Masonic Brotherhoods

[MadduckUK]

Then again, for all i know they get rat-arsed and spank each other silly.

oh but you DO KNOW....

[Virtual Monkey]

Who controls the British Crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?

We do, we do!

[Steven W]

I've been asked a few times to join a lodge by my wife's grandfather who is a mason.

Iit amazed me that he was 'donating' money each month, that he could ill afford. When I asked where the money was going, he said to charity.

When I asked which charity, he said he didn't know as the lodge would always donate anonymously.

I've also seen the masonic bible sitting on his bookshelf, yet he won't let me look at it.

I'd like to know more before committing myself, my money into it, but the answers don't come it seems until you join. I've been to a couple of events as a guest of a mason and those who were in the upper ranks just seemed to be those who had the most powerful positions locally. Something doesn't quite seem coacher about the whole thing.

P.S Can I borrow a copy of your bible to read?

[Rave]

I'm not a mason. However, for a while I was one of the Chosen Few at my local pub- friends with all the management, invited for a lock in every week- that was pretty cool. The only price of entry to that exclusive club was beer money and funny chat.

[Saracen]

I've been asked a few times to join a lodge .....

I'd like to know more before committing myself, my money into it, but the answers don't come it seems until you join.

That's my situation. I've been asked, but it's a blind commitment. It's not that I think there's anything particularly fishy going on, because I judge by the character of those that invited me. My issue is that I'm not going to make a commitment to join anything without understanding what the point of joining is, what the objectives and benefits are, and what the obligations and commitments (financial and otherwise) are.

So I declined. Joining is a leap of faith I was not prepared to make.

[MSIC]

my father & uncle were both masons (I'm not).
As long as they do no harm & maybe even do some good (which they do) I don't have a problem - you could even say that Hexus (or other internet community) is just a modern equivalent

Ah, but you see Hexus is a public forum, and therefore a community.
The key difference is about openess.

Let's take the General Medical Council as an example.
It's a body of (fairly) like-minded individuals, that is not open to 'just anyone' to join, is made up of (arguably) those with some power in the community, and makes decisions that are mostly for the good.
But the content of the meetings will be recorded and available for public consumption. And in truth anyone can join, provided they work hard enough. So people can know exactly what they are getting into prior to joining, if they so chose.

My problem with Mason's 'doing good' is that we dont know if they do or not, we have to take their word on it, and they are not held to account to a higher power.
Would you believe the recent Zimbabwe government when they said that everything is 'going well' and they are just helping their own people?

[steve threlfall]

Who controls the British Crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?

We do, we do!

Who holds back the electric car
Who made Steve Guttenberg... A star!

We do, we do!

[eshrules]

My problem with Mason's 'doing good' is that we dont know if they do or not, we have to take their word on it, and they are not held to account to a higher power.
Would you believe the recent Zimbabwe government when they said that everything is 'going well' and they are just helping their own people?

ah... but why would they need to be held accountable? They have to have their accounts audited like anyone else, you can imagine the amount of cash that's passed around.

I'm not sure about other lodges, but we all know where our funds go and what charitys receive donations... so i'm happy with that.

other than that, the way i see it, I pay £20 every month for 6 months of the year and have a damned good meal and booze up. a full 5 course meal for £20 and subsidised bar

[MSIC]

ah... but why would they need to be held accountable?

Well i suppose this is now my opinion, but any group that makes decisions that affects any individual or other group (be they within the first group or outside) should be held to account for their actions.
If the decisions they make are bad or harmful decisions, the decision makers need to go.
That is a fair system that reduces risk of wrong-doing, and as a model it applies from small groups right up to massive governments.

They have to have their accounts audited like anyone else, you can imagine the amount of cash that's passed around.

Being accountable (for actions), and financial accounting are not exactly the same thing. Well, maybe they are based on the same principle, but finances are not the only thing that have to be justified is really what i mean.
Although any group that wants to claim to be an open body (which masons are obviously not) should allow finances to be inspected, again to prevent wrong-doing.

[Blitzen]

I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to talk about this on here, so long as I don't divulge any 'particulars' related to my lodge...

I'm just interested to see how many of you lot are a member of one?

how far 'up' are you and what do you think it's changed about you or your life?

I was approached about 2 years ago but declined.
It is just way too sad and pompous.

From what i have seen (first hand), its just a club that makes people that arent particularly special feel somehow 'elitist'.

Give me the pub anyday.
Any club where its just blokes and no women is definitely on 'the wonk' in any case.

[eshrules]

Well i suppose this is now my opinion, but any group that makes decisions that affects any individual or other group (be they within the first group or outside) should be held to account for their actions.
If the decisions they make are bad or harmful decisions, the decision makers need to go.
That is a fair system that reduces risk of wrong-doing, and as a model it applies from small groups right up to massive governments.

ah... I see what you mean now it's democratic in it's decision making, nothing is decided without a vote, anything that affects the entire group is motioned and then it's up to the individuals to vote.

I was approached about 2 years ago but declined.
It is just way too sad and pompous.

From what i have seen (first hand), its just a club that makes people that arent particularly special feel somehow 'elitist'.

Give me the pub anyday.
Any club where its just blokes and no women is definitely on 'the wonk' in any case.

<giggles>

so naieve and ignorant it's untrue

I hope I don't appear sad and pompus, I'm about as common as they come and from very humble beginnings, I certainly don't feel elitist, but I do like meeting educated, well founded people who can advise and direct me in life and business

how can you judge something like that, when you've not actually 'given it a go' ? that's like me saying people who mod their PC's and such like are just geeks...

[Moby-Dick]

snigger isn't swearing per se - its the swear filter having a moment , which is odd as you can say scunthorpe

AFAIK the masons have ladies nights where parters are allowed - a touch chauvenistic perhaps, but not exactly what I would call 'on the wonk'

[Mike Fishcake]

how can you judge something like that, when you've not actually 'given it a go' ?

Can you give it a go without signing up for it?

[digit]

Hmmm quite an interesting idea, never heard of it / come across it. However I'm dubious due to the secretive nature of it whether everything it does as an 'organisation' is all good.

[Saracen]

ah... but why would they need to be held accountable? They have to have their accounts audited like anyone else, you can imagine the amount of cash that's passed around.

I'm not sure about other lodges, but we all know where our funds go and what charitys receive donations... so i'm happy with that.

other than that, the way i see it, I pay £20 every month for 6 months of the year and have a damned good meal and booze up. a full 5 course meal for £20 and subsidised bar

Well ...... if that's all it's about, you're welcome to it. If I'm going out for a meal, I'll choose when, where and with whom, not just let some committee decide for me. So on that basis, giving it a pass was, for me, the right decision, because that appeals to me not one bit.

If, on the other hand, there's more to it than that, then either your description to us is less than full, or you haven't been told what it's about. I have no idea which, if either, it is, but either way, I'd still be signing up and paying for something without knowing what it was, and I won't do that.

When I was invited, I asked, repeatedly and delicately, for some indication of what it was that was on offer. The chap that invited me was a very good friend, and I trust him, his judgement, and his character and honesty entirely. But he was still evasive, and indicated he wasn't allowed to say much. So either there's some reason for that secrecy, in which case, I'm not interested in signing up blind. Or there isn't a reason for it, in which case, it's puerile and juvenile, with a "secret society" image for no reason other than mysticism and mystique. And in that event, I'm not interested either.

Oh, and if it's about giving to charity, I'll decide what I do, when and for whom, too, based on my experiences and preferences. One reason for that is that there are some large, well-known charities that won't get so much as a penny from me. Why? Read their accounts, and see what they pay their executives.

[digit]

I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to talk about this on here, so long as I don't divulge any 'particulars' related to my lodge...

I'm just interested to see how many of you lot are a member of one?

how far 'up' are you and what do you think it's changed about you or your life?

Surely due to the secretive nature of the masons, you shouldn't even be declaring that you are a mason?