Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They were the first (and only) fraternal organization to accept Blacks and Jews along with other members and my grandfather was so proud of his membership. It's a little old fashioned but hardly cult-like.

Eastern Star is not the masons.

Yes it is. Men who join must be Master Masons and women must have close ties to the Masons.

Masons do not recruit. But some members do ask friends to join. Once your DH has petitioned them for membership they will send a group to your home to interview you and your family before they will accept your DH. I see no harm in it, they do a lot of good for their community. No different then the Elks, Moose or Eagles. Or Knights of Columbus for that matter. But you should be supportive of him if he chooses to join. The Masons have the "Order of the Eastern Star" for women if you are interested.

Anonymous wrote:Why? Whatever happened to transparency?

And your last line did it for me - IF the Catholic Church, for which I have no respect, doesn't approve, then something's up.

Apparently, you must have some lingering respect to take their opinion seriously. Would you tolerate your husband joining the Knights of Columbus (or is he not Catholic enough to join?)

As for your first question, I stand by my previous post wherein I stated you had a pre-existing problem with Freemasonry and are letting all responses (including mine) reinforce that bias. Perhaps the next time someone asks about Freemasonry, I can make up a story more in line with what you already believe.

Anonymous wrote:wtf?

According to his colleagues, it's a great way to make business contacts.

After doing some initial research and speaking to a 33rd degree mason, who won't say a thing about his group, I'm convinced it's just too cult-like.

any insight?

Husband is a CPA, btw.

I just asked my husband about this, according to him, Masons are not allowed to "recruit". If someone is interested in being a Mason they have to seek a Mason and ask to begin the process to join the organization. Perhaps your husband isn't being honest with you and is actually the one looking to join.

Anonymous wrote:a GDI in college, as I don't believe in Group Think

16:25 again.

I was a GDI as well; my college was about 50% Greek, 30% freshmen who couldn't join yet, and 5% or so who wanted to join but didn't have the GPA yet.

I encountered as much, if not more, snobbery and cliquishness among the non-Greeks than among the Greeks.

Why? Whatever happened to transparency?

And your last line did it for me - IF the Catholic Church, for which I have no respect, doesn't approve, then something's up.

Anonymous wrote:16:25 again, got sidetracked as I wrote this.

One is typically not recruited to join the Freemasons, rather the motto is: "To be one, ask one." It's a (relatively) minor semantic point to be fair.

Jews have always been welcomed as Freemasons and (AFAIK) other countries' Grand Lodges do not have racial separation policies. Indeed, in the world of the conspiracy-minded a Jewish Freemason would be like a 23rd level Fighter-Wizard, what with being part of TWO groups that are allegedly plotting to take over the world. (In fact, it was the Protocols of the Elders of Zion where the "Freemasons are taking over the world" meme really took off.)

OP's DH can make some good professional -- and personal -- contacts through the Freemasons. OP can meet some of the wives, and can join the Eastern Star which is one of Freemasonry's many appendant bodies (i.e. groups to which a Master Mason and/or family may join but only after becoming a Master Mason.) Others include the Shriners, York Rite, and Scottish Rite (this is where 33rd degree Masons happen) -- kids can join the Demolay, Job's Daughters, or Rainbow Girls.

(FWIW, you can only make it up to 32nd degree on your own -- you must be nominated to 33rd degree for either your service to Freemasonry or the wider community.)

The actual minutes of the meetings are secret, as are the ceremonies. I will share no details of those on this forum.

Final caveat: joining the Freemasons is an act that will automatically excommunicate you from the Roman Catholic Church. The objections lie completely on the Church's side.

OP, it seems you have a mistrust of the organization that pre-dates your husband's wishing to join.

For what it's worth, a few states (I'm thinking AZ, CT, and IL) publish much if not all of their ritual.

Do you have a problem with college fraternities and sororities?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, really? You've never been in a sorority or anything like that?

The rituals and secrets aren't anything weird, its meant to form a strong bond between the members and foster certain qualities in individuals. I can't tell you specifically what were in my sorority rituals but it involves speaking about friendship, the bonds that tie us together, the vows we take to be good sisters to each other and the organization.

It sounds like you butt into everyone's business and are really just upset by the fact that this doesn't include you and no one can tell you what it is about. Let it go.

nope
a GDI in college, as I don't believe in Group Think

Oye. Makes sense that you have a motivation to keep your husband from joining and nothing will change you mind. Poor DH

Anonymous wrote:OP, really? You've never been in a sorority or anything like that?

The rituals and secrets aren't anything weird, its meant to form a strong bond between the members and foster certain qualities in individuals. I can't tell you specifically what were in my sorority rituals but it involves speaking about friendship, the bonds that tie us together, the vows we take to be good sisters to each other and the organization.

It sounds like you butt into everyone's business and are really just upset by the fact that this doesn't include you and no one can tell you what it is about. Let it go.

nope
a GDI in college, as I don't believe in Group Think

OP, really? You've never been in a sorority or anything like that?

The rituals and secrets aren't anything weird, its meant to form a strong bond between the members and foster certain qualities in individuals. I can't tell you specifically what were in my sorority rituals but it involves speaking about friendship, the bonds that tie us together, the vows we take to be good sisters to each other and the organization.

It sounds like you butt into everyone's business and are really just upset by the fact that this doesn't include you and no one can tell you what it is about. Let it go.

16:25 again, got sidetracked as I wrote this.

One is typically not recruited to join the Freemasons, rather the motto is: "To be one, ask one." It's a (relatively) minor semantic point to be fair.

Jews have always been welcomed as Freemasons and (AFAIK) other countries' Grand Lodges do not have racial separation policies. Indeed, in the world of the conspiracy-minded a Jewish Freemason would be like a 23rd level Fighter-Wizard, what with being part of TWO groups that are allegedly plotting to take over the world. (In fact, it was the Protocols of the Elders of Zion where the "Freemasons are taking over the world" meme really took off.)

OP's DH can make some good professional -- and personal -- contacts through the Freemasons. OP can meet some of the wives, and can join the Eastern Star which is one of Freemasonry's many appendant bodies (i.e. groups to which a Master Mason and/or family may join but only after becoming a Master Mason.) Others include the Shriners, York Rite, and Scottish Rite (this is where 33rd degree Masons happen) -- kids can join the Demolay, Job's Daughters, or Rainbow Girls.

(FWIW, you can only make it up to 32nd degree on your own -- you must be nominated to 33rd degree for either your service to Freemasonry or the wider community.)

The actual minutes of the meetings are secret, as are the ceremonies. I will share no details of those on this forum.

Final caveat: joining the Freemasons is an act that will automatically excommunicate you from the Roman Catholic Church. The objections lie completely on the Church's side.

Anonymous wrote:They were the first (and only) fraternal organization to accept Blacks and Jews along with other members and my grandfather was so proud of his membership. It's a little old fashioned but hardly cult-like.

Eastern Star is not the masons.

If it's secret and elite, it can't be good.
-The Skulls

jealousy?

That came out from left field!

If I'm not into organized religions (brought up Catholic - can't get much more ritualistic than that!), why would I encourage my husband to join some secret society? From what I've heard, it's just an odd organization. And yes, I've known about it, but I'd really like some insight - some insider knowledge.

So far, what I've read is superficial at best. (My brother is great. He's a mason. Therefore, the masons are great!) So they're charitable. Churches are, too. So they encourage networking. So does LinkedIn, for that matter.

Why can't the general public know about their ceremonies? And why was the 33rd degree mason I met so reticent when asked about his high position?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is a Mason and also went through Demolay as a youth. http://www.demolay.org/ While I think some of the rituals are kept secret and they take that aspect very serious, as do many organizations, it is hardly "cult-like". My FIL, and his father were also Masons. My FIL was a Grand Inspector as his Lodge.

Have you looked into the history of the Masons and how they were involved in the early years of this country, most signers of the Constitutions were Masons, many symbols in DC have masonic influence. I'm not even sure that your husband can be recruited to be a real mason without having some connection to us, like a relative or some other degree of knowledge about the group, but I'm not certain.

But to answer your question, it is not a "WTF", and they do lots of good charity work (The Shriners, for instance), and are not a cult. There history goes back centuries and is very well documented.

OP here - My friend's brothers and her BILs are all Masons and have not come from a long line of Masons. Her oldest brother encouraged the rest to join. My friend thinks it's odd - very ritualistic in her opinion.

I don't want my husband to have any part of it.

Is your husband allowed to make choices for himself or do you have to approve of everything he does?

Unnecessary bitchiness is unnecessary. OP said she's afraid it's too cult-like. I'd hope a loving spouse would show concern if s/he felt his/her spouse were potentially joining a very strange club.

Completely unnecessary unnecessaries unnecessarily in my opinion.

OP, you really have never heard of the masons? Not a cult at all and yes it would be very good for his business. Let go of your jealously about not partaking and support whatever decision he makes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Is your husband allowed to make choices for himself or do you have to approve of everything he does?

Unnecessary bitchiness is unnecessary. OP said she's afraid it's too cult-like. I'd hope a loving spouse would show concern if s/he felt his/her spouse were potentially joining a very strange club.

Completely unnecessary unnecessaries unnecessarily in my opinion.

OP, you really have never heard of the masons? Not a cult at all and yes it would be very good for his business. Let go of your jealously about not partaking and support whatever decision he makes.

Know your meme, please.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/x-y-is-x-redundant-adjectives-are-redundant#.TqsRCnKOfds