Felon looking to straighten up

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Skykid89

New Member
Hi im from wisconsin and i recently have received a felony for "synthetic marijuana" i was wondering if this would bar me from become a freemason.
 
PatrickWilliams

PatrickWilliams

I could tell you ...
Skykid89 said:
Hi im from wisconsin and i recently have received a felony for "synthetic marijuana" i was wondering if this would bar me from become a freemason.
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It might, indeed. Whether or not a felony on a drug charge would bar your membership will depend on you: who you are, what you think about the charge, etc. To be frank, I would be quite concerned about you more from the title of this thread than the nature of your felony. Freemasonry does not provide a structure for men to 'straighten up' or to 'turn their lives around'. We're in the business of taking men who are already 'good' and giving them the tools to become 'better'. That your felony was recent, and that you're looking to straighten up indicates to me that you might want to take a lot more time to ground and center yourself, to become a 'good man', to see what you want from life before petitioning a Lodge for membership. And even then, you will find the members of the Lodge to be very careful about admitting you.
 
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Skykid89

New Member
Gotcha its not easy to get to know someone over a forum though. Figured i would be up front about it. I would think of myself as a pretty good guy, I am into studying religion and law also im an aspiring race pilot Ironic isn't it lol. I wouldn't say i agree with the charge, only because of the fact that it was an "emergency ban" and they bypassed congress to create an unconstitutional statute. It goes blatantly against our founders wishes. But then again that goes on alot these days. It is pretty recent and you are right i may need time...i do feel like i got screwed in all honesty. It makes me mad to see people ruin lives for a paycheck. I'm hoping to salvage what i can from this life and build something for myself, the problem is the friends that i have are not so honorable and i need to get away from that. I was hoping to find brotherhood with like minded people.
 
PatrickWilliams

PatrickWilliams

I could tell you ...
There are lots of places to do that, Skykid. Church, community service organizations, etc. etc. etc. Whether you think you deserved it or not, whether the 'ban' is a knee-jerk reaction or not, no matter what reasons you can produce, you do indeed have a felony conviction on your record. This will mean a lot of things in your life that you will just have to overcome. One of the things that it means is that (right now, at least) should you choose to petition Masonry, you will be rejected. And, I should tell you up front, because of that felony conviction you never be allowed to work as an advisor with any of our youth groups. Never ever.

Now, as this is not a 'tyled Lodge', you can hang with us here as a friend, if you choose. In your life, you can demonstrate that you are, indeed, a worthy person, a good citizen, and (in time) should you still desire Freemasonry, you can petition. The felony will still be a concern, but it may not be insurmountable. It will depend on you and your actions and what you do with your life.
 
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removed12612

Guest
My friend.... I will say the Patrick has offered you a wealth of knowledge that will help you right the ship you are on in life. One thing I would add is to own up to your mistakes, that will be the first step you need to take in bettering yourself. We each must take responsibility for our own actions and not blame any other.

I do hope the best for you....
 
jaya

jaya

Active Member
It depends on the rules in your jurisdiction. Each state in the US has a Grand Lodge that governs the rules of Freemasonry in that state. Where I live, if a man is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony, they are removed from freemasonry. A felon that has not had all his rights restored may not be allowed to petition. Even then, it is up to the members of the local lodge to allow someone to join or not. It only takes one no vote by a brother to reject someone from membership. If you ever decide to petition, you must be honest about your convection. It would show up on a background check anyway. If you were to hide it, get elected in, and then it found out, you would then be brought up on masonic charges and removed as a freemason. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do. I do understand your position to a point. I have some good friends, not masons by the way, that in the past had done some rather questionable activity. They did turn their life around and are some of the nicest men you would ever want to meet. They started by moving over 1000 miles away from where they were and making a completely new start. The first step they knew was getting away from the "friends" that they had. You can choose to do that where you are. Your associations reflect on the type of person you are.
 
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edwmax

Active Member
I've re-framed from making any comments because all of the above are 'right on'. It depends on the Lodge and GL. I have read of a GL that requires 'GL approval' before a convicted felon can petition. ... I also, know of a few Brothers that will cast a Black Ball (cube) in their Lodge against any convicted felon. It doesn't matter how well recommend the petitioner comes to them.

However, I know of a Lodge not far from me that has 5 'convicts' (convicted felons) as members. They have much problems.
 
FamilyMan

FamilyMan

Fidelis ad Mortem
I cannot speak to WI, but in OH, a felony conviction is an absolute bar to membership, period. I agree with all that Patrick has said in his replies to you.

Also, I do not know how long ago your conviction was, but it may cause you some problems in obtaining your airman certificate from the FAA too, depending on how long ago the conviction was, the circumstances surrounding the offense, and how far up the ladder you want to go. Wishing you all the best.
 
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