Freemason

[Penguin]

I have looked it up in Wikipedia, it didn't say anything about learning stonemasonry, but perhaps his lodge is different.

Wikipedia is actually more correct than the availible text.  It is extremely unlikely that one would own a full set of 2011 encyclopedias; however, it is extremely likely that one would have access to Wikipedia, an encyclopedia that is updated daily, if not hourly by millions of people.

The standards are very strict, and the site will tell you if the information thereof is is questionable (have you ever seen those big flags at the top of the page?). 

-Penguin

[gyrene81]

ya, imagine people like yourself "editing" wikipedia articles... 

2 second google search and look what pops up...
http://www.mastermason.com/jjcrowder/history/history.html

[Penguin]

ya, imagine people like yourself "editing" wikipedia articles... 

2 second google search and look what pops up...
http://www.mastermason.com/jjcrowder/history/history.html

I actually do edit wikipedia, mostly cleanup work like fixing spelling, grammar, and structure errors and erasing vandalism.  There isn't much to edit, but every little bit helps to dispel the image of inaccuracy.

Let's get this thread back on track, though.

-Penguin

[Flench]

ya, imagine people like yourself "editing" wikipedia articles...  

2 second google search and look what pops up...
http://www.mastermason.com/jjcrowder/history/history.html

That's was a geat read . I see who it all started now . and this part

As stonemasons could easily travel all over the country from one building site to another, and as there were also no trade union cards or certificates of apprenticeship they began to adopt a private word which a travelling stonemason could use when he arrived at a new site, to prove that he was properly trained .

Man you don't know how many new people I had to run off my job that said they could do stone work or brick work as far as that goes .That would have come in handy back in the day but I could tell if the guy is good or not by his first stone or brick he put's down ..

[Maverick]

No Penguin, working stone is no longer a part of the fraternity. You've already been given most of the information other than it is a men's fraternity. That means there is a minimum age requirement. There is a youth organization that is a part of it as well, but again you have to apply.

[Penguin]

I'm not planning on joining at all.

-Penguin

[Shuffler]

I'm not planning on joining at all.

-Penguin

ahhh untempered mortar

[Penguin]

Far from it, I've been known to have quite the temper

-Penguin

[gyrene81]

Far from it, I've been known to have quite the temper

-Penguin

it's up and over ladies and gentlemen...clean miss...there goes the game.

[Penguin]

It's called sarcasm...

-Penguin

[guncrasher]

I actually do edit wikipedia, mostly cleanup work like fixing spelling, grammar, and structure errors and erasing vandalism.  There isn't much to edit, but every little bit helps to dispel the image of inaccuracy.

Let's get this thread back on track, though.

-Penguin

I find it so funny when people claim that wikipedia is all wrong and yet all the other website which basically anybody can type their own stuff call it fact with no references and be right.  some people make it a point to join wikipedia to just type whatever they want, but eventually somebody will come along and fix it.

semp

[Penguin]

HINT: I started a thread about this, post your opinions there.

-Penguin

[STEELE]

Back in the late 1790's or early 1800's, a man was murdered for speaking out against/revealing masonic secrets. The 12 or so people involved in the murder were acquitted by a Mason judge, and after that a lot of Masons were stripped of their positions of political power to prevent things like this from happening again.
(I was just reading about this last week)

[SmokinLoon]

Gentlemen, there are LOTS of theories and ghost stories regarding us Freemasons.  From the legends of the Templars, to the devil worship, to the secrecy, to Washington D.C., etc etc.

Just know this: The Freemasons are a fraternity that takes good men and makes them better and the ultimate goal is to behave in manners that better mankind.  That is it.  The goal is "to serve".  I joined the Masons in the spring of 2002 and was raised in August of 2002.  I am not as active in the Lodge as I once was, but I carry the teachings of the Freemasons with me every day.  When a man joins the Masons, he becomes part of a long tradition.  He becomes a "brother" in a fraternity.  That brotherhood is very deep.  That man takes an oath to carry himself with respect, dignity, and compassion not only of himself, but first and foremost to other Masons and their families, and then obviously to the rest of the people they deal with every day.  You can trust a Brother and he can trust you.
 
An example of the depth of the Brotherhood: Back in the 1950's there was a Mason who so poor he could not afford to buy a train ticket to get his daughter from their small town in Virginia to the University of Iowa where she had been awarded a scholarship for academics.  She was all ready to go but when it came time for her to leave for school the dad was not able to have saved enough money for a train ticket so she was going to miss college.  A fellow Brother heard of the situation and organized a car-chain of Masons from their town in Virginia all the way to Iowa.  Each part of the chain drove her sometimes 30 miles and sometimes 100 miles, but the daughter of a Mason was handed over to Mason to Mason for safe travel all the way from Virginia to Iowa. It took her 3 days to get to the University but she made it in time for classes.  THAT is the depth a man and his family is dealing with when he takes the oath seriously.  The level of trust and the amount of giving each Brother shares with one another is amazing.

I could go on and on about about the good.  There is no bad. 

 

[dedalos]

Gentlemen, there are LOTS of theories and ghost stories regarding us Freemasons.  From the legends of the Templars, to the devil worship, to the secrecy, to Washington D.C., etc etc.

Just know this: The Freemasons are a fraternity that takes good men and makes them better and the ultimate goal is to behave in manners that better mankind.  That is it.  The goal is "to serve".  I joined the Masons in the spring of 2002 and was raised in August of 2002.  I am not as active in the Lodge as I once was, but I carry the teachings of the Freemasons with me every day.  When a man joins the Masons, he becomes part of a long tradition.  He becomes a "brother" in a fraternity.  That brotherhood is very deep.  That man takes an oath to carry himself with respect, dignity, and compassion not only of himself, but first and foremost to other Masons and their families, and then obviously to the rest of the people they deal with every day.  You can trust a Brother and he can trust you.
 
An example of the depth of the Brotherhood: Back in the 1950's there was a Mason who so poor he could not afford to buy a train ticket to get his daughter from their small town in Virginia to the University of Iowa where she had been awarded a scholarship for academics.  She was all ready to go but when it came time for her to leave for school the dad was not able to have saved enough money for a train ticket so she was going to miss college.  A fellow Brother heard of the situation and organized a car-chain of Masons from their town in Virginia all the way to Iowa.  Each part of the chain drove her sometimes 30 miles and sometimes 100 miles, but the daughter of a Mason was handed over to Mason to Mason for safe travel all the way from Virginia to Iowa. It took her 3 days to get to the University but she made it in time for classes.  THAT is the depth a man and his family is dealing with when he takes the oath seriously.  The level of trust and the amount of giving each Brother shares with one another is amazing.

I could go on and on about about the good.  There is no bad. 

 

  Get your boots on.  At list you did not say they carried her on their backs.  Don;t you think it would be easier and cheaper and faster to just put the money up the ticket?   Touching story though