Any Freemasons out there?

The mention of no religious discussion on another thread set me wondering. Are there any Masons out there? (Apart from me, that is.) Just about the only time I ever see anyone apart from me produce some snuff is at Masonic dinners… What put me on to this train of thought, by the way, is that one of the customs of English Freemasonry is that you don’t discuss religion or politics at Lodge Meetings!

You can read about my Lodge here - http://www.apollo357.com/index.php/about-apollo - which explains the numerical part of my screen name.

I would beat there are. I think one of their secrets is that tobacco is awesome. My local smoke shop was owned by a mason. Great guy by the way.

Umm, isn’t the first rule of Masonry that you don’t talk about Masonry?

Don’t you worry that some weird looking dude was just dispatched from London with poisoned darts and a blowgun to “silence” the transgressor revealing Lodge secrets?

@Geraldo why do you think he hasn’t responded?

I think you are confusing it with Fight Club. I was going to join the local lodge actually…but in backwater places like this, they openly break certain rules…it might as well be a church meeting except with beer, even in the 4 standard degrees. However the church thing is somewhat understandable depending on branch, like my grandfather who was 32nd degree Scottish Rite.

Had a member in the family, hardly a word about it though…

@Geraldo - no, actually it isn’t. It’s not a secret society, but a society with secrets. If you’re interested in the difference, then have a look here. It’s a post from my blog about the furore following the ‘shocking revelation’ that one of the bishops in the Church of England is a Mason, and I talk a bit about secrets, secrecy and public perceptions of Masonry.

I still want to make a comic book called Masonic Youth. Really it’s supposed to be funny but they would have powers based on masonic teachings and symbols. Yeah it’s a super hero comic.

Good title. You could have the Great Architect in charge of things, with his right-hand-man the All Seeing Eye doing strategy and the Senior and Junior Warden as enforcers. Not sure about the super-powers, though. Haven’t got any of those yet, I guess…

I think more of us here are Masons and Shriners than you would think , Past DeMolay also.

Sloth you read my notes on this didn’t you? Yeah even the people like me that aren’t Masons probably know more of them then is standard.

I’ve always been curious about the freemasons.  Even spent a bunch of time researching who/what they are and looked at websites for local masons.  Didn’t get the impression you could just walk in and join but would need someone to invite you.  I’ve never known any masons that I’m aware of and therefore have not been invited.

I think Tim at snuffstore may be a freemason. He still around?  I notice the snuffstore banner is gone?

Yep, the banner’s gone and he’s been banned.

@bob Check out the League of Extrodinary Gentelmen (the comic, not the movie) its very clever but in this the villains all have Masonic symbols.

That’s not too suprising. I’ve been meaning to check the comic out for a while…

Yeah its like a 19th century Avengers. If you are familiar with the imaginative literature of the era, its a real fun read.

I love their work so it’s seems like it would have to be awesome.

Hmmm.  Yeah, the Masons are just another social club, not a “secret society.”  Of course, that is what you want us to believe.

Next you are going to insist that the Girl Scouts AREN’T a secret paramilitary force of trained girl assassins/hit squad, but rather just some service/activity group for girls.

Think about it - the “Guides” scour/surveil all the neighborhoods everywhere under the innocent pretext of “selling cookies.”  They have uniforms, go to secret training weekends at fenced compounds in the woods, have secret symbols, handshakes, ranks…but you just go ahead and continue to proclaim their innocence. 

Or are the Guides somehow linked with the Masons?  I shudder when I consider  the depth of the conspiracy…

Don’t they put drugs in the cookies to help facilitate thier mind control agenda?

To become one, you need to know one. I have a lot of friends that are Masons. I was thinking about becoming one, but my Father would be spinning in his grave. He read a lot of stuff about Masons being in league with the Illuminati for control of the world. That they are cultish and so on. I don’t believe all that. I don’t think they are any worse than the Optimist club, Rotary club, Elk club, VFW, American legion, Knights of Columbus or many other men’s group and their Wives axillary. Of course if you are In the Knights of Columbus I don’t mean to offend. Lets not drag this into Religon.

edm