Masonry worldwide

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cemab4y

Member
I am certain that each Grand Lodge of Masons, keeps a detailed account of their membership. There are even working Masonic lodges in Cuba. There are about 4 million master masons in the USA, affiliated with the various Grand Lodges in each state. (There is no "Grand Lodge" of the United States). I do not have the exact figures, but I would think that the USA has more Masons than any other country.
 
G

Green-Moo

New Member
cemab4y said:
I do not have the exact figures, but I would think that the USA has more Masons than any other country.
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I'm certain that would be the case, but would it also be true per head of population do you think? American Masons seem to be the most upfront about their membership.
 
C

cemab4y

Member
There are over 300,000,000 people in the USA (I am a former employee of the US Census Bureau). There are about 4 million Masons in the USA. This works out to about 1.2% of the US population. I am not certain, but the USA probably has the highest number of masons, per capita, in the world. Masonry exists in many countries. It is in nearly all of the British Commonwealth nations.
 
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Green-Moo

New Member
cemab4y said:
This works out to about 1.2% of the US population.
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I'm must admit that I'm absolutely astonished by that figure. I really had no idea that FreeMasonry was so prevalent in the US.

So why do you think that it's so popular in the US? I'm guessing those figures are far higher than in the UK for instance. Is it because American Masons are so open about their membership?
 
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chocoguy

New Member
I think that I can't agree with that because China has the most number of people. I'm sure that China has a lot of Masons living.
 
C

cemab4y

Member
There is no organized Masonry in the People's Republic of China. The Communists shut down Masonry in mainland China back in 1949. There is some Masonry on the island of Taiwan. Masonry exists, openly, with no problems in Cuba.

There are many reasons for Masonry's popularity in the USA. The overall number of Masons is down, and the average age of Masons (in the USA), is creeping up. For more information about Masonry, please see:

Anti-Masonry: Points of View

Masonry has existed in the UK, in current organized form, since 1717. Masonry keeps a low profile in England, and the requirements for joining (and the entrance fees), are high.
 
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chocoguy

New Member
Maybe that is the reason why most of the people here aren't from china. I guess that I'm wrong. I never knew that they shut down Masonry there.
 
RoughAshlar

RoughAshlar

New Member
They have shut down anything that encourages freedom of assembly and freedom of speach as a threat to the state. Religon is also forbiden so no one would meet the criteria for becoming masons.
 
K

Komodo

New Member
RoughAshlar said:
They have shut down anything that encourages freedom of assembly and freedom of speach as a threat to the state. Religon is also forbiden so no one would meet the criteria for becoming masons.
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China does not really outlaw all religion. For example the Roman Catholic Church is present in China, although the state does have a major influence in the church (e.g. the communist party has preserved the right to appoint priests). In Macau and Hong Kong, the Catholic church is allowed much more freedom.

Secondly, as I understand it, you do not have to be a member of some organized religion to be a mason. There would be in principle little objection to a non-organized, religious man to be a mason, as long as he professes his believe in some Supreme being, be it God or some other believe. As many Chinese are Bhuddists or Taoists, they would qualify on those grounds, wouldn't they?
 
BG_TRBL

BG_TRBL

Watcher of the posts
I don't believe he was trying to insinuate that you must belong to any religion, I think he was trying to point out that the suppression of any free-thinking, free-action group. I think it was just a comparison.
This of course is just my opinion.
 
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