Dusty Diary loves reading through the wonderful "Ask Me Anything" section on Reddit, and today came across an "Ask Me Anything" about Freemasonry. This interested me, since the Freemason symbol is so ubiquitous on old gravestones around the county, and I'm curious about the organization. Then I read this:"Fraternal orders were and are part of the social fabric. Transportation and communication technologies have changed the nature of society and social groups in particular.
"It's like how 100 years ago most people in a town would marry other people from the town and settle down near the town. What's one's social group anymore? What used to be "Scottish" and "Italian" is becoming more "Reddit" and "Slashdot."
Dusty D thinks that's astute. So I guess these days we're all Freemasons now, except it's Tweetmasons or Freebloggers or the like. Except I don't plan to put the Twitter birdie on my tombstone. Hmm...maybe it's not quite the same...Your thoughts on Freemasonry, readers? Jump right in there--I know you've been pondering Freemasonry and its possible modern analogs for some time now, yes? Let 'er rip!
I don't think your analysis quite works. While it is true that in the context of a vastly more mobile and "connected" society, the social functions of organizations such as Freemasonry are far less important, such a function was never the "purpose" of Freemasonry to begin with. So to argue that "we're all Freemasons now" is just silly.
ReplyDeleteHmm. While the stated purpose of Freemasonry is, to my understanding, "to build better men," I have heard Freemasonry defined, by a Mason, as "a social club composed of people who like rituals." I personally would respectfully disagree with you Anon; I think the social function is quite important in Freemasonry, if not the main function.
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