Warrior1256
Site Benefactor
No, I didn't say this. I was quoting another post.Warrior said: " I find it difficult to understand. Are there that many people who would leave their Blue Lodge(s) so they can continue to be in Shrine? "
No, I didn't say this. I was quoting another post.Warrior said: " I find it difficult to understand. Are there that many people who would leave their Blue Lodge(s) so they can continue to be in Shrine? "
...Masonry, for the most part, does nothing except eat, meet and go home..
Get the plural membership first, then demit. I can't speak for every state, but here, as long as your dues are paid up and there are no charges pending against you, you can't be denied a demit.
Same here in Kentucky. As long as dues are current and no charges are pending a demit MUST be issued upon request.Get the plural membership first, then demit. I can't speak for every state, but here, as long as your dues are paid up and there are no charges pending against you, you can't be denied a demit.
Agreed.It's important Masonry develops some substance, or at least finds that in and of itself.
Also agreed.Get affiliated first. Then worry about demitting.
Different people have different opinions on this. Mine is that the Blue Lodge always comes first, before the appendant bodies no matter how much I love the AASR and York Rite.Are there that many people who would leave their Blue Lodge(s) so they can continue to be in Shrine?
Lol!Never cared for trickled-down anything haha ;P
Different people have different opinions on this.
Let's do a hypothetical (mainly because I like to be contrary ), and I'll put myself in a situation as the example:
In addition to being a Mason, I belong to the Moose. Let's say sometime in the future, we get a GM who has a beef with the Moose because his brother-in-law got kicked out. He issues an edict that Tennessee Masons can't be members of the Moose. That leaves me with choices to make. Here's a problem that directly affects me that has nothing to do with me. I don't want to give up my Moose membership because that's where my wife and I like to go eat, and I don't take too well to ultimatums. Where I live, I could geographically transfer membership to five different states. I could keep my Masonic membership and still attend my local lodge as a visitor every time the doors open. What I lose: a vote in my local lodge. What my lodge loses: the voice of an experienced PM, a proficiency card holder which hurts the lodge in its annual grade, a member of numerous committees, someone capable of doing any part in the first section of all three degrees (if I was feeling spiteful and not willing to do it).
Where is the most harm done? When a peeing contest begins, the trickle down ripples do the most damage.
I have to agree.The Shrine in general could stop requiring their members to be Masons. At that point they would be in the situation you describe with the Moose. But how many members would they lose if they did that? Arkansas suggests that the answer is far too many for them to consider the move.