I have always wanted to become a Mason...when I was 19 I had the opportunity to learn about your brotherhood. I am now 45 and have returned from Arizona with a Native American wife to my home state of Ohio. I just wondered if I would be able to join with a non-white wife? I have nothing but respect for the Masons and mean no disrespect. My e-mail is jlors @ hotmail.com if you would rather answer in private. My wife is strongly in favor and when I asked the man who introduced me to the thought of Free Masonry many years ago he did not answer - he is 88 and has been a Mason all his life here in Lake County.
Freemasonry does not discriminate against any race, creed, or ethnic background or religion for that matter. To be eligible to join you must be an honest and upright man of good moral character, and believe in a supreme being (God). Contact a Lodge near you, or the Grand Lodge in your state for more information. Your wife being Native American has no bearing on your eligibility to join. Grand Lodge F&AM of Ohio The Ohio Grand Lodge even has an online petition you can fill out...
Greetings and salutations. I added a space in your email address to help try and keep spam bots from getting it. You should not have any problems joining a Lodge.
Petition a lodge near you, work through the degrees, become a Master Mason, then get your wife involved in the lodge through the OES. (Order of the Eastern Star) if of course your lodge has one. I did just that and am very happy that my wife complains very little that i spend so much time at the lodge
This just goes to show some of the misconceptions that abound concerning our Order! In my Masonic Lodge, I pray next to Christians, Muslims, Jews, and other religions. White, Hispanic, African-American. It truly does not matter, only your character. Use us as a resource, please, for any questions you may have. I look forward to calling you my brother someday!
As GaryE correctly stated, Free Masonry does not discriminate against petitioners based on race, religion or ethnic background. Just remember, you must ask to be made a Mason.
As a matter of fact, there have been numerous examples of Native Americans who have been Masons. In fact, there are journal stories from soldiers and pioneers that relate tales in which Masons crossing Indian territories in the 19th century had their lives saved by Native American Masons.
Neither your wife's ethnicity nor yours will have any bearing on whether or not you are elected to take the degrees. We judge your character, not your color. I live in MA, but last year had to travel to OH to bury my uncle who died in a motorcycle accident. I only mention this because I reached out to a lodge near his home to have a service completed and found them to be very good men. Based on my experience with OH masons, I am certain you will have no issues as it relates to your wife.
Not a problem Our lodge does ask if the candidate's wife is in accord with him joining, and does speak to her during the investigation. Ethnicity has no bearing.
As others have said, it's your character that matters. If a Lodge turns your down because of the race of your wife or even yourself, find another Lodge. I am in Ohio also and if I can help you in any way, please let me know.
Masonry is not concerned with the ethnicity of the candidate, nor his family. I joined Masonry in 1982, and I am Caucasian, and my wife was Chinese. No problem at all. There are many Native American freemasons. King Kamehameha of Hawaii was a Freemason.
I actually know of a lodge in the Kansas City area that will black ball any petitioner that does not meet their "specifications". In fact during my first interview I was asked if I preferred a segregated or non-segregated lodge. Hate to go against the grain with you guys but the fact of the matter is that if those mindsets still exist in an urban area like mine then there must be other lodges in other cities across the country that are not accepting of anything other than Caucasian members.
Never seen anything even close to this Here in MA and NH, I have never seen or heard of anything even remotely close to what your talking about. It has no place in masonry.
Agreed. If it does exist, there needs to be a major effort by Freemasonry as a whole to squash it pronto.
In South Florida, there is a lot of diversity, but up north in the State, I have heard of lodges that still discriminate based on color. I cannot verify this, although I have attended a lodge in mid-state FL and found all the Brothers as nice and welcoming as my home lodge. I am born here in the US but 'Hispanic" and my wife was born in Cuba and naturalized. I see this antiquated thought process going away with the amount of diversity. We still do not recognize PH though. I do not think it is because of race since we have black Brothers in our lodge. As the other Brothers have said, visit a lodge in the area. I am sure you will be welcomed by the Brethren.
This is why I love the brotherhood... Brothers dwelling together in untiy... there is nothing like it... I have heard nothing but positive support for a possible future brother... 2 B 1 ask 1... and leave the rest in Gods hand... I wish you success in you search for light...
You are, unfortunately in my view, correct. Even though the GL of Missouri recognized Prince Hall, even though there is nothing in our fraternity that specifically bars a candidate due to his race, there are still those lodges who discriminate on that basis. When visiting a lodge in Missouri, my brother (my birth brother, AND a Masonic brother, too) was asked, "How do y'all deal with that problem? And we all know what 'problem' they were talking about. Change comes slowly, but it's coming. As society alters its beliefs, then the Lodge will surely follow. In time, the Lodges that prefer Caucasian only membership will change, too. Diversity is the wave of the future.
