What do you know about masonry?

I have learned quite a bit about the masons in the last few months as I have befriended two masons. It's very ritualistic and not as secretive as I thought. Yes, they hide the 'big' secrets. But I was quite amazed at what they did tell me. Like how you become a mason. the initiation and different degrees of the mason. The ceremony and the brother hood. The seperation of the lodges based on secular life and how woman are not involved directly. Do I think it's outdated? well, since I don't know what secrets they really hold I can't answer that. I think it's become more of ritual than anything else.

I always find different belief systems so fascinating! Actually, though, I think the Masons are a brotherhood, not a religion. I have known one or two Masons and am very impressed with their good works (like free children's hospitals -- especially their burn units). I'm not sure that they have any truly earth shaking secrets, but their keeping of secrets helps to bind them to the brotherhood. They do have members who are very high up in government, and some people get paranoid about that -- although I think they should worry more about the members of the "Skull and Bones" group from Yale University. It's a much more elitist and power oriented organization and seems more capable of trying to control our government for their own ends (mostly more power and more money). Skull and Bones-men really do have a great deal of power here -- Pres. Bush is a member, for instance. As for their women -- the masons give them their own group (Queens of the Eastern Star, or something like that where they get to wear tiaras and crowns). They do their own "good works" to compliment the men's activities, without outshining their husbands -- OR knowing the secrets! It's a kind of seperate-but-equal solution to keep the women quiet and maybe even happy. On the whole, I like the Mason's acceptance of people from all walks of life -- not just the rich and powerful.

I would like to suggest you to check this one out. www.allaahuakbar.net/free-masons/index.htm I might will not agree to everything this site says, I find the information about freemasonery interesting and would like to verify it too.

It holds some secrets but they are not to hidden, anyone can discover them through searching the internet now a days. Male Only is their tradition, But there is also a female order too Called Order of Eastern Star or something like that. Most Masonry is very public and the only major secrets about it is the membership, and certain signs and symbols for them to affliate with eachother. - DNatureofDTrain

Freemasonry is a fraternal Order. Originally, the secrets were merely to allow a member to verify that another person was a member; this was before the modern system of membership cards and Grand Lodges (centralized records and authority). The male only concept came out of the culture that they started in, and being an Order they never got rid of it (Orders are highly conservative). There is Co-Masonry which allows women in (though a lot of the traditional Freemasons do not recognize that branch of Freemasonry). There is also the Order of the Eastern Star (the only secrets there are the recognition codes). The real reason behind the secrecy was that there were certain benefits to belonging to the Freemasons. They believed like the other Orders did that the benefits should be restricted to those who contributed to the Order (in other words, due paying members). For instance, my grandmother was a member of the Woodman of America. the Wooodmen had rituals, and secret signs, and the whole nine yards. What was the benefit of joining the Woodmen? Insurance. In the days before the insurance companies, it was the Orders that provided the insurance safety net. Nowadays, the Orders seem to serve no purpose and are rapidly disappearing. But in 1900 (USA), forty percent of the adult population belonged to at one Order. That includes women and minorities. Are the Orders really outdated? In some ways, they are. For instance, based on membership figures, Freemasonry in the United States will became extinct in ten to twenty years; Scottish Rite will go bankrupt in about twenty. And your average Golden Dawn lodge will have about six members (ignoring the GD Orders which rely on correspondence and online programs). Problem is that the Orders have not figured out a purpose that justifies people being members in the modern age. If they can figure out a reason for people to want to join and remain active members, we will see the Orders come back and return to their previous membership numbers.