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Post by 777 ΤΟ ΣΚΟΤΆΔΙ ΚΑΙ Ο ΠΑΡΆΔΕΙΣΟ on Jul 23, 2017 18:31:27 GMT
1924 - 3,077,161 2015 - 1,161,253 With the declining membership of Freemasons and a bulwark of resistance beginning under the Lodge's nose, what will Freemasonry do to keep relevant and 'avant-garde' or is the Lodge too sacred to change the ancients ways of Solomon? www.msana.com/msastats.asp
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Post by peter2 on Jul 23, 2017 21:23:41 GMT
It is the end of a cycle for all sorts of social institutions. Some will reinvent themselves, some will fail, and certainly new social institutions are already emerging.
Current Grand Lodges seem to have been content to await time and circumstance to restore the genuine secrets. After 300 years of no progress perhaps it is time for the brethren to send out search parties.
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Post by 777 ΤΟ ΣΚΟΤΆΔΙ ΚΑΙ Ο ΠΑΡΆΔΕΙΣΟ on Jul 23, 2017 21:53:26 GMT
Soliciting? I've seen magazines and documentaries published by mainstream outlets to gather and attract support for the Lodge, which revolves around mostly demographic and sociological engineering. For the Lodge to 'reinvent' its self, it would need to understand the crowd (mass) psychology and needs/wants of the current generation. Which if the Lodge presumptively dictates those terms then they would have to work on those aspects however if it does not, then they would have to resort to watering down the message and allowing swarms of mediocre initiates into the Lodge, which would degrade the Lodge in the long term.
Quantity over Quality or Quality over Quantity? The problem of mediocrity is already what most of, if not all of social institutions and fraternal organizations in America are dealing with, i.e the Peter Principle. A reasonable solution would be to fix the societal ills but I think the generation is too far gone for any serious attempts in improving the general society however appealing to certain subcultures would be ideal. Generation Z has alot more potential than the Millennials (by a long shot) especially under the current administration's ambitions though spiritual progression would need to ensue to amplify or at least extract this potential. Atheism would have to be let under the bus, which the Lodge has already done, they don't accept a person who doesn't believe in God.
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Post by billmcelligott on Jul 23, 2017 23:51:48 GMT
This is the most talked about topic in the Masonic Community or maybe I should say Communities.
For a group that started in Modern terms 300 years ago with a couple of hundred members it is estimated to have some 5 million worldwide, some would call that a success.
We have witnessed two expansions in membersship after the two world wars membership jumped considerably.
Then we have the factor of who is and who is not a Freemason, are Women Freemasons accepted is Co Masonry accepte ??
My usual answer to this question is in the film - Field of Dreams - 'build it and they will come'.
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Post by peter2 on Jul 24, 2017 21:43:18 GMT
>The problem of mediocrity is already what most of, if not all of social institutions and fraternal organizations in America are dealing with
The problem in my view is the mediocrity of the institutions and what they deliver. This ranges from government to neighborhoods.
>'build it and they will come'.
It seems from the numbers of lodges closing that we have built and we have gone.
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2211
Member
INTELLIGENTIBUS VERITATEM
Posts: 104
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Post by 2211 on Jul 28, 2017 1:00:45 GMT
There are several "beacons" of light throughout time that could spark future generations interests. Two distant examples would be Shakespeare, Gothic Cathedrals or TS Eliot I believe newer beacons would be necessary to get more individuals involved. A recent architectural curiosity would be Astan a
There are Masonic books from 100+ years ago where the author expresses concern about the direction of Masonry and what the future could hold for it.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2017 9:02:37 GMT
My own personal view, and this may be a tad controversial is that we should let Freemasonry retract. Freemasonry, at least in the UK is too top-heavy with those who, in the grand scheme of things, should never have been made Masons.
I am talking about those who are members in order to dine, collect honours, deliver ritual that they do not understand and generally just act as a "bum on a seat"
Were Freemasonry in the UK to be not available today many of those members would just transfer their allegiance to some other organization, be it Rotary, Round Table, Livery Companies or even just the golf club.
Those who truly try to follow the principles and teachings will still find ways to meet and work even if they have to travel.
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Post by peter2 on Jul 28, 2017 21:55:54 GMT
> too top-heavy with those who, in the grand scheme of things, should never have been made Masons. Personally I think that since the Grand Lodges seem not to have sent out a search party for the genuine secrets in 300 years, it is time that they disappeared and that Freemasonry was left to the very very few working to recover the genuine secrets. Freemasonry being a science, the secrets are not restricted to lodges or brethren. All humans of good will may progress in Masonic Science - if they work hard enough. Feng Shui contains some of the genuine secrets. Here are the founders of China, with square and compasses, sun, moon and stars, in an embrace that is preserved as the FPoF
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