Freemasons VS Prince Hall Mason's

[Kick]

I don't know why but, I have become curious about the Masonic Order. I have been doing a lot of different reading on the topic and have discovered that according to some, there is a difference between the two.

I am not a Mason and do not personally know any. I don't even know if I want to become a Mason. But, I do know that my "google-fu" has failed me and given me more questions than answers. Can anyone help me out here?

Is there a difference and if so, what is it?

Thanks,

-Kick

 

[Sylvain]

I would say that you dont know if you know any Freemasons, not that you dont know any.
Many people wont tell you if they are.
I know that a few INGO members are Freemasons.

 

[Kick]

I would say that you dont know if you know any Freemasons, not that you dont know any.
Many people wont tell you if they are.
I know that a few INGO members are Freemasons.

LOL. You've got a good point there. Hopefully, some of them will help me out without telling me if they are!

 

[Sylvain]

LOL. You've got a good point there. Hopefully, some of them will help me out without telling me if they are!

Some dont have a problem telling you they are, some are more about it.
And of course you also have a third type, the one who are not and will tell you they are.
Usually the guy with the Freemason hat and tie and Freemason knife that drives a car with a Freemanson sticker.

 

[Kick]

Some dont have a problem telling you they are, some are more about it.
And of course you also have a third type, the one who are not and will tell you they are.
Usually the guy with the Freemason hat and tie and Freemason knife that drives a car with a Freemanson sticker.

Is that the same guy who wears the rings? I think I've seen him around.

 

[jsharmon7]

I'd be interested in knowing a little more too, just out of a sense of personal curiosity. My understanding is that it's like a club or something. If that's the case, I'll pass. Now if we're talking super secret decoder rings and world domination meetings, you have my ear.

 

[cyprant]

If you want to do good onto others with out needing any recognition, id look into it.

 

[singlestacksig]

prince hall is a branch of freemasons..
from wiki:

March 6, 1775, an African American named Prince Hall was made a Master Mason in Irish Constitution Military Lodge No. 441, along with fourteen other African Americans: Cyrus Johnston, Bueston Slinger, Prince Rees, John Canton, Peter Freeman, Benjamin Tiler, Duff Ruform, Thomas Santerson, Prince Rayden, Cato Speain, Boston Smith, Peter Best, Forten Horward, and Richard Titley, all of whom apparently were free by birth. When the Military Lodge left the area, the African Americans were given the authority to meet as a Lodge, form Processions on the days of the Saints John, and conduct Masonic funerals, but not to confer degrees nor to do other Masonic work. These individuals applied for and obtained a Warrant for Charter from the Grand Lodge of England in 1784 and formed African Lodge #459.

 

[Kick]

prince hall is a branch of freemasons..
from wiki:

March 6, 1775, an African American named Prince Hall was made a Master Mason in Irish Constitution Military Lodge No. 441, along with fourteen other African Americans: Cyrus Johnston, Bueston Slinger, Prince Rees, John Canton, Peter Freeman, Benjamin Tiler, Duff Ruform, Thomas Santerson, Prince Rayden, Cato Speain, Boston Smith, Peter Best, Forten Horward, and Richard Titley, all of whom apparently were free by birth. When the Military Lodge left the area, the African Americans were given the authority to meet as a Lodge, form Processions on the days of the Saints John, and conduct Masonic funerals, but not to confer degrees nor to do other Masonic work. These individuals applied for and obtained a Warrant for Charter from the Grand Lodge of England in 1784 and formed African Lodge #459.

I saw that. Has any of that changed or is that basically how it still is??

 

[Sylvain]

Is that the same guy who wears the rings? I think I've seen him around.

Sure is, usually a member of other "secret societies" that have skulls as their emblems as well .

 

[Kick]

Sure is, usually a member of other "secret societies" that have skulls as their emblems as well .

THAT'S THE GUY

 

[Bill of Rights]

Some dont have a problem telling you they are, some are more about it.
And of course you also have a third type, the one who are not and will tell you they are.
Usually the guy with the Freemason hat and tie and Freemason knife that drives a car with a Freemanson sticker.

Free Manson? Probably not....

Ok, seriously...
Kick, the Masons are a social fraternity of men who chose to join together. The group does not solicit members, meaning you aren't supposed to be approached by someone asking you to join. It is not a religion; we each have our own approaches to God and are religious men, meaning that that belief is how we choose to live our lives. In addition, our principal tenets as a group are brotherly love, relief of those in need, and truth.

A "club"? I suppose you could call it that. To someone "on the outside, looking in", I suppose some of the rituals would look a little silly... Grown men wearing aprons and acting out roles of a very old story, but the story is "a system of morality, veiled in allegory" and the tools of a stonemason are used to illustrate lessons of morality by which you can choose to run your own life. By example, a stonemason used a 24 inch gauge, a three part ruler the sections of which are 8 inches in length, to measure and lay out his work. A freemason uses it to measure and lay out the 24 hours of his day, making a portion each for his vocation, his service to God and his fellow man, and refreshment and sleep. The portions do not have to be equal, so long as they are present.
There are several such tools and lessons. I've been a Mason for just over 20 years and had the pleasure of having my father, rest his soul, who was a member of the same lodge, present when I became a Master Mason.
I think highly of the organization and believe being a Mason has served me well. We don't make a bad man good, but can help make a good man better.

The other part of your question related to Prince Hall Masonry. I have never sat in one of their lodges, but it is my understanding that their work is nearly if not completely identical. For many reasons (and IMHO, chief among them is with whom people mostly associate,) PH is mostly composed of Black men, just as the lodge I joined and all the lodges I've visited were and are primarily made up of White men. The men who were members of Prince Hall's lodge were all Black and likely, so were their friends, so that's who joined, just as the friends of Bro. George Washington were who joined Alexandria Lodge, near DC, and the result appears to be segregation. It is voluntary, if so: I'm not aware of any prohibition on either joining either "version" of the Fraternity and while in some places, visitation between the two is not yet allowed, in others it is. The prohibitions, when they exist, seem to go in both directions, and for multiple reasons.

I hope this helps you make your decision.

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Spanky46151]

Not just Free Mason, but Free & ACCEPTED Masons. Doesn't get any plainer than that in my book.

 

[GBuck]

BoR has had the best explanation of Masonry so far. We are not a "club, cult or religion". We are a fraternity of men with a belief that if you take good men and put them together they will foster better lives for eachother and the communities they are in. We are not cloak and dagger so to speak. The "secrets" Masons have are ways of recognizing if someone is a true brother or someone claiming to be a Mason. No world dominance plans, no crafty political control.

One thing BoR said is not entirely accurate. The rule of "solicitation of membership" is no longer in place. It USED to be that in order "2b1ask1", but as of 5-8 years ago (my memory is failing me) they changed it so that you could be asked to join.

As far as people not being willing to tell you they are a Mason... They are probably the ones that are not truly Masons and just want you to think they're cool. Most true Masons would be proud to be known as such and carry the title with honor.

I will subscribe this thread so I can check back and answer any other questions someone might have. You can also PM me if you want.

 

[IndyGunworks]

Interesting thread. I was at the firehouse the other day and there was a magazine about free masonry on the table. on the cover it was saying something about wanting new members, the article it was referencing to even had a phone number i could have called and inquired about membership.

somone who was a mason (secretive kind) once told me that masonry is about helping others, in a BIG way, but in a secret way. His lack of information both made me want to know more, and hate the organization even more. I am all about charity, but only if i can see that charity is going to good use and not wasted on the lazy. even if that means i have to put more work into my charity.

that being said, the lack of information is apealing, as well as the history of masonry throughout the worlds history. It would be an honor to be apart of that, but i guess i am not quite socially elite enough to get the invite.

I just found it interesting that even w/ all the secrecy, there was a magazine essentially trying to get me to join, even though NONE of the article in the magazine really had enough information for me to form even a somewhat educated opinion about the masons.

 

[GBuck]

Also, to get more to the point of the original question about Prince Hall vs. Blue Lodge Masons. Prince Hall Lodges are predominantly black and Blue Lodge Masons are predominantly white. This happened MANY MANY years ago when it was considered "clandestine" (read a masonic offense) to be a black mason or to associate with them. Now, that was obviously during a much darker time in our country and that has long since changed. There are more black men in the Blue Lodge than vice versus. I think that goes back to tradition in how the Prince Hall Masons view themselves. The things both lodges do are almost identical. Also, Prince Hall Masons and Blue Lodge Masons all join the same Scottish Rite or Shrine or other appendant bodies.

 

[PistolBob]

If you are a Catholic man and you decide to join the Freemason organization, you can be excommunicated from the church. I don't know all the hows and whys to that but there are also several other Christian denominations that do not recommend membership as well. I am not a mason, so I have no idea what the deal is.

 

[GBuck]

If you are a Catholic man and you decide to join the Freemason organization, you can be excommunicated from the church. I don't know all the hows and whys to that but there are also several other Christian denominations that do not recommend membership as well. I am not a mason, so I have no idea what the deal is.

Not true. The Catholic Church had banned Masonry because their secrets were unknown to the Pope back MANY years ago. As of 1983 this was lifted from their laws, which tells me somewhere along the way there was a Pope that either knew a Mason well enough or went through the degrees himself. The only other religion that I know of that does not agree with allowing members to be Masons is the Southern Baptists, and I am pretty sure it is just a small wing of the Southern Baptists. We have members from litterally EVERY religion that has a God, yet we do not promote and speciffic creed. It's kind of like AA, you have to believe in a higher power, but since we are not a religion of any kind, we do not say WHAT higher power.

 

[PistolBob]

Not true. The Catholic Church had banned Masonry because their secrets were unknown to the Pope back MANY years ago. As of 1983 this was lifted from their laws, which tells me somewhere along the way there was a Pope that either knew a Mason well enough or went through the degrees himself. The only other religion that I know of that does not agree with allowing members to be Masons is the Southern Baptists, and I am pretty sure it is just a small wing of the Southern Baptists. We have members from litterally EVERY religion that has a God, yet we do not promote and speciffic creed. It's kind of like AA, you have to believe in a higher power, but since we are not a religion of any kind, we do not say WHAT higher power.

Greg you are mistaken. Pope JP2 made it very clear in 1983 that masonic membership is still a grave offense in the Catholic Church.

You can read it here: Declaration on Masonic Associations

I can't speak for the others.

From the link above:

If you wish to learn more you can go to any Protestant or Catholic bookstore and find books and pamphlets that show why Masonry and Christianity is incompatible. (Not only Rome, but also the Church of England and the Southern Baptists have ruled so.) I especially recommend the encyclical letter of Pope Leo, which is available from the Daughters of St. Paul in Boston (1-800-876-4463).

 

[GBuck]

Greg you are mistaken. Pope JP2 made it very clear in 1983 that masonic membership is still an ex communicable offense in the Catholic Church.

You can read it here: Declaration on Masonic Associations

I can't speak for the others.

Well then MANY people choose to ignore this. I know many Catholics that are Masons. From someone that is in Masonry and a Christian, I can tell you that there is ZERO conflict between religion and Masonry other than what they are doing out of ignorance to the fraternity.