Ehhh... The new name is Sir Futuresoptions...
 

Yep... Became a Knights Templar yesterday.... been a goal for sometime now.... will probably join the shrine sometime this year and will hopefully go Scottish Rite sometime next year......

Congrats man.

Did the ceremony go anything like this?

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Congrats brother, I just completed my 32nd Degree:D and already am a Shriner:D
Tell Wayne we need a Smiley with a Fez.....

Honestly can't say LOL.....;)

You know what happens if you do:eek:

HEY WAYNE!!! WE NEED A SMILEY WITH A FEZ!!! lol...


I have done some volunteer work cooking for the Shrine... we have a bedowan band here... I don't think we have too many karts at our shrine, think one guy has a golf cart setup...I would like to get one of the karts.... will also try to go Porsche.... maybe I can make a little 914:D

Yeppers..:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

"Knights Templar"?

I thought they were all wiped out in the 14th Century.

The dark history of the world is that of mystics fighting other mystics.

Some of us prefer the light.

I am sure none of us really cares, i was just being polite and pretending to be interested.

But mostly it just seemed like a good excuse to post a super cool movie scene from Excalibur. ;)

At any rate, congrats again FO.

I asked this in another thread (and never got a serious answer), but is there any deep philosophical underpinning to the funny hats, secret handshakes, mysterious numbers, vows of secrecy and small cars?

Something of general interest perhaps? Something that would help all of us to live better lives?

Or are those things alone so interesting (in and of themselves) to practitioners of these arcane rites, that a meaningful underlying ethics or metaphysics would be redundant?

Just asking. Not trolling.

Thanks Snipe!SmileWavy

I believe that you are not trolling with your question... However, a lot of things just can't be answered.... from your posts, I feel that you are a person of above average intelligence ( even though I disagree with a lot of your positions sometimes). I think that most of your questions could easily be answered through research... research the men in history that have been known Masons... research the Masons history.... research the York and Scottish Rite's history, and research the Shriner's history.... this will give you a clearer understanding of the organizations and their members... I have heard it said that the organizations in question are not secret organizations, but organizations with secrets. I have also heard it said that you can find the secrets easily at the library, but that I will not give them to you because I have given my word that I wouldn't......

Like many other organizations, their primary purpose is to improve mankind's existence through fellowship, charity, and education.
They basically work to improve themselves by helping others. They believe a man is judged by his heart and his deeds. The better his caring and deeds, the better life he leads. I see nothing wrong with that at all.

Ignore the stupid speculation shows on discovery. They are only intended to create controversy in the weak mind.
The tiniest bit of research would have provided this same answer.

My father was a Mason and I asked him a lot of similar questions when I was a little kid. He told me he was honor bound to secrecy and that I could become a Mason when I grew up and would understand.

In my teens, he wanted me to join DeMolay International, "The Premier Youth Organization dedicated to teaching young men to be better persons and leaders", which I did. I didn't stay in long because I didn't like all the rituals and secrecy.

I remember a lot of bickering between some of the Masons and some of the Catholics in my small home town at the time, with some of the Masons yelling "You Catholics can't be Masons!" and the Catholics taking offense because they felt they were being discriminated against.

Well, the fact was, the Catholics couldn't become Masons because their church forbade them joining a secret society and if they were allowed to, the Masons would have let them in.

Sheesh!

At any rate, the Masons and Shriners (Oh, and my mother was a member of The Eastern Star) do good work. So do The Knights of Columbus.

Everyone knows it's just an excuse to get drunk.:D

Well that's sort of my take. An excuse to get out of the house and get drunk. Very often.

For me it's just like with organized religion: I get the "doing good" part. I just don't get the secret handshake/ju ju part. In fact I find the latter part so infantile that I have trouble taking people who are into this seriously.

But that's just me. And it's a broad church.

Right. And for this you engage in strange rituals, wear silly hats, study numerology, drive tiny cars, practice secret handshakes and tell everyone that what you do and why you do it is so secret that you cannot tell them about it on pain of being excommunicated.

I think I get it now.

As always Sammy, another very helpful post...

Not Quite... funny hats & little cars & alcohol = Shriner's, this is the getting out of the house to see your friends, eat dinner, drink a little (or alot if that's the case) and try to help some kids with medical conditions side of the house...

Everything else you mentioned is more on the other side of things... and while it may seem silly while one is on the outside..... Once inside, things become more clear... and true, while we are not at liberty to discuss things, it is an educating and memorable experience.... I hardly believe that a man like George Washington would be a member of such an organization just for an excuse to go out drinking... I also don't believe that a man such as himself would be part of an organization if he felt that it was a self degrading or a juvenile organization.... Just my .02

..

Thanks. I meant no disrespect. I realize there are extremes in all things.

I'm actually sort of interested in the Knights of Malta as part of some writing I am doing. Amazing though how difficult it is to get hard information.

I really took nothing that you said in disrespect...

You might want to try here... I remember reading some Knights of Malta info here: http://www.templarhistory.com/forum/

I have been a KT for a while now, but did my Knights of Malta just last month. An absolutely amazing experience needing 20 people just to fill all the required positions for the ceremony to take place at all.

Huh.

My grandfather was kicked out of the masons after it was discovered he was an adulterer.

All the rituals and secrecy are based on tradition and history. My middle daughter graduated from A & M. There isn't a slab of concrete on the entire campus that doesn't have a story associated with it. All the cheers, the Corps, the mascot... They all have a history that ties all Aggies to the next generation.

Religeons and charitable organizations maintain rituals, rites, symbols and secrets to exclude the merely curious from tivializing sacred beliefs. I can't just buy a plane ticket to Mecca and start walking around the Ka'ba counter clockwise. I can't just show up at a Mormon Temple and ask to be let in to check out the baptismal font.

I don't know much about the Masons, but I imagine that all the secrecy is based on millenia of knowledge and history of those who came before. It's a way to pass on the lessons and traditions and what's important.

Well I checked out that forum and take it all back.

You guys are nuttier than a sack full of squirrels! SmileWavy

As usual, The Simpsons have covered every topic known to modern life

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lol, yeah I can see why you would say that... however, if you take the time to weed through all the lookey lou's on the site... there is actually some very good information... sorta like the PPBBS.... sometimes you have to go through quite a few searches to find some hidden gems... also from my personal experience, there is quite a bit of correct information on the site and there is quite a bit of misinformation on the site... I would believe that you would need reasonable knowledge on the subjects before taking anything written there as gospel....

Dude, like we still really sing THAT song he he.... everyone knows we've gone semi modern....:D


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I love it! The best silly stoner song ever.

Please tell me this is the Templar Shriners (or whatever) initiation song...that this is where you exchange the purple robe for the puce robe...where you learn that twice your age plus your birth year divided by your street address is the cosmic number that rules your life...where you come to understand that the only important people on this earth are the ones that know the handshake and share the mission...

Please?

lol, you are priceless man, your perception is so far from the actual reality that I really can't say more, but I figured you & Todd would get a kick outta that one!SmileWavy