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Animal-Mother posted:Did the antient Egyptians have to wear a suit and tie when they invented these things? Did Egypt even have spaghetti? What was their position on transgender brothers? Yes, yes and they had no qualms on people wearing skirts. Your sources are carefully edited.
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Apr 3, 2017 07:18
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My friend has a box full of secret masonic handbooks and a gavel from one of your lodges. I gather her boyfriend was called in to repair something and swiped a bunch of masonic secrets. Y'all are into some wacky stuff let me tell you.
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Apr 3, 2017 16:10
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Your friend's boyfriend sounds like a oval office.
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Apr 4, 2017 03:15
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Not gonna disagree with that.
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Apr 4, 2017 04:23
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I've heard Masons, especially older ones, can tend to the reactionary side of the political spectrum and my general take on Masons under 40 I've known is young republican/libertarian types. What are your guys observations on that?
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Apr 4, 2017 10:02
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Robotnik Nudes posted:I've heard Masons, especially older ones, can tend to the reactionary side of the political spectrum and my general take on Masons under 40 I've known is young republican/libertarian types. What are your guys observations on that? I will say that, politics aside, Masons are some of the finest men I've ever met. But... I almost stopped going to lodge in North Carolina because people wouldn't shut up about how great Trump was for banning Muslims. We actually had a new member join who was Native American, and our WM went on a tirade about how terrible the Standing Rock pipeline protest was and how "the Indians should just get over it". That new member didn't come more than one time  That said, I'm in Maryland now and excited to try out a more northern lodge. Are there any goons in the DC metro area? I'd love to visit a lodge with someone.
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Apr 4, 2017 12:59
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Robotnik Nudes posted:I've heard Masons, especially older ones, can tend to the reactionary side of the political spectrum and my general take on Masons under 40 I've known is young republican/libertarian types. What are your guys observations on that? Masons, and all the attendant groups are a great bunch of people, and let me get out of my bubble and interact with people I otherwise would not on an even setting without any stress of identity, class, politics, or nationality. That said, any lodge is going to be a cross-section of the demographics in the local area, with all the attendant attitude and biases that come with it. Many of the men in my lodge and wider region are former military or law enforcement, and that lends itself to a certain mindset. A lot of the younger guys are conservative in values, but I wouldn't quite categorize them as full on republican/libertarian types. More of a "urban church" kind of vibe.
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Apr 4, 2017 13:15
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i had the pleasure of meeting a brother mason and member of my state's democratic executive committee on monday night at a meeting of a local chapter of the democratic socialists of america. he had ended up transferring his membership to a north carolina lodge because tennessee still doesn't recognize prince hall masonry, after he made three separate presentations to three different grand masters. but we had a fine time chatting up about permaculture and differences between lodge rituals. it takes all kinds.
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Apr 5, 2017 15:11
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Immanentized posted:More of a "urban church" kind of vibe. Gene Hackman Fan posted:tennessee still doesn't recognize prince hall masonry Gene Hackman Fan posted:it takes all kinds. The antient Ægyptians would disapprove.
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Apr 6, 2017 08:38
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Animal-Mother posted:Black? Nah whitebread midwesterners with maybe a guitar and tambourine instead of a pipe organ. The kind of place with a name like "GAME Urban Ministry and Board Game Cafe"
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Apr 6, 2017 17:57
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Shame I moved out of the state so I can't wear it on my uniform, but I finally got my certificate and jewel, almost a year later. Woo.
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Apr 7, 2017 02:53
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One reason Masonry skews a little more to the right is the lack of young members. When you mostly have a bunch of old men, it pretty much follows that you'll get a lot of old-fashioned views (though of course, sometimes those views can actually be more left-aligned than younger people) and since Masonry as a whole is an aging organization, the politics of its members will align more with those of the local aging populations than the broader sweep. There are exceptions, especially on certain issues - my lodge, though it was never discussed in lodge proper, is actually quite environmentally friendly since even the conservative old fellas are either former farmers or listened to the middle-aged lefties in our lodge - and the demographics will shift and the politics will as well. There's also an argument to be made that Masonry's roots make it an inherently conservative organization in these modern days, since what was wild-eyed progressive leftie nonsense when we were a nascent bunch of apron-hipsters with too much free time is now the status quo.
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Apr 7, 2017 02:58
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Animal-Mother posted:Except Black, apparently. touché we're working on it. ...well, some of us are. 
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Apr 7, 2017 15:24
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In lodge for the first time in a year - the Master called me out of the blue to ask if I could help with a 3rd Degree. I might not have said yes if he'd said they had six candidates. At least now it makes sense they they scheduled this for 9 am on a Saturday.
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Apr 8, 2017 15:57
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Pretty sure my town is largely run by a bunch of old Masons, or at least used to be until recently. There's definitely an above average number of visible Masons.
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Apr 11, 2017 07:36
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Hey, I'm not one and I'm a bit removed from societies at large, but I've had some curiosity towards the Freemasons for a few years with all the popular mystique directed at you: not only from the "Earth is flat" corner of youtube. I've got a few small questions if you guys can provide a few short answers and aren't too worn down from having to iron out your aprons, speaking or drama classes and of course from all that good stuff you apparently do: Do you regard the suspicion of people that see it as a show-offish, back-scratching old-boys type club is fair or partially correct? If I see a lodge badge and the lodge number is something like #4200, was that number drawn out of a hat or is it simply that the preceeding lodge was #4199 (and its #4198)? Am I wrong in thinking that Freemasonry is very New Age-y, with interests extending into gematria and kabbalah? Like, is it a 'universal wisdom' club or is it more into its own unique/Christian-influenced thing -- do you get recommended to delve into Buddhist or Judaic lit' or would that be deemed unorthodox, academic or getting away from the point and the social aspects? Deep Thought fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Apr 13, 2017 |
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Apr 13, 2017 22:20
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Masonry is what you make of it and the actual implementation will vary greatly from lodge to lodge and person to person. No idea on the numbering. Deep Thought posted:Am I wrong in thinking that Freemasonry is very New Age-y, with interests extending into gematria and kabbalah? Like, is it a 'universal wisdom' club or is it more into its own unique/Christian-influenced thing -- do you get recommended to delve into Buddhist or Judaic lit' or would that be deemed unorthodox, academic or getting away from the point and the social aspects? I'm pretty sure this is all wrong given that I had to google gematria and kabbalah and was still pretty confused.
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Apr 14, 2017 03:27
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Deep Thought posted:Hey, I'm not one and I'm a bit removed from societies at large, but I've had some curiosity towards the Freemasons for a few years with all the popular mystique directed at you: not only from the "Earth is flat" corner of youtube. Partially correct, yes. Some lodges are full of 'backscratching', others like mine aren't. Some lodges are 'show-offish', others are humble. As with any organization of men, each individual group differs and some are more prone to nepotism than others. Your average lodge, in my experience, is not a 'show-offish' place but actually fairly humble (rural masonry and city masonry can be quite different in this respect), and the extent of the back-scratching is more... Here's a personal example. I can choose between three mechanics in town to fix my car. One's a good guy, one I have no experience with, and one is a Brother. Given a choice, I'll usually go with my Brother because he does quality work and he's a friend, and given those two factors, I'm guessing you'd pick the same. I also trust him not to overcharge more than I trust the others, because I'm not just a customer - I'm a man he has to look in the eyes every month, swearing loyalty and honesty to each other. That's the kind of backscratching that exists in my experience, rather than the conspiratorial 'freemasons secretly run the building industry!' style. You get the same thing out of pretty much any grouping of people, whether it's a Church, an old college football team supporting each other, or even just a friend of a friend doing you a good rate on the plaster repair you need done to your ceiling. quote:If I see a lodge badge and the lodge number is something like #4200, was that number drawn out of a hat or is it simply that the preceeding lodge was #4199 (and its #4198)? quote:Am I wrong in thinking that Freemasonry is very New Age-y, with interests extending into gematria and kabbalah? Like, is it a 'universal wisdom' club or is it more into its own unique/Christian-influenced thing -- do you get recommended to delve into Buddhist or Judaic lit' or would that be deemed unorthodox, academic or getting away from the point and the social aspects? Again, this depends on the Lodge. Many lodges are essentially just social clubs and charitable fundraising organizations (and this is fine, if somewhat missing the point). Others take the quest for enlightenment rather more seriously. I can say however that the Craft degrees do not delve explicitly into the 'New Age' (in fact, we predate the New Age by, oh, a couple of centuries!) or the kabbalah, but that there is a long history of Masonic interest in those areas and influence on our Craft by early masons who studied those subjects. Our teachings do not expressly recommend the study of any specific religious literature, though we do take a strong influence from the Old Testament and are recommended to study the holy books of whatever religion we follow as deeply as we see fit. Masonry in its modern form is simultaneously its own discipline of esoteric and spiritual thought and study and a part of what you call the 'universal wisdom' club, insofar as we recognize in most countries that most (if not outright all) religions have something of value to impart; however, our trappings and ritual are distinctly Judeo-Christian. Think of it like this. Masonry can be either a single step into the shallow end of a pool, or it can be a ticket straight into the deep end. It depends on the individual mason - if they want to go deeper than the three Craft degrees, there are many pathways to do it, and many mystical traditions that have either spun off from or share a great deal of blood with Masonry to accomodate them. If they don't, then they don't have to, and nothing in the Craft degrees will make them crack open a book on the Kabbalah or start computing the gematric values of their various Lodge officers to determine the best time to initiate a new Candidate (which is, by the way, not a question of Gematria or even of the Zodiac but a matter of season. We should always strive to initiate a new Brother on or around the Winter Solstice, so that when he is R. a year late, it coincides also with that time. Or for those in jurisdictions that practice much shorter time periods between I. and R., it should be timed to be the appropriate length before the Winter Solstice, for reasons that should be clear but that I will enumerate to any brother who PMs me.) Sheep posted:I'm pretty sure this is all wrong given that I had to google gematria and kabbalah and was still pretty confused. Kabbalah is a fairly standard part of esoteric Masonry, but yes, for those who don't take an interest in that side of things it has no role in the Craft. The bulk of my Brothers, good men all, would just stare blankly at me if I mentioned the gematric value of B. or J. or H:. since it just isn't in their conception of Masonry. It's one of those things that you have to get from outside the Craft (whether in an appendant body or independently), though studying it does flow naturally from much of what we learn and are taught in the degrees. Loomer fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Apr 14, 2017 |
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Apr 14, 2017 03:52
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TBH Masons just sound like boring old republican fish fry club and probably have private FB pages where they just post racist memes and I can't see anyone would join them instead of a cool secret society like the Ordi Templi Orientis or, since it's pretty nerdy, the Golden Dawn.
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Apr 14, 2017 10:49
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You say that like both those organizations weren't founded by Masons.
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Apr 14, 2017 12:22
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gently caress, busted
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Apr 14, 2017 12:29
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Loomer posted:I come from a double digit lodge, for instance, and a very auspicious number at that
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Apr 16, 2017 07:59
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I'm not a mason but still think its cool that the nearby lodge is #15 even though we're in the middle of nowhere.
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Apr 16, 2017 17:35
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Yesterday our lodge initiated a somewhat prominent figure. I feel honoured to have this guy on board and I hate him for that. Of course, then I recognise how that doesn't work with masonry and masonic values. This stuff is hard. Another guy is a good man but he is also loud and at times disruptive to me. When asking a br for his opinion and how we should handle this, it was pointed out that his opinion was unimportant, there is no way I can talk about "we" only "I" and that it has been handled when he was initiated. After some conversation I realised that I myself have a loud and disruptive personality and that I contain this a lot. Masonry is hard. At the same time there is no better place to learn.
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Apr 19, 2017 14:54
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Loomer posted:Great answers. That's a pretty excellent and comprehensive write-up. Definitely adding it to a file. I haven't got any follow-up questions. Deep Thought fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Apr 19, 2017 |
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Apr 19, 2017 22:19
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I did a thing.
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May 2, 2017 16:48
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Hi, I've been reading a littke about you and I'm interested. There are a few lodges near me I'm thinking about reaching out to, but I was wondering if there are any Oregon masons in this thread that I could talk to first?
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May 10, 2017 00:36
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Well brothers, I now sit in the South.
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May 20, 2017 13:53
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What does the G stand for?
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May 21, 2017 00:19
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CountFosco posted:What does the G stand for? God. Or Geometry.
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May 21, 2017 00:24
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CountFosco posted:What does the G stand for? Goatwrasslin'.
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May 21, 2017 04:31
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CountFosco posted:What does the G stand for? The symbols mostly are what you make of it. There is not a single explanation although some are more obvious than others.
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May 21, 2017 06:42
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Loomer posted:Well brothers, I now sit in the South. Nice work! I'm going in for a second time as a MM. JW is great fun if you've got a good mate sitting just inside the door, and more importantly one in the big chair!
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May 21, 2017 07:21
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CountFosco posted:What does the G stand for? Goon
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May 23, 2017 21:29
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Loomer posted:Goatwrasslin'. You joke, but in the past month I have literally wrestled with a goat.
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May 24, 2017 00:27
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Had my first table lodge last night, that was a lot of fun. It was good to be with the brothers in a relaxed environment, but boy did the shots take a toll after a while.
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May 25, 2017 14:44
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Cimber posted:Had my first table lodge last night, that was a lot of fun. It was good to be with the brothers in a relaxed environment, but boy did the shots take a toll after a while. If you need to, politely decline. No Mason will take offence, especially as moderation is a virtue.
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May 26, 2017 03:23
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A lodge in my district got vandalized twice this week. Thankfully, they've caught the guy so it shouldn't happen again. Looks like your typical paranoia mixed with religion antimasonry. What was uplifting was heading to the cleanup and seeing multiple lodges with guys there to help. Hopefully, it'll be the same tomorrow for this round of cleaning. http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/north-columbus-lodge-targeted-with-vandalism-again
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Jun 2, 2017 21:10
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Yesterday was a pretty exciting occasion, as I was able to take part in raising my best friend of eight years to the sublime degree of Master Mason.
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Jun 7, 2017 13:48
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CountFosco posted:You joke, but in the past month I have literally wrestled with a goat.
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Jun 22, 2017 03:23
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