MM Topic Looking like a Mason

Terry S

New Member
Forgive the title, i just couldnt come up with anything better.

*I am intentionally trying to be very vague about the location and details so as not to talk about a brother behind his back. This subject was just weighing on my heart an i hoped someone could put it in perspective for me.*

Recently at a Masonic function i saw a bro. who had facial tattoos that looked like prison tattoos and a Nazi symbol tattooed very visibly on his neck. He seemed like a nice enough guy in passing conversation, but i couldn't help but think... what if this guy some how appeared in a newspaper under a Masonic headline? Or even represented himself publicly as a Mason? I cant judge a mans character by the decorations he puts on his body, but i doubt the general public would be so kind.

Let it be known, I have nothing against tattoos. I want one of my own but cant decide what to get. But i would never get something visible that would shame the craft, my lodge, my family, or myself.
 

Hey Moe

New Member
Tattoos are one part of a person's past that is often very hard to hide. What you are seeing could very well be part of his past, and it may well be a past that he regrets.

I wouldn't worry about it. The general public tends to have a pre-concived notion about what Masonry is and a photo of a Brother, tattooed or not, is not likely to change thier opinion. If he was found by the Brothers of his home lodge to be "good enough" (for lack of another expression) we shouldn't worry about his decorations.

As a very new Brother, I am given to understand it is what is inside the man, not what his skin looks like that is important in Masonry.
 

Custer148

Masonic Traveler
"It is the internal not the external qualifications of a man" that we as Masons are interested in.

No one man is any better or worse than the next man in our eyes.
 

Terry S

New Member
Dont get me wrong... i dont want this to take a path i didnt intend.

I do not perceive myself to be any better than this man in any way. I simply meant to point out the public perception that he may generate. Such as... If you owned a company would you want someone with permanent visible racist marks as your public representative?
 

Hey Moe

New Member
I suspect this brother knows about his appearance and would likely shy away from being the "public representative". It is quite possible that his brothers in his lodge have already had a discussion with him about this.
 

Terry S

New Member
I was just pondering the implications of it. Not really for this one guy, but in general.

We have several brothers in our lodge that have a lot of tattoos and they are great men. I know outward appearance doesnt determine character. I made the post to ask what others think about facial tattoos, not how to deal with this one guy.
 

mokanik

New Member
The uneducated public would cast judgement on this brother over the tattoo. He may not be the same guy when he originally got the tattoo. Hopefully he will cover it somehow. We have all done something in our past that we have regretted.
 

BukeyeJackson

ViMH Advisory Board
On this subject it is hard to say. If he has the Nazi symbol as a symbol of hate I see a problem. Some facial tattoos that are gang tattoos have different levels of meaning. An empty tear drop means you lost a friend. I could see that being a major issue however.
 

edwmax

Active Member
Google 'gang tattoos for more in detail explanations. Several 'tear drops' originally indicate the number of years severed in prison, but is now also used to indicate the number of 'killings' he has made. ... When used by youths today, to look tough.

Actually, I'm surprised this person's petition wasn't 'black cubed' if he is a Georgia Mason.
 
H

Hank

Guest
Probably means there aren't too many of his gang left and that he should probably start looking for a better one.
 

BukeyeJackson

ViMH Advisory Board
Probably means there aren't too many of his gang left and that he should probably start looking for a better one.
NICE!!!!

Bro Ed is correct the filling in and addition of others start to raise real questions of the persons morality. That being said I also know of many respectable people who have been inked with star tattoos in a manner that would make them a mob boss or prostitute according to the tattooing system of the Russian prisons. I also know of gangs which use religious symbols to indicate themselves.
Getting to know the Brother helps. I refuse to just get tattoo'd with anything. If I chose a design it has meaning and am proud to have it and would show them to anyone without fear of offending.
 
Sounds like an educational opportunity :) Though one can only speculate as to why he had a symbol such as a swastika (assumption based on the OP) tattooed on his face, it is worth mentioning that the swastika is an ancient symbol that's origins had little to do with any of the views of the Nazis.

I would suggest the following link for more information.

Masonic Research Network

Simply click on Masonic Publications to find it.

Your Brother,

Jason
 

jaya

Active Member
You would cube someone based on looks? The swastika is much older than Nazi Germany. It might not mean what you take it to mean.
 

nevburt

Member
You may kick me out of here for this... Presumption is for sure a terrible thing but... We all know what a swastika represents. Reversed it means peace or love or understanding etc... Something good. I would like to find out the brothers understanding of the symbol. :1-say-no: If he has changed perhaps a quick whip around for some laser surgery.
 

Terry S

New Member
I never said it was a swastika. In this case, it wasnt. That was another bro.'s assumption.

Ive said a couple times that i dont think im better than this man and i said that he seemed pleasant to talk to. I merely asked the question what do others think.

I, personally, dont think its the kind of representation freemasonry would want, especially in the south. But thats just my opinion and just as that tattoo doesnt represent the feelings of every Mason, nor does my opinion of it.
 

Terry S

New Member
It just doesnt seem right to me to throw out such specifics about another brother on an internet forum.

It was a symbol that as far as i know has only been used for Nazi Germany's special forces followed by the title of a book written by Adolf Hitler. Thats really as specific as im gonna get.
 
OK….I would simply say this.

We as Masons need to walk the talk. As a society we spend entirely too much time worrying about what the profane think about us. Masons do not judge a man by his external appearance. If a Brother decides to have a tattoo of a symbol that has some meaning to him that is in-line with Masonic virtues, but is found to be offensive by those who do not understand it, then so be it. Masonry owes an explanation to no one. If it is a symbol that truly has only negative connotations and this was known to the Brother when he got it…then he is not the type of man that should have been allowed through the West Gate. We make good men better. We do not make bad men good.
 

FamilyMan

Fidelis ad Mortem
If the OP is referring to rune symbols that this brother may have tattooed on his body, the rune symbols may in fact have nothing to do with any SS, Neo-Nazi or Skinhead group.

That being said, let me provide my own opinion:

Someone on this thread says that "Masonry owes an explanation to no one." Let me give you my opinion... this Brother Mason OWES an explanation to no one. This Mason, whether he is tattooed from head to toe, or if he is clean cut and wears a $4,000 suit with $500 matching shoes and arrives to lodge in a limo, is a brother mason. He petitioned, was investigated, and eventually raised a MM. The Brethren in his lodge on his IC him found him to be fit for to receive the mysteries of Freemasonry, and the brethren in his lodge found him fit by unanimous vote. Who are we to sit in judgement of this brother having never met him? Further, having never even seen the offending tattoos?

I am particularly alarmed that, even after the OPs attempt to prevent the identification of the brother in question, going so far as to refuse to identify the tattoo, that some brethren on this board are referring to him as bad. Quote, "we make good men better. We do not make bad men good." Making a determination on whether a man should have been passed through the West Gate without even knowing the man, meeting the man, or even seeing the man?

Am I in favor of provocative tattoos? No, I am not, that is why I don't have any. Do I judge a person based on how they look? To an extent we all do. We are called to circumscribe our passions, desires, prejudices, each of us. No where in Freemasonry are we tasked with circumscribing each others passions, desires, prejudices. How long ago did this brother get his tattoos? How do you know he was the same person the day he was initiated as he was when he got them? You don't unless you've gotten to know him. Case in point, I don't know him, and he very well may have a lot of rough on his rough ashlar that needs to be perfected. But if that is the case, we owe it to him as a brother to assist him in this task, if it is the case... but bear in mind that our own rough ashlars to perfect.

I have a close friend of mine who is not a Freemason, although I wish he'd petition. Him and I are both veterans, and have both worked in law enforcement. He has full sleeve tattoos, in color, down both of his arms, that terminate at the wrists, a consequence of his wild and crazy attitude during and after his time in the Marine Corps. He is the kind of friend who would give you the shirt off his back, and would do anything for a friend. I am proud to know him, proud to have worked with him, and would be proud to top line his petition if he ever asked.

More recently, in my neck of the woods a Deputy Sheriff was fired because he had a tattoo of praying hands holding a set of dog tags and the letters USMC on his arm. Offensive to you? Likely not, but offensive enough to the sheriff that he took disciplinary action against the deputy for not having the tattoo removed.

Aren't we supposed to be tolerant of the errors of each other? Keep in mind, we are talking about (behind his back no less) a Brother, not a candidate or a profane, but as a Brother who has already passed from the West, and who is deserving of our fraternal love and assistance based on that fact alone.


As it pertains to facial tattoos in general... I would hate to see an otherwise qualified candidate black cubed because he has chosen, in the past, to have tattoos where they cannot be covered up. The ink on a candidates face is not prima facie evidence of bad character or immorality. If the tattoos are something "questionable" I would have to assume that the IC and the two signers on his petition wouldn't have signed if they had the same reservations. Ask them for more light... or ask the candidate.
 
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