[svenski7]

Anyone on RVF a mason? What's it like?

There is an old thread but user hasn't been active in a year.

Any thoughts welcome.

[Hotwheels]

Some guy at the bar asked me if I was in the Illuminati once.

[Christian McQueen]

I'm curious as to responses too, but ironically anyone in the Free Masons probably isn't at liberty to talk about it here.

[AntiTrace]

I went through the initial process. Its not as secretive as many people think it is.

The only thing your not really supposed to talk about is the different initiation ceremonies, which are vanilla compared to any type of frat initiation (remember, 60 year old dudes do this shit).

They are mainly a community oriented group that tries to foster growth and develop in their own communities through community events and volunteer work. They are not harboring ancient secrets of the first visit of aliens and they do not know who killed JFK. One of the strictest rules is your not allowed to discuss religion or politics in the lodge, so that may clear it up a bit.

[Caligula]

I'm not a mason but I know a few. It's not as secretive or as mysterious as many people think.

If you're ever in London you can go visit the Grand Lodge. It's open to the public. They have guided tours and a museum there with all the regalia and stuff, along with a bunch of stuff about the history of masonry. It's pretty cool.

[Suits]

(10-31-2013 04:41 PM)Caligula Wrote:  

It's not as secretive or as mysterious as many people think.

That's what they want you to think.

[KorbenDallas]

I listen to Alex Jones every once in a while. He claims it's a pretty vanilla organization until you get to the top, where, it's real evil. Maybe true, but the same is pretty much true of all organizations. The smart and ruthless tend to be at the top.

History is full of claims concerning free masonry. The only thing well know for sure is that we will never know for sure.

[Capitán Peligroso]

2B1Ask1.

[j r]

I know some older black dudes who are masons, but I don't really know the difference between the black masons and the white masons.

The one white mason I know is probably the single biggest herb that I know. This is a dude who puts every thought he has on Facebook and half of them are about his cat.

[Laner]

I know a few.

I actually went with a friend to pay his fathers dues (his dad lives in London but pays a different lodge) recently. They are not doing so well as far as new blood, from what we were told.

Not being the "builders of civilization" anymore means that its mostly about community and keeping the good.

[LeBeau]

Fire away on any questions, I've accumulated a lot of knowledge in this area over the years.

(Not some Alex Jones conspiracy crap, but through actual masons in various lodges, along with texts they lent me)

[Architekt]

What is their actual purpose? Do they have any kind of mission statement?

[AntiTrace]

One other thing of interest is that hierarchy in the freemasons trumps any outside hierarchy.

For example:

-A Major in the army outranks a Captain. However, if they are both freemasons and the Captain holds a higher position in the lodge (especially if he in an officer of the lodge) then the Captain can in theory tell the Major what to do. Now the Captain is not going to go around ordering the Major to do this and that, but you can be sure some preferential treatment is going to be thrown his way.

Networking is a huge part of the freemasons and a big reason many people join. If a manager of a company is a freemason and is looking to hire a new employee he will give preferential treatment to a freemason that applies. If a mason gets pulled over and by an officer that is a mason, chances are good he is getting let off the hook.

That average age of a mason is somewhere aorund 72.

But the main thing you should be concerned about is that the masons will not look highly upon any game related activities. It being a family and community oriented group, they expect you not to be running around defiling all the young attractive in the area.

edit - architekt, they mainly organize fundraising events and improvement projects within their local community.

[Vicious]

One of my closest friends is a Mason. Tried recruiting me at a time but the heavy religious associations turned me off.

Obviously a good network but with the Internet today there's no excuse not to conduct the same level of networking without this kind of brotherhood at your back.

[Laner]

(11-01-2013 03:19 AM)Vicious Wrote:  

One of my closest friends is a Mason. Tried recruiting me at a time but the heavy religious associations turned me off.

Obviously a good network but with the Internet today there's no excuse not to conduct the same level of networking without this kind of brotherhood at your back.

I think you only have to believe in a "higher power".

[Way Cool Jr]

I know some Italian members of one of the biggest lodges of my country.
I'll say that most of what we heard about this topic is wrong.
At leas at the lowest levels the only aims of the organization are about personal enlightment; study of famous philosophers, historic figures and holy books; community services and in some sort of way also some networking.
At the higher level the political and economic influence grows but this is the same for every association.
The official aim of the organization is enlightment, different and dark uses of power are actually against the freemason's concept and ideas,