Originally Posted By DouglasDubh I think it hit its nadir a few years ago, and is starting to climb back. My Lodge has had several men in their twenties join recently, and we've got more guys currently coming in then we've had in years. The DaVinci Code and the National Treasure movies have made some people seek out Masonry. And others are joining because their grandparents were active in Masonry, although their fathers weren't.
Originally Posted By jonvn This is how you can become a Mason: <a href="http://mastermason.com/mtzion/howto.htm" target="_blank">http://mastermason.com/mtzion/ howto.htm</a> I'm getting into this. I want to join. And I want K2M to do it with me.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan It's a known fact that twenty-somethings that join the Masons do so primarily because eventually they'll get to drive those cool little cars in parades. ; )
Originally Posted By jonvn So, Doug, are you going to reccommend that we become masons? Can we use you to get in?
Originally Posted By jonvn "they'll get to drive those cool little cars in parades." I like the little hats the Shriners wear.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Man, I tried to watch the Da Vinci Code this weekend. Twice. I couldn't make it past the first 25 minutes either time.
Originally Posted By jonvn Awful movie. And totally crazy. I don't get what the draw of the storyline is, or why. National Treasure was better.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo There may be masonic families on LP but you would not know because brothers are not supposed to discuss the degrees and rights.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan True. But you can often tell who they are because they tend to have excellent Autopia skills. ; )
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Lol!!!! My grandfather was Grand Master at a Shriner's lodge in San Francisco, he did indeed drive one of those cars. When I was in Demolay (young masons), I was not allowed however!
Originally Posted By jonvn Well, we know Doug is a member. He didnt' seem to respond to my request about joining....odd.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 One of my uncles was a maximum level Shriner, his wife and daughter were Eastern Star (women's auxiliary). "Who controls the British Crown? Who keeps the metric system down? We Do! We Do! Who leaves 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!" A google search brought up this, which is actually kind of a fun article. <a href="http://www.wfmu.org/LCD/21/shriner.html" target="_blank">http://www.wfmu.org/LCD/21/shr iner.html</a>
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf "BY comparison, there are 13 million members of the LDS." That number is purposely inflated. I've been trying to have my name removed from their roles for the last 13 years and they won't do it. These numbers also include numerous people in Latin America that get baptized to take part in the church welfare program in the hope of getting to the U.S. So take the number with a grain of salt.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Cool dabob. My grandfather, shriner. My grandmother and mother were officers in Eastern Star and I was in demolay. Several uncles are Blue Lodge. Great lessons were learnt, many which have lead to my current mission in life. Love it. Wish I had time to participate. I gave up Rotoract when I went on the road. Too difficult to keep up.
Originally Posted By PetesDraggin "These numbers also include numerous people in Latin America that get baptized to take part in the church welfare program in the hope of getting to the U.S." Let's try to dissect this number (13 million) a little bit. When I was a missionary in Brazil, we were told that only 17% of baptized Mormons in that country were active participants in the church. Let's assume that the rest of South and Central America have similar numbers and bump up the active percentage to 25%. If we look at the link provided earlier, (<a href="http://www.allaboutmormons.com/number_of_mormons.php" target="_blank">http://www.allaboutmormons.com /number_of_mormons.php</a>) it shows the top 10 countries in terms of number of Mormons in each. The total number of Mormons in Central and South America, according to this list, is approximately 3 million people. That drops the number of Mormons down by 2.25 million, and that's just South and Central America. The number seems awfully inflated, especially when there are those of us that are not allowed to take our names off the records of the church. They keep proclaiming that the church is growing, but they need to take into account how much it is actually shrinking.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf The whole Freemason/Templar connection appears to be grossly exaggerated. I have done a lot of research on the topic (stemming from investigation of the origins of Mormon temple worship). Freemasons like to think their order goes back to the Temple of Solomon but there is almost definitely no historical connection. If anyone's interested, I recommend reading "Born in Blood" by John J Robinson. It is very well documented and supported in his research. But there is no harm in a bunch of old guys driving around little cars in local parades or taking jaunts to Indian casinos so I won't make a fuss over it. ;-)
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh <So, Doug, are you going to reccommend that we become masons? Can we use you to get in?> I could be a reference, assuming I'd trust you enough to give you my full name and phone number, but you need someone from the Lodge you join to reccommend you. It shouldn't be too hard, just contact the Lodge nearest you and ask to speak to someone about Masonry.
