3 ms·

I went as far as asking a friend who was in the initiation stage to recommend me. My great uncle was a mason. Ultimately I decided any group that would have me

I went as far as asking a friend who was in the initiation stage to recommend me. My great uncle was a mason. Ultimately I decided any group that would have me I wouldn’t want to join. There must be some lone and hungry men left solitary in the world, like Diogenes, to irrationally and unpopulary make war on the consensus of kings and groups reasonable men.

ljf 4y ago
I've always been interested in them, my brother found a load of old Masonic items in his attic and when I moved to a new town the masons held an open day and I was really impressed by the charity work and the meals/drinks sounded fun. I was about to join (or rather begin the process) when I mentioned it to my aunt who was visiting. She went on to tell me a long story of how my grandfather had to join the masons to be allowed to play in a jazz orchestra in South Africa, where he had moved. When he tried to leave the masons years later, they made his life difficult for a period and even went so far as appealing to his manager that he was not a person of good standing, and spreading rumours. He stood fast and nothing came of it, but the story left a bad taste - I can believe it was a one off and most lodges wouldn't act like that, but the story stopped me from proceeding. Shame as it sounded interesting. (my other issue was that I'd have to lie to pretend I believe in a god, and I didn't really fancy lying about that as my lack of belief is fairly core to me)
- bovermyer 4y ago
  You don't have to believe in a god, but you do have to believe in a higher power. That's a really subtle but crucial difference. Also... it's also my experience that once you become a Mason, you are a Mason for life, regardless of your feelings on the matter. You can't quit. This, I think, is similar to how you can't be an ex-Marine. There's a whole lotta philosophy I could chat about there, but that's really a subject for an in-person talk over a few pints, not something to spout bytes over the Internet about.
  - ljf 4y ago
    I look forward to that pint one day!

ljf 4y ago

I've always been interested in them, my brother found a load of old Masonic items in his attic and when I moved to a new town the masons held an open day and I was really impressed by the charity work and the meals/drinks sounded fun. I was about to join (or rather begin the process) when I mentioned it to my aunt who was visiting. She went on to tell me a long story of how my grandfather had to join the masons to be allowed to play in a jazz orchestra in South Africa, where he had moved. When he tried to leave the masons years later, they made his life difficult for a period and even went so far as appealing to his manager that he was not a person of good standing, and spreading rumours. He stood fast and nothing came of it, but the story left a bad taste - I can believe it was a one off and most lodges wouldn't act like that, but the story stopped me from proceeding. Shame as it sounded interesting. (my other issue was that I'd have to lie to pretend I believe in a god, and I didn't really fancy lying about that as my lack of belief is fairly core to me)

bovermyer 4y ago
You don't have to believe in a god, but you do have to believe in a higher power. That's a really subtle but crucial difference. Also... it's also my experience that once you become a Mason, you are a Mason for life, regardless of your feelings on the matter. You can't quit. This, I think, is similar to how you can't be an ex-Marine. There's a whole lotta philosophy I could chat about there, but that's really a subject for an in-person talk over a few pints, not something to spout bytes over the Internet about.
- ljf 4y ago
  I look forward to that pint one day!