South Carolina Shrine Showdown

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
Jaya , my wife's friends and family attends Shrine functions/parties that are open to the public and relate to her what they see going on . She walked in the house one day after one of those parties and said "There is no way in h*ll you will ever be a Shriner so do not even ask !!" . Took me by surprise because I have never mentioned to her that I was even remotely interested in the Shrine .

ETA: A gentleman got mad when I was relating this story to a friend claiming these women need to keep their mouths shut . I looked at him and said "Quit having parties open to the public and allowing the wives to have free rein in the Shrine Temple and my wife would not hear about these stories ." They are under no obligation to keep their mouthes shut .
 

Gary2112

Troll Stomper
Staff member
I absolutely love what the Shrine does for children. That is where any interest in them that I have ends. I despise their "Arab motif". That is all I'll publicly say about that.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
Oh , I love what they do for the children also , I really do because they helped one of our own right here in our little family on this forum . But it is they , not the various grand lodges , who are shooting themselves in the foot .
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
I am wondering , do you think it is because we have a different breed of Mason now who will no longer look the other way concerning the antics of Shrine ? Or is the Shrine tired of being under the Thumb of the various Grand Lodges ? Is it egos ? I know much of what is going on now has been going on for decades , eg; suspended Masons remaining on the roles of the Shrine , the Shrine taking in EAs' as members (Found this one out the other day , one of the EAs in question was even a suspended EA !!!) , the black eyes groups in the Shrine such as the Jesters give us and so on and so forth .

So I ask , why now ? Is this the final push from the Imperial Shrine to make it's break from Freemasonry ?
 

Gary2112

Troll Stomper
Staff member
Are you asking me? Personally, I'd guess there are several facets in play. Primarily the change in the breed of Mason. It's news to me that the Shrine has accepted EA's into their fold. With all of the other accusations, it doesn't surprise me though. Like I said. I love what the Shrine does for the children. I'm not keen on their politics, nor am I keen on their other activities. There are a lot of good Brothers that are Shriners. There are also as many who are Brothers only because they want to be Shriners and have no interest in Freemasonry whatsoever.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
Sorry Gary , not aimed at you , just a general set of questions to who ever wants to throw in their two cents .
 

Winter

I've been here before
I don't think it is a different breed of Freemason. The Shrine has been engaging in these antics for decades. Look at the publicity they used to get in 80's for destroying hotels and dropping stuff out windows. They've actually mellowed lately.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
This is true Winter . I get tired of having to explain the difference to people when they find out I am a Mason , the first thing that comes out of their mouth is "Wow , you guys throw some wild a** parties" to which I have to explain that is the Shrine they are thinking about . I tend to leave out the Masonic connection as I find it embarrassing .
 

Bob Franks

Past District Deputy Grand Lecturer
The more that I learn about the shrine, the less I am interested in joining. That is sad. I support the work that they do with the hospital but do not like some of the other aspects. A friend of mine posted some pictures taken at a shrine function that had alcohol in it. He was asked to either remove the pictures or not post the ones with alcohol. He photoshopped milk glasses and cartons over them. They seem to want to do one thing but portray a different image.
:confused2:

"...hypocrisy and plain dealing distinguish us..."

S&F
 

Bob Franks

Past District Deputy Grand Lecturer
OOPS!

That should have read:

"...hypocrisy and deceit are unknown among us, sincerity and plain-dealing distinguish us..."

Sorry, hit reply before reading what it REALLY said.

S&F
 

cemab4y

Member
I have been a Shriner (off and on) since 1989. I have attended two Shriner's conventions (Cleveland and Kansas City). I saw nothing that I thought was improper. I have taken my wife to many Shrine functions. Except for a couple of men, who were enjoying alcohol to excess, I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

The fact is, as the Shrine membership ages, these guys do not have the "horsepower", to get commode-hugging drunk every night.

I believe that the Shrine is "mellowing" as well. When I finish this international work, I want to get back in. I spoke with the Past Potentate of our local Shrine yesterday, and he is understandably upset about the whole situation. I thought that there were some other issues at play here, which are not being discussed openly on the internet. He confirmed my suspicions.

All I can say is, stay tuned.
 

Winter

I've been here before
<snip> I thought that there were some other issues at play here, which are not being discussed openly on the internet. He confirmed my suspicions. All I can say is, stay tuned.
So clue us in as to these other issues. Otherwise we will continue to assume the Shrine is chafing as an appendant body of Craft Masonry and showing it by acting the way they are.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
From what I understand , the Shrine has a plan to break away in the next few years . I have heard this from different Nobels in the know .
 

Gary2112

Troll Stomper
Staff member
So clue us in as to these other issues. Otherwise we will continue to assume the Shrine is chafing as an appendant body of Craft Masonry and showing it by acting the way they are.
I prefer to "presume" instead of "Assume" for obvious reasons. ;)
 
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