DH is a Freemason and it makes me cringe

[YerJokin]

He takes it so seriously. He's always gone through hobby phases but he's done this for years now and takes it very seriously. He's currently on the phone discussing 'Bretheryn' and it gives me the major ick, I actually want to cry listening to it.

I've tried to stand by him as he takes it so seriously so i attend events and smile encouragingly but I can't bear it. Never knew when I married him that he wanted to do this. It's not the worst thing he could do of course but it's an old boys club and we're only in our 30s!

He has lots of friends and other hobbies so it's not even his only social outlet, no idea why he needs this in his life and treats it like a second job.

Where do they get the money to help charities etc.
How do they raise all this money ?

Nope. I know these arseholes through work.
I am not a lawyer. I do know one, married to a friend, but he is a dick and I spend as little time around him as possible!

I can tell you the jobs of some of the members. Electrician, plumber, care home owner, accountant, GP, handyman, estate agent, council worker (professional level), loads of retired. I don't know of any solicitors, judges, police (two retired police though) and no healthcare other than the GP. Nearly all are retired here.

Donations- I think membership is about £35 a year. They pay for each meal which is like a 3 course school dinner/hotel mass offering.... at each meal they have a charitable plate and raffles. This raises a few hundred. Individual donations vary with retired people likely to chuck £20-50 in the pot one way or another. In this way it's very similar to WI or PTA raffles

The silly costume is the most expense and reminds me of girls brigade where you buy from 'the supplier' and pay a lot to wear braid, and badges... I can't stomach this bit. I find it the biggest turn off and it does threaten my marriage as I dislike the reverence for the organisation. I'd be the same about church attendance as well.

The sorcery and sex 😆 Really? "Eyes wide shut" If only.

They give donations when they meet, some make regular donations and some one off payments. They have raffles, quiz nights, social events.

Re the negative personal remarks about 'all' FM. I've openly said it threatens my marriage because I dislike the time and focus it takes. I find the hierarchy and cos play ridiculous. However... I've only met 2 dickheads in them all. The rest are as I'd expect of any cross section of society. Some interesting people, some utter bores, some pompous, some kind, some thick, some intelligent etc etc

No but as a mason I know what I’m talking about.
iv found it’s best to talk about subjects that I know about.

The problem with any organisation it’s ran by humans and therefore will never be perfect

Membership is £200 a year. It says this on their own website.

Ah, so you have a sample of one😂

Likewise. I've never seen anyone appointed to partnership in a big organisation straight out of training - it's usually pretty obvious that they have been appointed because they have a track record of professional success and making money for the organisation.

The UGLE website should answer most people’s genuine questions

Not exactly. "On average the annual dues and other fees amount to £200 a year, although there are local variations"

Husband's basic yearly due is 35-45 from memory. There are other fees for dinner etc in the same way that any club has an initial fee but by the time you buy the tshirt and pay for extras it is more.

He spends way more than 200 on masonry in charitable donations, paying for tickets to events, donating prizes and gifts etc. He is giving £150 to an upcoming dinner for presents to be given to invited guests. It is his money and I care not. I wouldn't expect him to police my spending. I donated £300 to a crowd funding for the family of a daughters friend recently....I'd have been miffed to have been told not to. We can afford it and do so and not publicly normally.

They are bloody corrupt and I can't understand how it's legal for police officers etc to be part of these organisations.

Agree. It's amazing that Police Officers can be members. This article is from a few years ago but I doubt much has changed:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/02/secret-handshake-police-freemasons

And

https://ukcp.uk/freemasons-in-the-police-and-judiciary/

by that logic the same with the church, considering there misdeeds etc

Hi there, just interested, can you show me where and how they housed Grenfell survivors? I can't find any information on this anywhere.

They raise for prostate cancer but that's their target demographic. It's a great one for them to raise for.

It's interesting, I've seen this is my profession. Someone who was rather mediocre getting a really very specialist position in a prestigious institution at a very young age. We joked that it was because he was a Mason. I'm not sure we were wrong now.

What’s your source for your accusation?

So do you know if he was a Mason?

Yep, we did. My college was a close knit community and my friend married him. Even she joked about it. It was very unusual.

They are widely thought of as facilitating corruption.

That should be enough for some professions, Police and Judiciary are examples, where as a minimum being a Freemason should be required to be declared.

They didn't house them personally I mean they donated heavily in order for them to be housed quickly.

It’s a fair comparison. In my experience of the orange order there was less than a fag paper between them and the church. Had/have a lot of things sewed up between them.

Widely thought of …… but don’t

And you got the hard facts about masons being corrupt from where, personal experience?