Sorry for missing out on some of the questions last night - had RL things to do (brushing dog, catching up on Strictly....)
The whole business networking isue has perhaps been misunderstood. If you were asked why you wanted to join a lodge, and said it was purely for business networking, then you would be told that is is not a business networking club - there are plenty of those. It takes a lot of time and collective effort for a Lodge to take in a new member and therefore they would probably be wary of taking that time and effort and then have someone say a year later - oh, I'm not getting what I wanted out of this and leave. Especially as some lodges have a two or three year waiting list to join. Masonry is about what you put in, not about what you get out of it. A bit like learning golf and joining a club just to get in with a certain business crew would probably lead you to find golf boring / pointless.
The story of the CV and my DH was to illustrate that busines networking happens to a certain extent in any social club - and that IME lodge members help each other to the same extent WI members, or a good neighbour, would - they are happy to help but not happy to exert any undue influence or show favouratism. I thought it was a bit pushy of the chap but that was just my opinion. The point is - it happens in almost any social situation.
Many Lodge members are older and retired.
Meeting in the men's lodges - yes this is a great step forward - as I said earlier, things will change - I have alluded to the Church of England and their gradual acceptance that women have a place in the hierarchy of the church. It is slow but is is happening. Remember this is an institution where there is no retirement age (our secretary had her 90th birthday a couple of years ago) and therefore there are some older very strict traditionalists who still consider women can't be freemasons. The younger men are doing a good job of balancing acceptance without upsetting some of the older members who have put an immense amount of time and effort into keeping masonry alive. I don't necessarily agree with their beliefs - but I understand things change slowly from within.
The priviledges of freemasonry are (IME) that of the companionship of those in the same Lodge, and their support if something happens, the ability to attend meetings and practices and learn the rituals - and to work hard at making the rituals a lovely experience as possible for those joining. We are taught that the greater your talents the more responsibility you have to use those talents to help others - this could be helping make cakes for tea if you are good at baking, or mentoring new members if you are good at ritual.
Websites and charities - damned if we do, damned if we don't. There are complaints that masons are not open about what they do, or that the money goes only to internal charities. Well, they set up a website to be more open about what happens and are told they are boasting. What do you want them to do - keep it a secret or make the information readily available? Same with being in newspapers etc - you want more openness - masons are saying - look this is part of what we do - we raise money and we give it away. It also encourages local charities to approach the lodges and request funds - some of them didn't know that we give to non-masonic charities.
Masons tend to raise money internally - they might volunteer to shake cans on behalf of an non-masonic charity but I have never seen or been asked to go out on the streets and raise money from strangers for a masonic charity. You might be asked if you want to attend a Ladies Evening, or other fundraiser and there will be raffle tickets - but that is about the extent of it. At any fundraiser now you have to specify which charity the money is going to.
paedophilia - masons are subject to CRP checks when they are coming into contact with children just the same as any other volunteer. As we well know, these don't stop paedophiles. Maybe there have been masons who are paedophiles - but I don't think this is a defining charactaristic and certainly all the masons I know would be horrified to discover someone they know was acting against children - and would report it to the police immediately. As each Lodge tends to be self governing and it is a voluntary organisation, perhaps you could help specify exactly what sort of checks and investigation you would wish us to run?
As far as I know if you have a criminal conviction you are not accepted to join a lodge.
In Scientology AFAIK you have to pay to buy lots of books to learn from - I was given my ritual book by the Lodge when I joined. I have bought other books which look at the history etc but these have come from ordinary bookshops (and Amazon! Even on Kindle for free.).
Cost - A lot of regalia is passed on from one person to another - part of mine comes from a very close friends grandfather as her son does not want to join but she wanted her grandfather's regalia to continue to be used. You have to pay Lodge fees for each Lodge you join (these go towards secretaries expenses, upkeep of the building, flowers / cards for members who are ill, that sort of thing) and mine are well under £100 for the year. If you are having difficulty with the fees you can approach the Lodge and they will consider waiving the fees. Very often older members on limited incomes are told their fees will be waived for the remainder of their life.
Have I missed anything? probably.
Maybe we have to accept that people find value in different things - freemasonry has changed over the years and continues to change. But sometimes I really get the feeling that whatever we say and whatever we do (individually and collectvely) there will always be people who would far rather believe that we are a group of Satan worshipping, country and law manipulating, naive idiots who like dressing up but have an ability to control the world.
I accept that some of you may be playing devil's advocate - I would suggest that before you make up your mind you see if a local lodge has an open day, or visit one of the stalls they might have at a local county show / village fair. It might not be for you - but at least you would know more. Or look on the websites and call the headquarters and ask to have a chat to somone.