Fraternal order of the Masons?

I am a freemason. I have had many, many positive experiences. My only regret is that I wish I had joined years ago.

As with any group, you get some jerks in it, but they are a very small minority. The only other negative is that there are a small number of anti-masons who are generally irrational, ignorant (as in they are uneducated about anything regarding freemasonry) liars... if you can ignore them, and you should, then they are (as they should be) a non-factor.

to some others:

* Ignore H.... he obviously knows nothing about freemasonry

*

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million, including just under two million in the United States and around 480,000 in England, Scotland and Ireland. The various forms all share moral and metaphysical ideals, which include, in most cases, a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being. The fraternity is administratively organised into Grand Lodges or sometimes Orients, each of which governs its own jurisdiction, which consists of subordinate (or constituent) Lodges. Grand Lodges recognise each other through a process of landmarks and regularity. There are also appendant bodies, which are organisations related to the main branch of Freemasonry, but with their own independent administration. Freemasonry uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon's Temple, to convey what has been described by both Masons and critics as "a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols."

If you're thinking of joining, go down to your local Lodge and talk to the members. You can find your local lodge by going to your state's Grand Lodge and using the Lodge Locator to find a Lodge near you.

The people who say Freemasonry is a cult or whatever other term thy use to badmouth the Fraternity don't know what they're talking about; they're not Masons.

The best way to find out is to go out and talk to Masons.

The worst way? Listen to people with no knowledge on the internet.

It's just a man's club, and a good one. Join it if you can.

If you like cults, go for it. Masons are one of the oldest cults in the USA.