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Post by username on Oct 29, 2005 7:22:34 GMT
Greeting to all
I am not freemason and I am really surprise why you dont open in the public like lion rotary or other club or open your meeting for non-freemason and I think
There are different opinions regarding the visibility of Masons to the public eye.
Some Masons like to be very open about their membership in the fraternity, while others prefer to be more discreet.
Some feel that as a special and esoteric organisation, we should go about our work quietly, promoting it from our deeds and from the inside; others support a degree of promotion that includes advertising, participating in public events, and everything short of recruiting itself.
Do you think we should be more "out there", as it were, or more traditionally reserved in our public face?
Thank You So Much Username
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Post by hollandr on Oct 29, 2005 7:52:42 GMT
username
Perhaps it is time to tell us a bit more about yourself
Cheers
Russell
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Michael
Member
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Posts: 326
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Post by Michael on Oct 29, 2005 8:49:47 GMT
I believe that there are a number of people at my place of work who belong to a golf club but prefer not to discuss this at work as they wish to keep there private life separate from their work environment.
I suggest you take the time to look through some of our previous postings and you will see we have covered this subject.
It would also be nice to know who one is talking to?
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Post by username on Oct 29, 2005 15:22:40 GMT
Thank you so much Of course! It nice to know who one is talking to and this is about myself - i am not freemason I have been interest about freemason around 10 month - I am form thailand land of smile "pasobsuk" is my name thaifreemason.com- That so regret Because dont have co-freemason in thailand and now i have keep in touch with someone in scottish lodge So. regret again I dont yet to have proposer and seconder Very Kind Of You pasobsuk Jr...
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staffs
Administrator
Staffs
Posts: 3,295
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Post by staffs on Oct 29, 2005 16:09:02 GMT
pasobuk..i am glad you contacted Jim at the tracing board for an introduction in Thailand.
He will look after you and guide you in the right direction.
I know a few of his Hong Kong associates over here so dont worry .You are in good hands.
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Post by username on Oct 30, 2005 9:51:13 GMT
Hello
Thank you so much for your suggestion Yes Dont worried I said "i have keep in touch with
someone in scottish lodge for 1 year " I mean Mr. jim smith lodge st.john scottish i had contact with him for long time he is very kind and active freemason
Very kind Of You pasobsuk Jr.
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Post by alkistis on Mar 7, 2006 15:48:45 GMT
I think TV programs are good for everyone. Then i would expect not just documentaries but plays with massonic, esoteric contain. I also would like meetings between masons and not masons, on the base of interrest in esoteric thems.
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giovanni
Member
odi profanum vulgus, et arceo
Posts: 2,627
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Post by giovanni on Mar 7, 2006 15:54:46 GMT
It depends on the political situation of each country.
In Italy, I feel we are overexposed and I think we should be less open to profanity.
So I voted more or less.
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Post by kizzy on Mar 7, 2006 16:43:04 GMT
I'd like us to sweep away all the Secrecy which arose of necessity in 1939 for fear of the Nazis and return to the Open way we were before then, and as the Scots and US Freemasons are, visible parts of the local community.
We should be "Workmen Unashamed" not furtively skulking away. I fear however that too many actually like the Secrecy for there to be any real and significant changes in the near future in UGLE Freemasonry in this respect.
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Post by jason on Apr 27, 2006 8:15:05 GMT
Personally, I like the secrecy. I am not a fan of what I see here in America with all the publicity. I like the old ways. I don't like that we advertise our selves. I understand it is about neccessity but I don't like the idea of selling Freemasonry to the masses. While I am on the subject I still believe one should have to ask to join. To me it is about tradition. We have a lot of progressive messures here that many of us are not in favor of.
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Post by ingo on Apr 28, 2006 18:24:45 GMT
Pasobsuk, welcome to this forum. Personally I think that freemasonry should be more visible. For example more publich speeches, invitations for non-masons or better websites. The Thaifreemason website is good too. Did I understand you correctly? You would also like to have contacts with co-freemasonry? Just google "Eastern Order of International Co-Freemasonry" and "Le Droit Humain" I am not sure if co-masonic lodges exist in Thailand but there might be Thai co-masons in these orders who work abroad....
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Post by ingo on Apr 28, 2006 18:26:18 GMT
Pasobsuk Carpe Diem! is a german co-masonic lodge BTW. If we can help you, you are welcome for questions etc.
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Post by rza008 on Apr 30, 2006 17:40:09 GMT
'Most people do not trust what they do not understand and, if they perceive an élitism that excludes them, mistrust will quickely turn into dislike or even hatred' I think that nicely describes a lot of the people who write a lot of anti-masonic stuff i'm sure freemasonry could do more to publicise itself without the shroud of secrecy which people associate with it. Although nowadays it would appeal to less people, as people either don't have the time for it, or are not aware of it. I must admit untill i read about it in a book i'd never heard of it before, i used to walk past a lodge every single day wihtout even realising what it was! i presumed it to be some office building or something.
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Post by penfold on May 4, 2006 20:52:34 GMT
I think that is a very fair and accurate perspective rza
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Post by ingo on May 5, 2006 7:11:36 GMT
Good point pasobsuk. In France, where masonry is very strong, lodges hide ifselves behind closed doors. If you do not know the buildings you can pass day by day without realizing whats behind. At the door you will always find this: "cercle philosophique Goethe" - not lodge!
The National front in France is strong and riots against lodge hoses happened in the past.
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Post by taylorsman on May 5, 2006 7:33:41 GMT
I have always been in favour of more Openness or Visibilty if you prefer.
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Post by gipsyrose on May 5, 2006 14:58:29 GMT
"cercle philosophique Goethe"
I never knew this was associated with masonry. Twenty nine years ago I first laid eyes on the man I went on to marry, in a folk club which had this organisation just across the hall. At the time I wondered what the purpose of the organisation was. My husband is now considering joining the lodge I am now in. These what outwardly appear like random, by chance connections intrigue me.
In my journey to freemasonry, something I have been aware and interested in for many years, it was reading one of Karen Kurtz's books in the "Adept Series", that the penny dropped that becoming a freemason was as simple as asking, rather than waiting to be asked. Finding out who to ask took somewhat longer.
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Post by windtimber on May 5, 2006 15:30:43 GMT
Somebody said that the great secret of Freemasonry is that we don't have any secrets. I like to change that a bit - we don't have any INSTITUTIONAL secrets. Our rituals and organization are freely available to any even marginally diligent researcher. Anybody can read the words and walk through the work. The truly GREAT SECRET is what an initiate makes of it all, and makes of himself [or herself] in conjunction with the lessons offered up in the work.
That all said, I wholly concur that while Masonry should be visible and explained, candidates should be required to ask rather than be asked. As Masonry is a personal, internal journey I simply don't know how someone can benefit from our work if we request them to "join." The candidate needs to consider what we do, how we identify ourselves, and determine for himself or herself if Freemasonry is something that meets their personal need or interest. Of course, without accurate public commentary on what we are and what we do, realizing there is a wealth of inaccurate and goofy information out there, a searching, potential candidate will not have the tools to even make the decision to ask.
So, I'm in favor of taking the light out from under the bushel basket. Show the world who we are and what we do and demonstrate the strength of our convictions by the quality of our lives. Those who are truly interested then will then bring their enquiries to us.
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giovanni
Member
odi profanum vulgus, et arceo
Posts: 2,627
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Post by giovanni on May 5, 2006 15:58:12 GMT
Those who become Freemasons only for the sake of finding out the secret of the order, run a very great risk of growing old under the trowel without ever realizing their purpose. Yet there is a secret, but it is so inviolable that it has never been confided or whispered to anyone. Those who stop at the outward crust of things imagine that the secret consists in words, in signs, or that the main point of it is to be found only in reaching the highest degree. This is a mistaken view: the man who guesses the secret of Freemasonry, and to know it you must guess it, reaches that point only through long attendance in the lodges, through deep thinking, comparison, and deduction. He would not trust that secret to his best friend in Freemasonry, because he is aware that if his friend has not found it out, he could not make any use of it after it had been whispered in his ear. No, he keeps his peace, and the secret remains a secret.Giovanni Giacomo Casanova, Memoirs, Volume 2a, Paris, p. 33 romance-books.classic-literature.co.uk/memoirs-of-jacques-casanova/volume-2
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Post by ingo on May 7, 2006 12:17:00 GMT
Well said Windtimer and Gio. Freemasonry is like an iceberg - you see the 10% on top but to recieve the best you have to dive in cold water.
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