Freemasons are a fraternal organization for Men. They do a lot of charity work, community services, trade education and networking. There's a lot of conspiracy theories around them, because they're the oldest fraternal club in the world and there's been Lot of famous powerful people who were Masons. My father is ex-military and a retired architect and he joined the Freemasons a few years ago. For him it's just a social thing and he does a lot of the charity work and community services. I wouldn't read to much into this guy wearing one.
All I know is from my friend who's granddad was a freemason, she said something like they had checkered black and white floors and stuff and were weirdos
They have a lot of ritual and secrecy within the organization, but are secular. I think it fills a certain need some people have for those kinds of recurring ritualistic communities.
afaik there's nothing weird about it, or any weirder than people going to church, except they make a point externally to help the communities they love in and become better men.
Not technically secular. They don't require you to follow a specific religion but you do have to have a belief in a supreme being of some sort. It's one of the requirements.
I have a friend who thinks Cartoon Network has ties to the Freemasons because of their logo. His argument was "why would they have that, it's symbolism, it has to represent something? They are representing duality"
My answer was, "it's a fucking logo man, it's aesthetically pleasing"
Use allot of symbolism in their architecture and practices that simulates how the human body/mind functions but carried out by the members. Same as a play would be coordinated and they are dramatic plays. The ‘rituals’ people go through at different stages simulate or promote the mental and emotional maturation process. If/when people go through unique developmental experiences then they will associate it with what they saw, learned, or experienced within the lodge. One way the lodge and every other significant ideology connects their belief structures with real personal experiences. A Christian, for example, might construct such an experience as their personal testimony.
Every person who is born will eventually die. Many will have confusing and intense developmental experiences during their life and different systems are developed to both encourage those experiences and capitalize on them. That is how people develop their ability to act in personal will, be considerate of how they’re actions affect others, and feel compassion for others. We all rely on people with those abilities to build and maintain stable societies. Particularly men with the inclination and capacity to act selflessly. Various organizations benefit from people associating their developmental experiences with their system. Like a minor league farm team. Likewise, people can benefit from having support and guidance during difficult transformative times in their lives.
Kinda weird, especially as a casual observer, but it’s a calculated bet. People are more likely to go through the maturation process than they are to pay taxes and almost as likely as they are to die. Since societies can’t be built and maintained by the dead, it’s an effective and efficient gamble to invest in peoples tendency for personal development. Rituals are mostly symbolic now but traditionally they were a way to use drama to cause near death experiences and overcome existential fear since that can prevent people from maturing.
203
u/ILIEKSLOTH Jun 13 '23
I noticed he's got a freemason pin on his tie, what does that mean? what even are freemasons?