GONE PUBLIC
PLUS ONLINE CHAT ROOM AVAILABLE ON 25/12/09
NEWSFLASH
THIS IS AN APPEAL TO THE BROTHERHOOD FOR AID AND SUBSIDY IN PREPARATION FOR 2012.
IT IS AMONG THE OLDEST SECULAR FRATERNITIES IN EXISTENCE, YET IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONCERNED WITH MORAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUES. FOUNDED UPON SIX GREAT PRINCIPLES—BROTHERLY LOVE, RELIEF, TRUTH, PEACE, UNITY, AND JUSTICE—THE ORDER SEEKS TO BRING TOGETHER MEN OF GOODWILL, REGARDLESS OF BACKGROUND OR DIFFERENCE, AND TO MAKE GOOD MEN BETTER SO THAT THEY MAY HELP MAKE THE WORLD BETTER.
THAT THESE AIMS CAN BE ACHIEVED IS EVIDENT WHEN ONE STUDIES THE FORMATIVE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES. MANY LEADING FIGURES WITHIN MOVEMENTS FOR REFORM AND CHANGE WERE EITHER FREEMASONS OR MEN STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY FREEMASONIC THOUGHT, SYMBOLISM, AND DISCIPLINE.
OVER TIME, SUCH ASSOCIATIONS ACQUIRED A REPUTATION FOR BEING BOTH SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IN NATURE. AS MEMBERS OF THE FRATERNITY OFTEN HELD POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY AND INFLUENCE IN PUBLIC LIFE, THIS GAVE RISE TO SPECULATION THAT THEY POSSESSED ACCESS TO THE MECHANISMS OF POWER.
FROM THIS EMERGED THE CONSPIRACY THEORIST’S FANTASY THAT FREEMASONS AND THE SO-CALLED ILLUMINATI, ACTING IN CONCERT WITH POLITICIANS OF RIGHT, LEFT, AND CENTRE, WERE SEEKING TO ESTABLISH A NEW WORLD ORDER.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP TODAY?
COMPANIONSHIP, CONVIVIALITY, AND A HEIGHTENED SENSE OF PURPOSE IN LIFE, EXPERIENCED WITHIN A WORLDWIDE FRATERNITY THAT BRINGS TOGETHER PEOPLE OF EVERY CLASS, RACE, CREED, AND COLOUR.
CAN YOU VISUALIZE ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION THAT CAN ACHIEVE THIS THROUGH A MIXED MEMBERSHIP COMPOSED OF MEN OF ALL RELIGIONS, UNITED BY SHARED VALUES, MUTUAL RESPECT, AND DISCIPLINE?