Masons

[RolandD]

So, two questions. What are the associated costs to becoming/being a Mason, and must you profess a belief in a creator?

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[Tabasco]

Not a mason, but have been in the Stonecutters for many years.

Who controls the British crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do, we do!
Who keeps Atlantis off the maps?
Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We do, we do!
Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star?
We do, we do!
Who robs cavefish of their sight?
Who rigs every Oscar night?
We do!
We do!!!

[Cool Breeze]

A traveler and PM here.

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[RJ]

A traveler and PM here.

My Dad described himself as a "Traveling Man" once. I never knew what that meant until later in life.

[Shotgun]

A traveler and PM here.

.

Haven't heard it put that way in awhile. I was going through the chairs in my first lodge and then we moved to a new city. Did all the steward work without any of the later rewards.

[TDA]

How long till they give you one of the tiny jeeps or little scooters to ride around in parades? Attachment 20315Attachment 20316

That's funny, I go by Shrine 3066 all the time. I'm not a Shriner, but I believe they all chip in for the little jeeps and the Shrine as an organization owns and maintains them and the travel trailer for them.

Broadly speaking, fraternal organizations were big in America in time period before private insurance, disability, unemployment, and the whole modern social safety net. They served broadly similar purposes, although over time they've largely been out competed in those functions and had to find new niches. So, for example, Woodmen of the World is now WoodmenLife, which is a plain old insurance company, and the New York City's Patrolmen's Benevolent Association is now a labor union, but way back when, they were fraternal organizations like the Masons or Odd Fellows, and in addition to fraternity and community service, there was also the idea that member's dues went in part to a fund that would pay for your funeral and provide something for your family if necessary. A lot of the decline in fraternal organizations has to do with their once radical tenets now being commonly accepted. For example, the founder of Modern Woodmen of America wanted to create a fraternal benefit society that would "bind in one association the Jew and the Gentile, the Catholic and the Protestant, the agnostic and the atheist." Today there's not a special club for that- imagine the difficulty of pitching it.

[walker2713]

I think those guys each buy their own ride. Become a Shriner, buy your mini-jeep, and you are in the parade! There are even shooting clubs in the Shrine.

I'm holding out for a feathered hat and a sword!

[Shotgun]

I'm holding out for a feathered hat and a sword!

Those guys are Knights Templars. Knight Templar is the highest degree available in the York Rite. They used to march in parades way back when, or so I have been told. Today, you just see the Shriners in parades.

[walker2713]

Those guys are Knights Templars. Knight Templar is the highest degree available in the York Rite. They used to march in parades way back when, or so I have been told. Today, you just see the Shriners in parades.

No....they're Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus.

[Wayne Dobbs]

I've travelled in the East...