Freemasonry is a secular affair open to men of any race or faith, although candidates for entry must declare a belief in a superior god-like being. In practice, the overwhelming majority of masons in Britain are not only older men, but also white. Masons profess a belief in equality, but there are no women and very few black faces. Such cynicism may be rare among the initiated, but it is more common among non-members. Could this not lead to corruption, they ask.
Suspicion grew during the s after journalists began unearthing evidence that a handful of police officers and criminals were members of the same lodges. The following decade, suspicion turned to paranoia after police in Italy began to investigate the notorious Propaganda Due lodge and its suspected links with a banking collapse and the murder of the banker and lodge member Roberto Calvi, who was found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge in London in A number of officers responded by setting up a new lodge, the Manor of St James.
At this point, according to a number of masons, many Scotland Yard officers quit the brotherhood. By then, however, the Commons home affairs select committee had decided it should investigate the influence of Freemasonry in public life. The UGLE agreed to cooperate, but only after it had been warned it could be found in contempt of parliament if it did not.
One of the main witnesses was Martin Short, a campaigning journalist who investigated Freemasonry and corrupt links between police and criminals, and whose book on the brotherhood was an 80s bestseller.
In the committee concluded that while it had no evidence that Freemasonry had played a role in police misconduct, it could not rule out the possibility. The solution, the committee said, was for public servants to be required to declare membership. For a while, newly appointed judges and magistrates were obliged to declare whether they were masons.
Along with other grand lodges around the world, the UGLE decided it was time to partly draw back the veil. Those outside the brotherhood cannot be sure what remains hidden, however, even in There are the known unknowns — the secret signs of recognition — but are there any unknown unknowns? Short remains suspicious. Freemasonry is an international movement with over six million members worldwide, but it works very much within the local community.
You can rest assured that the bizarre conspiracies theories you read on the Internet are not true. Becoming a Freemason is a commitment to develop your own potential, to values that see all humankind as equal, and to helping others in our community.
Masonic Lodges most often meet once a month and meetings usually last for hours and transact the business of the Lodge and also conduct the ancient ritual which might include initiating candidates, raising members to higher degrees or installing a new master and his officers.
All this is done in a formal ceremony that is centuries old and is designed to teach Freemasons important lessons and start them thinking about their own nature, actions and being. Beck: So if I joined the Masons, how would I spend my time? A lot of what we do is just good people hanging out with good people. We hang out at our lodge building every week. Then we have the charitable work that we might do—food drives and stuff like that. You can put in as much [time] as you want, or as little.
Beck: Can you describe a typical weekly meeting? Rob: During the summer in Massachusetts, many lodges will shut down. Our lodge actually remains open, and we still meet every Tuesday night. Beck: If it did, how did joining the Masons change your friendship?
I say physically because nowadays [friendship] seems to be getting less [physical] with everything being online. I really started to withdraw and drop the friendship. It picked back up for a while when I was introduced to Chris.
Then I got into computer programming, which took up a lot of time, and I have a three-hour commute, on average, every day. We spend more time together than I think we otherwise would have. Jim: We have maybe 15 or 20 guys who show up on a regular basis. Our total membership roster is about Beck: How do you feel about having the lodge be a male-only space? Has that been an advantage, having that in your life?
Two things that get guys into trouble are politics and chasing women. Masonry gives guys an opportunity to be around other guys without having to deal with politics or competition. One of the things that we like to teach people is that the only competition in Masonry is to see who can be the better person. She knows that the focus is not only on improving ourselves, but also on helping out others in the community. In Depth. Who are the Illuminati - and what do they control?
Did Freemasons 'whitewash' Titanic inquiry? What happens inside a Masonic lodge? Who are the most famous Freemasons? Can women join? What else are they doing to modernise? This is all the more remarkable given their position as figures outside mainstream society.
Quiz of The Week: 6 - 12 November. Quizzes and puzzles. The VP, GPs and refugees. The Bank of England official warning women against home working. Behind the scenes.
0コメント