[Slow Fuse]

Iflylow74
Now that wasn't as bad as you thought it was , right , now it gets easier . Glad to have you as a brother
slowfuse Samaritan 105 - Indiana

[iflylow74]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Slow Fuse

Iflylow74 Now that wasn't as bad as you thought it was , right , now it gets easier . Glad to have you as a brother slowfuse Samaritan 105 - Indiana

Yep, I was all nervous for nothing! Everybody says that from here on its a lot easier. Im really looking forward to my FC degree! Thanks Brother Slowfuse!

[Arkiemike]

Quote:       Originally Posted by iflylow74

Thanks Brother Arkiemike! Thats pretty cool. At my initiation, a brother from the Grand Lodge was there. Im not sure of his position but my dad said he was second from the top. I belong to Poinsett Lodge 184.

Wish we were closer, I'd sure try to be there the 15th. I wish you all the best, my Brother.

[sbowers5]

Iflylow74 welcome to the fraturnity it is the oldest organization in the world and the most benevelant, I live in southeast Ok and would love to come to your FC degree if you will pm me and let me know when and where it is. steve bowers pm ft. towson #303
steve

[elmer fudd]

congradulations! i dont acactly know what that is but if someone would fill me in i would be glad!

[iflylow74]

Quote:       Originally Posted by elmer fudd

congradulations! i dont acactly know what that is but if someone would fill me in i would be glad!

I and some of the other guys here are Freemasons. We have different levels to go through and I was nervous about showing my proficiency in the first degree. Some of the other Brothers can probably explain it better that I can.

[elmer fudd]

ok thanks and good job i hope my few words helped a little!

[tommy]

i know ya'll gonna laugh at me for askin but what is a "freemason"?

[billy]

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million, with around 480,000 in England, Scotland and Ireland alone, and just under two million in the United States.[1][2] The various forms all share moral and metaphysical ideals, which include, in most cases, a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being.[3]

[billy]

While Freemasonry has often been called a "secret society", Freemasons themselves argue that it is more correct to say that it is an esoteric society, in that certain aspects are private.[20] The most common phrasing being that Freemasonry has, in the 21st century, become less a secret society and more of a "society with secrets".[22] The private aspects of modern Freemasonry are the modes of recognition amongst members and particular elements within the ritual.[23]. Despite the organisation's great diversity, Freemasonry's central preoccupations remain charitable work within a local or wider community, moral uprightness (in most cases requiring a belief in a Supreme Being) as well as the development and maintenance of fraternal friendship -- as James Anderson's Constitutions originally urged -- amongst brethren.

[tommy]

so it's like a religion?

[iflylow74]

Quote:       Originally Posted by tommy

so it's like a religion?

Lots of people think that but definitely no. The only religious aspect of Freemasonry is the requirement that its members or candidates for membership have a belief in a supreme being. How each person defines that supreme being is up to the individual, Freemasonry in no way tries to tell a person how or who to worship or how to get to Heaven. No atheist or agnostics can belong to the Brotherhood. Also each member must live a moral life. I know in the state of Arkansas, if you get convicted of a felony while a member, you will be promptly kicked out. Hope this helps!

[rondog]

I've never understood the whole concept of those clubs.