Originally Posted by
DragonStryk72
Okay, now for KSigMason, I apologize but you said the wrong words to me when you said you'd answer any questions:
1. What is the main purpose of the Masons?
The Freemasons make good men better, but we cannot make bad men good. We instill leadership, morals, and values using tools of operative Masons today in a philosophical way. Freemasonry is "a peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols"
2. When, and how were the Masons founded?
The Freemasons that we see today was founded when Grand Lodge of England formed in 1717 which are said to have formed from medieval stone-guilds. The original Grand Lodges asked the Grand Lodge of England to form and then became their own independent body. Our lore says the Freemasons go back to the building of King Solomon's Temple, but in all honesty we cannot say that for sure. We cannot even say if there is a Knights Templar and Masonic.
3. How do you go about joining, or inquiring into the Masons?
You just did. To be one, ask one. Look up your State's Grand Lodge and find the local Loge's meeting time and go down there a little earlier than the time and just ask. The members should be very accommodating
4. What organizations do the Masons support?
We have our own children organizations that do a lot to support. Depending on the body there are certain charities we have. In the Blue Lodge, it's really up to the independent Grand Lodge or local Lodge to do their own thing. My Lodge does college scholarships, we also do philanthropy (soup kitchens, highway clean-up, blood drive, etc). In the York Rite the big charity is the Knights Templar Eye Foundation. The Scottish Rite has a Schizophrenia charity. The Shriners have their children's hospital.
5. What is the community of the Masons like?
From what I've seen (not just in my Lodge elsewhere) that within you are very close with the Lodge. The wives are still very involved with the Lodge even though they cannot attend. We help each other out in anyway we can (ie A brother got in an horrible accident, I took the next day off, and helped the wife; the Lodge helped pay one of the bills they needed help with). You get even closer and meet more Brothers when you join the other bodies (Shriners, Scottish, York Rites, or OES). It's different from state to state, but even in Idaho we are diverse on jobs, race, religion, but we are all good friends. My Lodge we just had a major shift in age of officers; now the average age of the officers is 35.
Um, I'll stop there for now, since I don't want to overload you for the moment. I'll have more questions for answering later.