It is a secret society that promotes a spiritual development, usually tied to Christianity. You have to be invited to join and you are initiated gradually into the mysteries.
Freemasons (at least where I live) are recruited from the more respectable layers of society. They have lots of lawyers, business owners and high-ranking bureaucrats and very few workers.
In many places the spiritual part has taken a backseat in favour of more worldly matters and to many masons the spiritual stuff and the ceremonies are basically just larping. Instead the masonic lodge functions as a social club where these men (women are not allowed) can meet for a nice dinner away from their wives. As they belong to the higher layers of society masonry offers excellent networking opportunities and masons are known for helping each other out with their businesses and careers.
The secretive nature of masonry and the upper class membership has fueled many conspiracy theories. These theories are for the most part utter bollocks but there are exceptions, for instance Liberia was practically run from the masonic lodge in Monrovia for decades.
The secretive spiritual organisation outside of official church hierarchies has earned the masons many enemies in religious communities. Especially the Catholic church is vehemently opposed to it and I think you can still be excommunicated for being a mason.
I was once invited to join the masons BTW by this oldschool conservative guy I knew in college who noticed how interested I was in history. I respectfully declined the offer.
The Grand Lodge of Liberia was founded in 1867. By the 1970s there were 17 subordinate lodges and the majority of Liberia's high-ranking officials were Masons. Matters of state were widely believed to have been decided from within the lodges. Being a Mason was a veritable prerequisite for positions of political leadership in the True Whig Party. Liberia's Masons were criticized for their influence as well as for the exclusion of indigenous Liberians from their ranks.
Many lodges do accept women, mostly the French descended ones that changed the rules in the 1790s. Knew a guy who was both a very conservative Catholic and a Mason (yes that's still grounds for excommunication). Which is kind of like being a Buddhist drug lord.
I think today it is mostly supposed to work through the individual faith of the excommunicated. The famous Catholic guilt you've heard so much about. Those who are excommunicated are supposed to feel bad that the church is angry at them so they will confess their sins and repent so they can be let back into the church.
If on the other hand you think catholicism is a load of bollocks and only belong to the church by accident of birth there's isn't much the church can do about it. They might deny you sacraments but why would you want those in the first place if you don't believe in it? For the ex-catholic an excommunication can only be a minor nuisance like not being able to get married in Catholic churches or like the more zealous of local practicing catholics thinking you have been very naughty.
It is a secret society that promotes a spiritual development, usually tied to Christianity. You have to be invited to join and you are initiated gradually into the mysteries.
Freemasons (at least where I live) are recruited from the more respectable layers of society. They have lots of lawyers, business owners and high-ranking bureaucrats and very few workers.
In many places the spiritual part has taken a backseat in favour of more worldly matters and to many masons the spiritual stuff and the ceremonies are basically just larping. Instead the masonic lodge functions as a social club where these men (women are not allowed) can meet for a nice dinner away from their wives. As they belong to the higher layers of society masonry offers excellent networking opportunities and masons are known for helping each other out with their businesses and careers.
The secretive nature of masonry and the upper class membership has fueled many conspiracy theories. These theories are for the most part utter bollocks but there are exceptions, for instance Liberia was practically run from the masonic lodge in Monrovia for decades.
The secretive spiritual organisation outside of official church hierarchies has earned the masons many enemies in religious communities. Especially the Catholic church is vehemently opposed to it and I think you can still be excommunicated for being a mason.
I was once invited to join the masons BTW by this oldschool conservative guy I knew in college who noticed how interested I was in history. I respectfully declined the offer.
Excuse me...what?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_Order_of_Liberia?wprov=sfla1
Many lodges do accept women, mostly the French descended ones that changed the rules in the 1790s. Knew a guy who was both a very conservative Catholic and a Mason (yes that's still grounds for excommunication). Which is kind of like being a Buddhist drug lord.
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I think today it is mostly supposed to work through the individual faith of the excommunicated. The famous Catholic guilt you've heard so much about. Those who are excommunicated are supposed to feel bad that the church is angry at them so they will confess their sins and repent so they can be let back into the church.
If on the other hand you think catholicism is a load of bollocks and only belong to the church by accident of birth there's isn't much the church can do about it. They might deny you sacraments but why would you want those in the first place if you don't believe in it? For the ex-catholic an excommunication can only be a minor nuisance like not being able to get married in Catholic churches or like the more zealous of local practicing catholics thinking you have been very naughty.