Talk:Freemasonry/Archive 18

message: Archived 1st June 2006 WegianWarrior 05:03, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

message: I'm archiving what appear to be old and finished discussions. If they're not finished, please start a new topic here, not on the archive page. Ardenn 19:48, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Archiving

message: Should links to the Secret Society page and information about Freemasonry being a secret society, history of same, be included on this page?
And if so why is it not now included, or was it removed by some editors, and for what reason?
 
Secret Society - Any of various oath-bound societies devoted to brotherhood (or sisterhood), moral discipline, and mutual assistance. 
Such societies usually conduct rituals of initiation to instruct new members in the rules of the group (see rite of passage). Greek and Roman mystery religions had their secular counterparts in clandestine social clubs, some of which served as platforms for political dissent. In West Africa secret societies such as Poro (for men) and Sande (for women) serve to translate slight advantages of wealth and prestige into political authority. In parts of New Guinea secret men's societies serve as repositories of tribal knowledge. Fraternal orders such as the Freemasons (see Freemasonry) may be considered secret societies, as may criminal groups such as the Mafia and the Chinese Triads and hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. 
Encyclopedia Britannica
www.britannica.com .—Preceding unsigned comment added by User:24.64.223.203 (talk • contribs) 
From a layman's perspective, this is fascinating stuff.  Please continue to work through your differences in good faith.  I am learning a lot.
Thanks!
Scott
Alameda, California
Also, a minor technical suggestion concerning one sentence in the article -- To avoid a double negative and provide proper propotionality, you might replace "is not present in some, but not all" with "is present in most, but not all" in the following passage:
"It is notable that the requirement for the candidate to have a belief in a Supreme Being is not present in some, but not all, Co-Masonic bodies, leading to a significant divergence in organisational direction and philosophy."  —Preceding unsigned comment added by User:192.116.237.69 (talk • contribs) 
:Suggested rewrite: "It is notable that while the requirement for the candidate to have a belief in a Supreme Being is not present in some Co-Masonic bodies, such as Grand Orient de France (GOdF), it is present in others, such as Le Droit Humain (LDH). This has led to a significant divergence in organisational direction and philosophy between such variant bodies."
:Nuttyskin 00:08, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Sounds good to me... any one object? Blueboar 01:29, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes.  GOdF is not a Co-Masonic body.  While it allows its members to intervisit wherever they want, they do not admit women.--Vidkun 13:58, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I thought GOdF did admit women? Blueboar 16:00, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: From the GOdF webpage: "It has signed treaties or friendly agreements with many French and foreign allegiances and will welcome as visitors to its Lodges any members of other allegiances with whom contacts have been set up, including visitors from all-female or mixed allegiances. The Grand Orient de France itself at present only recruits and affiliates men.".  While the current wikipedia article about GOdF is kind of ambiguous (as it refers to GOdF as being the first obedience to admit women, it leaves out that they no longer admit women as members.--Vidkun 16:38, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmmm... I see the problem.  It is a misunderstanding of the word "admit"... To clarify, then: they currently do not initiate, pass or raise women, but they will allow women from bodies in which they are in amity to attend their meetings. Blueboar 17:12, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Visitation only.  They are not members of the GOdF.--Vidkun 19:11, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Please note everyone the little game the masonic editors are playing in this thread. The topic of the section is SECRET SOCIETY, why there is not section or mention of Freemasonry being one on the page. But look what the Brothers do they change the subject to another entirely different topic about the requirements of a candiate of a supreme being!!! Real cute Bro's, but it shows the type of games you are playing at Wikipedia.Sandmans 04:46, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Note that Sandmans have been [comfirmed] as a sockpuppet of the banned user, and long term abuser, Lightbringer. WegianWarrior 06:56, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Secret Society 

message: I'm noticing as I scroll down that sections drawn from other main articles (e.g. "Women and Freemasonry," etc.) have the first reference to the subject topic (instead of the article topic, Freemasonry) in bold... this isn't proper, is it? `T. S. Rice 23:00, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Fixed. MSJapan 00:33, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Section subjects - not title subjects - in bold?