshake: $75.
Becoming a Master Mason: $100.
Not joining Lucifer's little club: priceless.

Originally posted by ElOmen
1st degree -$75
2nd degree -$75
3rd degree- 100

Then there's only the yearly $100 fee left.

So my question to all masons is it worth the price??

In my opinion, yes.

Your milage may vary, of course.

The degree fees are one-time things, and usually go to help pay for some of the administrative costs that go with putting on said degrees.

The anual dues for your lodge, in this case, work out to less than $10 a month.

Seems pretty reasonable, if you ask me. (And you did…)

That's a bit pricey. In my area, you have a $125 fee to join. (only cash the check if you get in) but they do spend the $25 on a background check, so you only get $100 back if you are rejected.

And then you have to pay the remainder of your dues. ($65 a year) so if you join in July, you owe half of $65 after you become a master mason.

Oh, and Dark Knight, you have to pay extra to get to Lucifer level. It's too expensive for most, so we just stay with God. If your money is right, I can send you an app.

Let me put it another way, to hopefully stave off naysayers who think those numbers are too high.

My lodge pays around $800 a month for rent. Add another $100 for phone/internet for our office. Maybe another $100 for miscellaneous expenses.

So we're up to $1000 per month just to keep the lodge running.

At $100 per year per dues-paying member, we'd need 100 dues paying members to break even.

And that's without feeding them dinner. (We probably see on average 30 guys per meeting, and meet 3 or 4 times a month, so we're looking at feeding maybe 120 people a month. Figure at least $5 a head in food costs, and we're at an extra $600/month in costs, at a minimum…)



To complicate things, many grand lodges allow for "endowed members", where you pay a bigger upfront cost, which gets invested in an endowment, but then you don't have to pay annual dues anymore. The problem is, that's not so good for the lodges when the economy is on the downside, because the endowment won't pay off dividends when it's losing money. And a lot of members see endowments as a good thing, thinking, if I can pay off 5 or 10 years at once, I can be paid for life and not have to worry about dues!

Which leads to a lot of lodges being in the red, financially.

Originally posted by ElOmen
1st degree -$75
2nd degree -$75
3rd degree- 100

Then there's only the yearly $100 fee left.

So my question to all masons is it worth the price??

Depends on your expectations. What are you expecting to get out of it? If you expect secrets of world domination, networking to build your internet business, and guys that will loan you their little go-karts to take out the girls, then it will be a waste of money.

If your expectation is to meet a good group of guys that can help mentor you as you do some inner reflection and try to align your personal priorities with the priorities that have worked for Masons for a long time, then there price is irrelavent.

There's an old quote, and I can't seem to find it, so I'll paraphrase, but it goes something like, "You never pay too much for something useful, and something useless costs too much at any price." Something like that, only much more eloquent.

For me, Masonry was worth 100x what I pay for it, but for others it might be wasted money.

simple answer

yes

Whether you join for the social aspect, the charity aspect or if you are a student of spirituality you will not regret it.

reply to post by ElOmen


You have another thread, and in that other thread you encourage the jibberish Ben81 is spouting in This Post of yours?

What is your true intention?

You say this....

Originally posted by ElOmen
reply to post by Ben81

Nice chatting with you looks like made a new friend.

Peace out spread the truth!

in a thread where that guy was saying stuff like this....

to be complete part of their cult .. you need to sell your soul to the devil
which is not recommended unless you really really really dont care about your soul
if you want power,fame and knowledge then so be it
but remember the 7 sins and the 10 commandment of the Creator
dont defy and deny those unisersal laws or you wont be able to Ascend
into the 5 dimension ... if you dont then you will be stuck in the 3 and 4 dimension

If you believe any of that junk from Ben81, then you probably don't want to join Freemasonry for the right reasons, and therefore the money you mention in this thread would be wasted money.

Ask yourself these questions, because they will be asked of you eventually anyway (although they are asked in various other forms)....

Do you believe in one, ever-living creator?
Why do you want to become a Mason?
Can you take upon yourself a binding obligation?
Can you live and co-exist in harmony with people from all religious and political beliefs?
Can you give more than you expect to receive?

Those are some very basic quality assurance questions that need to be answered internally for you, and also again for your investigative committee. If you have any doubts to any of those answers,..... if you have to mull them over or think about them more than a moment........., then don't join at this time, wait until you are more ready.

Thank you all for sharing your opinions.

Im curious did anyone leave this decision to a coin flip?

Originally posted by ElOmen
Thank you all for sharing your opinions.

Im curious did anyone leave this decision to a coin flip?

Don't join.

It's a serious decision, it's not a lot of money, but money is tight these days. It's not a lot of your personal time to commit, but you'll be committing another dozen or so guys to the same time commitment. It's not an evil or satanic endeavor, it's not a Christian endeavor, it's not a Muslim endeavor, but it is a SPIRITUAL ENDEAVOR. You have to be prepared first internally, or otherwise you're wasting your time and money, and the time of those that will have you in their charge.

If you are considering a coin flip, then your answer is that you're not yet ready.

Originally posted by ElOmen
Thank you all for sharing your opinions.

Im curious did anyone leave this decision to a coin flip?

No and that's a wholly stupid idea.

This decision must be of your own freewill. It must also be for the right reasons, or else you will probably gain nothing from the fraternity.

If you are considering making this choice based on the flip of a coin than I strongly urge you to reconsider your true intentions.

reply to post by getreadyalready


I can't be friendly??

that post is off topic. I don't think I said anywhere that I agree with him....

I make my own final decisions at the end of the day

reply to post by W3RLIED2


Yea don't worry it was just a question for you guys...lol

reply to post by getreadyalready


Trust me "spiritual" is my middle name

Originally posted by ElOmen
reply to post by getreadyalready

 

I can't be friendly??

that post is off topic. I don't think I said anywhere that I agree with him....

I make my own final decisions at the end of the day

You told him to "keep spreading the truth." That was FAR from the truth he was spreading.

And as for you making your own decisions at the end of the day....... coin flip? That is not solid decision making in my book.

Possibly the internet has jaded my opinion. Possibly you are young, and your style of humor is lost on the internet and I'm misinterpreting you. In those cases, maybe the investigating committee will find you favorable from their personal interaction, and you'll do fine in Masonry.

Personally, I get the idea that you are casually curious about Freemasonry, and we appreciate that. It is healthy, you're asking questions, and those are all good things, but you don't sound like someone who is really looking to join at this moment for the right reasons. Wait until you are ready, and then join because you are ready to grow and evolve through your interactions in Masonry. Don't join out of curiousity.

Originally posted by DarkKnight21
Learning the official Mason handshake: $75.
Becoming a Master Mason: $100.
Not joining Lucifer's little club: priceless.

Actually believing in Lucifer: retarded.

Originally posted by AugustusMasonicus

Originally posted by DarkKnight21
Learning the official Mason handshake: $75.
Becoming a Master Mason: $100.
Not joining Lucifer's little club: priceless.

Actually believing in Lucifer: retarded.

His greatest feat is convincing you that he doesn't exist.

Originally posted by DarkKnight21
His greatest feat is convincing you that he doesn't exist.

You keep quoting tired cliches and continuing your unfaltering belief in Satan. I personally have better things to believe in than the Devil.

Originally posted by DarkKnight21
His greatest feat is convincing you that he doesn't exist.

Pretty sure that really only applies to Keyser Söze.

Who, you know, doesn't exist, being a fictional character in a movie and all…