Last night I met a guy at Halloween party who told me he was a Free Mason. He was hilarious and fit right in with my friend group. Upon asking him what the Free Masons are he just said “basically we’re a bunch of dudes who get together for pancakes on Saturday.”
I’ve also heard conspiracies about the group in the past, and I even had an ex coworker once tell me the Free Masons were a cult and were out to get him.
Anyone have any insights? The internet is not very helpful.
It's strange to me the don't allow women to join? I must assume women don't like pancakes.
There must be big DUDES ROCK energy going on.
Some lodges do but in a very paternalistic way that shows how the organization started hundreds of years ago. They have to join under the feminine equivalent and they're the same in all but name and political standing within the lodge.
all fraternal orgs (Moose, Elks, Odd Fellows, etc.) used to be men-only (hence the term "fraternal"), the Masons are just the only ones who have not changed their bylaws. there are some lodges that admit women but I think they are only recognized by each other rather that the traditional grand lodges.
Women get their own order: The Order of the Eastern Star
Ok, but random women can’t join. You have to have a male family member or husband who is a freemason. So your ability to be a member of eastern star is subordinate to and dependent on the freemason status of a man in your family. Also, men can be in eastern star, but women cannot be masons