What's some of the things that fascinated you about Freemasonry before you joined ?

[Dontrell Stroman]

It can be anything, but what really fascinated me about freemasonry when I was young was hearing stories masons told about when a brother was in distress. I remember hearing about how a mason would have a Masonic emblem on his vehicle and if he were broke down on the side of the road if another brother mason seen it, he would take him were he needed to go. That's brotherhood at its finest to me. Although most would help anyone. It still warms my heart to know that if I were in distress a brother would come to my relief.

 

[Erickson Ybarra]

A lot has fascinated me SINCE I've joined, but before, I'd have to say the history. Freemasonry, as we know it today, is nearly 300 years old and has been a model for just about every fraternal organization today in some way. On a national level, we have been taught the same lessons as Washington, Franklin, Revere, Roosevelt, Truman, Ford, Houdini, and countless other men of great influence. On a regional level, the work in Texas has been the same since the organization of the first Grand Lodge in Texas, meaning I have spoken the same words as Sam Houston, Anson Jones, Juan Seguin, Buzz Aldrin, etc.

All of that seems a little superficial compared to everything Freemasonry has to offer, but, of course, I didn't know much more until I was initiated...and I have much more to learn still.

 

[Ripcord22A]

National treasure.....

 

[Dontrell Stroman]

Ha ha. Are you serious or just kidding ?

 

[mrpierce17]

I was attracted to the mystery , the way you would see the emblem on cars,rings,hats , courthouses, and you never knew just who might be a mason from the bum on the street to the franchise owner of a major Corporation it was just something about the way they all carried themselves , if you asked them about the ring, emblem, hat , exc. they would answer with a riddle you wouldn't understand even when they told me 2b1ask1 I always thought it was something more to it ...finally got around to asking after umpteen years of procrastinating haven't looked back yet ...

 

[Dontrell Stroman]

I like that brother. I think most of cause can attest to that

 

[Ripcord22A]

Ha ha. Are you serious or just kidding ?

100% serious...i was like 16 i think when i first saw it. I wanted to know if that was true. Then i saw the documentaries on history. I wanted to know what was real what was fake and was had been exagerated. Obviously my views changed as i got older and met real mason......oh yeah Dan Brown too

 

[goomba]

Well at one point I was actually a passive anti-mason. However, the actual brotherly love I saw among Masons. Not just a "we're doing this because we must" but a true brotherhood.

 

[Dontrell Stroman]

Awesome. That movie does leave you in suspense.

 

[dfreybur]

For me at the top of the list were the prohibitions against discussing politics and religion in lodge combined with actual practice of political and religious tolerance and openness. I wanted some sort of civic activity but I did not want to become politically active so I started bench marking fraternities and service clubs against each other.

Not my only interest. Having friends worldwide as I have often traveled for work. Ability to practice public speaking without being political. Being more social.

All of that and I keep coming back for the fellowship. I get less human contact at work doing remote support and that increases the value of the human contact for me.

 

[Pscyclepath]

One of my passions for many years has been Civil War history, and that morphed into some reenacting (well, a good bit of reenacting for awhile) about 18 years ago. In my studies of a few characters, I found they were Masons, and carried that with them throughout the War, and their lives. A fair number of my reenacting buddies were Masons as well, and being around these guys I found there was some sort of mystic bond that surpassed even the fellowship of serving in the ranks. So, after a good bit of contemplation, I sought the West Gate... I have not been disappointed.

 

[JJones]

I suddenly decided one day that I'd like to become a Freemason. I don't have a backstory that I'd expect anyone to find very interesting, other than I had known for a while that my father and grandfather are both Freemasons and that I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself. Looking back, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.

 

[Canadian Paul]

I was attracted to the Craft by the example of an elderly neighbour (who eventually became my Sponsor) and the knowledge that several work colleagues whom I respected were members. Once I considered joining I did some reading and all I read convinced me to join.

 

[GKA]

The History, not just Masonic but how Freemasons shaped our history

 

[pointwithinacircle2]

Another way to state that would be: How the ideas that are present in Freemasonry have shaped the world.

 

[Keith D. McKeever Jr.]

What attracted me was the fact that I met a lot of great men when I served in the U.S. Army. I would always tell them that they reminded me of my father. It was then I came home to find out that he is a Mason and that his Father was a Mason. All of these men, I truly and duly look up to and I wanted to emulate them and guide other good young men to be better just like my Brothers have done for me. I must agree that it is great to see that we are a part of history from every angle of the world.

 

[Derinique Kendrick]

Initially the deep Masonic affiliation in my family sparked my interest. As I got older I noticed more people around me starting to join. I think very highly of my family and figured if they were apart of this then it must really be something great. So I decided to find out for myself....

Also as brothers @GKA and @pointwithinacircle2 stated about the historical impact the craft has made on the country from Washington, the signers of the Declaration, etc.
The fascination continues as I continue my travels

 

[Warrior1256]

For me it was the fact that all of the men that I knew to be Masons were good men, men I admired, and well respected men in their communities. I figured if these men represented the caliber of men in the Freemasons then I wanted to be a part of it.

 

[HumbleTXMason]

Like in the OP, for me it was a someone with a broken down car on the side of the road...

I was like 7 or 8 and the guy that was my father figure (a friend of my mom) was a Mason. He was in the Army and stationed at Ft. Clayton in the former Canal Zone; had a tattoo on his right forearm of the S&C and a A&ASR decal on his vehicle.

So, we were on what should have been a short sightseen trip when we encounter a guy waving his arms on the side of the road, with a broken down car, and my mom's friend stopped to help. Our friend helped troubleshoot the car issue, then we drove the guy to an auto parts store that was like 45 minutes away, got the parts, drove back, he installed the parts and got the car going... then we followed him back to town, where the driver of the broken car went to a mechanic and left the car there to be checked or repaired. Then we drove the guy to his home, where he invited us to stay for diner.

What should have been a 1 or 2 hour trip ended up been an all day event... it was late in the evening when we left the house. I kept asking my mom why we had stopped and done all that for a stranger and she didn't know either. When we were heading back home our friend apologized for "ruining our day" but said that was his "brother".

I'm too young to remember if the person used the sign of distress or what, but our friend would have stopped anyway 'cuz he was that kind of person... but he definitively went the extra mile once he found the other guy was a mason.

Remembering my friend's deed is what attracted me to freemasonry... I struggled with this for a while, been raised Catholic and given the Church's stance on the Fraternity.