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Original poster

My husband is thinking about joining the Masons and I am horrified

280 replies

SovietTrumpet · 20/12/2021 18:35

I hate boys’ clubs and silly rituals etc and doing each other favours. He thinks it will help him at work. Arguments please against and in favour…

OP posts:
youvegottenminuteslynn · 20/12/2021 20:54

Why do they need the logo on the ambulances then @Lorw? It implies they need to see themselves congratulated for their charity work. Which means it's ego led rather than actually altruistic.

user47000000000 · 20/12/2021 20:56

No no no.

Masons =criminal cover ups. Seen it so many times.

pantherrose · 20/12/2021 20:57

I am not in the least bit embarrassed and I am sorry that you feel I should be. It would seem that you know as much about freemasonry as you do about Christianity. Pity.

user47000000000 · 20/12/2021 20:59

and pantherose sums up Masonic attitude well clap

Jessica60 · 20/12/2021 21:00

@OnwardsAndSideways1

You should be concerned, I have a friend who works in the police and there are real issues in our local area with enquiries and problems being shelved if the offending officer is a Mason, they close ranks in the police anyway and it's doubly worse if they are all Masons, she is fighting the good fight against this but it makes her very unpopular.
I agree with this
crosstalk · 20/12/2021 21:00

There are a lot of clubs like this though Masons would like to think of themselves as the oldest of them.

Rotary (used to have Inner Wheel for wives but now local Rotary run by a woman). Lions. Buffaloes.

I have great admiration for anyone raising funds without strings for charity. Most of the international ones also offer scholarships for international study.

They do require commitment IMHO and a lot of them started in the days when (a) you could depend on a wife at home (b) you closed your office at lunchtime (thinking solicitors, banks, shop owners) and could go to a meeting then or (c) could go to a meeting after work and back to a supper on the table.

All religions, village groups, WI, schools fundraise, too.

I'm slightly more concerned about the Masons in the non religious set ups. All of them run as networks, or what would be the point?

But the Masons were linked with the police and judiciary, not a great cross over. It was Christian only and accused of anti semitism, though there are now non denominational orders (but remember Groucho Marx's quote). Most Grand Masters in Europe are royalty. There are also some very arcane groups in countries not known for their liberalism.

@AlyssasBackRolls I'm sure the current Masonic handbook is exemplary. But do you think the original Masons and rituals were just male Girl Guides with badges? That historically excluding women and non-Christians was a great thing? I'm truly interested.

LatteLoverLovesLattes · 20/12/2021 21:01

My Dsd was in the Masons, it was all very secretive, but my Dad was a good man.

My bf is in the masons, he had a bit of a horrible childhood and he gets a lot from 'bonding' with the others, a sense of family he didn't get at home. He has his own business which has collapsed through covid and they have helped him a lot, both mentally & financially.

He has enjoyed & got a lot through progressing through the ranks. He has a fabulous memory so enjoys learning & remembering all the stuff from the book (I'd be fucking useless) it gives him confidence. Their group help a lot in various charities.

He his twice a month to meeting, occasional meetings and helps at fundraisers.

He's middle aged & white, but plenty of his fellow lodge members are non white and from
Various backgrounds, not just privileged

I'm less eye rolly about it than I was before I met him.

But he's open with me about what they do, whose there etc & what's going on. If he was playing secret squirrel with me I'd not be impressed.

DreamTheMoors · 20/12/2021 21:02

My great-uncle, whom I never knew, was a Mason.
My great-aunt, his wife, belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star, which you could only join if you were related to a Mason.
Once, when we were about 13, 14, our mother forced my sister & me to go to an Eastern Star Christmas party with Auntie — it was nothing but old ladies and their much younger granddaughters. Auntie insisted we go as she had no children of her own.
I don’t remember what went on - just that it was excruciating. The elderly ladies all had long formal dresses on and we had to wear our very best.
Auntie died in the early ‘80s at 99.

EmKayEm · 20/12/2021 21:03

If he is ex forces or a copper then it does you the world of good.
Ditto accountancy and law.

ClaudiaJ1 · 20/12/2021 21:03

@pantherrose

I am not in the least bit embarrassed and I am sorry that you feel I should be. It would seem that you know as much about freemasonry as you do about Christianity. Pity.
Clearly you yourself know as much about Freemasonry as you do about Christianity. Which is nil. Then again someone who doesn't who 'doesn't give a flying' about climate change clearly doesn't care about His creation....
pantherrose · 20/12/2021 21:05

@user47000000000

and pantherose sums up Masonic attitude well clap
Eh? Weird comment.
Ijsbear · 20/12/2021 21:05

@Shehasadiamondinthesky

Shows how ignorant you are. I am lady Mason and there is so much more to it than that. Bet you didn't know we existed either. Are you always so controlling?
That post really isn't a recommendation you know.
Shade17 · 20/12/2021 21:06

Are there any non-white Masons

My good friend isn’t white and nor is he a Christian. I’ll make sure to tell him that as a mason (a very active one at that) he’s a racist bigot. He’s actually one of the nicest people you’d ever hope to meet, very active in the community and has a lovely family. My step father is also an ex mason, was hugely active before he retired and a lovely man, would give you the shirt off his back.

user47000000000 · 20/12/2021 21:06

Absolutely jessica

I was a victim of crime by a mason.

Case was being progressed, all evidence gathered etc then suddenly a new (mason) senior officer decided there weren’t resources to pursue the case.

I’ve heard many similar stories about masons. Wouldn’t trust with a barge pole

HarrisMcCoo · 20/12/2021 21:06

@youvegottenminuteslynn

Why do they need the logo on the ambulances then *@Lorw*? It implies they need to see themselves congratulated for their charity work. Which means it's ego led rather than actually altruistic.
Exactly. No need for the logo if completely altruistic....
ClaudiaJ1 · 20/12/2021 21:08

And what is Christianity if not a load of strange rituals? Go to any church, whether CofE or Catholic, and the traditions and rituals at mass is as old as time.

MiladyBerserko · 20/12/2021 21:08

So depressing to see so many women defending the masons*. They do indeed look after thir own i.e. other men. And Lady masons my arse.

I chucked a long term boyfriend over this years ago after his police officer BIL's 'join the masons' party. It was grim; the women talked about the new kitchen and the men talked politics. I was gently 'dissuaded' from joining the men's conversation. You would think we had regressed a century.
There's a good fucking reason that the police are misogynistic shits.

*Deliberately not using capitals. They deserve no such honour.

KittenKong · 20/12/2021 21:10

My brother joined when he was younger - it was more a drinking club for him and his pals. When he have your drink he gave them up too. Maybe it depends on the lodge?

Double3xposure · 20/12/2021 21:10

@StormBaby

I’ve never met one who wasn’t an egotistical insufferable bore
This.
pantherrose · 20/12/2021 21:13

What the heck has climate change got to do with it? I suspect you are trolling and here to disrupt the thread.

YellowandGreenToBeSeen · 20/12/2021 21:15

@ClaudiaJ1

And what is Christianity if not a load of strange rituals? Go to any church, whether CofE or Catholic, and the traditions and rituals at mass is as old as time.
Old as time and open for all to participate in.

Do you see the difference?

DingleyDel · 20/12/2021 21:17

@user47000000000

Absolutely jessica

I was a victim of crime by a mason.

Case was being progressed, all evidence gathered etc then suddenly a new (mason) senior officer decided there weren’t resources to pursue the case.

I’ve heard many similar stories about masons. Wouldn’t trust with a barge pole

A family member was a victim of a massive miscarriage of justice involving criminal masons and police officers in the 90s. They went so far as trying to remove a judge from the case because they knew he wouldn’t find in their favour. Some people wouldn’t believe the corruption that goes right to the top of the criminal justice system. It’s why I have such admiration for people who fight and fight it, Doreen Lawrence for instance (Masonic elements of that case). I think historically the masons have played a part in this corruption but I’d like to think now it’s more diverse and more of a social and charity club. I know some lodges are really struggling to keep going because younger men aren’t interested. I’m sure ours was trying to recruit members not long ago!
MargaretHooper · 20/12/2021 21:18

Well if it's all about charity, OP's husband is going to be sadly disappointed, as that's not his motivation in wanting to join!

kikipie · 20/12/2021 21:19

I’ve known a few. Wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole

mam0918 · 20/12/2021 21:20

@TulipsGarden

I would also be horrified. My FIL was a Mason. They're misogynistic, racist fools who are stuck in the 1970s and exert far too much pressure on public life.
My husband's family are Masons and you literally couldn't be further from describing them.

They aren't remotely misogynistic or racist... as for stuck in the 70s maybe their music taste is but what's wrong with that.