Any Demolays on AO?

[1stdeadeye]

Just curious. Are there any Demolays here on AO? I was involved with Nations Capital Demolay. Until I moved to New Jersey, I was the chapter advisor for Robert LeBruce Chapter (Oldest continually meeting chapter, east of the Mississippi). I am still a Chevalier and Senior Demolay as well as a mason.

Believe it or not, Demolay introduced me to paintball. My first game ever was on a Demolay outing.

Again just curiuos and if so, what chapter?

[beam]

Pardon the ignorance, but what is a Demolay?

[1stdeadeye]

A Youth Organization

Demolay is a world wide youth organization sponsored by the Masons. We have chapters all over the globe.

We are the largest youth group you may never have heard of!

[Jack_Dubious]

Ive thought about joining the Masons. My grandfather was in the Scottish Rite, and I thought it might be cool to join. Perhaps when i get more time Ill look into it more..


JDub

[Thordic]

Jack the Ripper was a Mason

[joeyjoe367]

What's a mason? Isn't that someone who lays bricks?

*cough* shaq? Hehe, just had to toss a cheap shot in there.

[Python14]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Masons are a secret society similar to the shriners, but more cloaked. In the past, some people thought they were almost an American Aristocracy as most members were professionals(and rather not actual masons) and this rubbed a few others wrong(hence the Anti-Masonic Party, first incumbent I believe). For the most part, Masons are a good organization who just prefers not to be in the public spolight.

I'm not a demolay, but I'm in the OA, is that close enough?

[Tunaman]

My Dad was a Mason...and my Sister was the Grand Worthy Advisor for the Rainbow Girls.....

[1stdeadeye]

Wrong!

Originally posted by Thordic
Jack the Ripper was a Mason

Thordic, that was plain ignorant. No one knows who Jack the Ripper was. It is all conjecture unless you are privy to some information that the rest of the world doesn't have. Don't bash something you know nothing about! How many times have you gone to your local Veteran's Hospital to assist Veterans with no family to church services? How many times have you worked as a candy striper at a Shriner's Hospital trying to make a seriously ill child laugh? Your post is uncalled for, rude, and not in the least bit funny!

The Masons are a fraternal organization that does a lot in their local communities. The Shriners are not like the masons, they are masons. The Shriners Children's Hopitals are supported entirely by the Shriners and Masons and provide free healthcare to many poor children around the world!

Tuna,
The Rainbows are the sister organization to Demolay. I guess I should have mentioned that Demolay was for boys only.

Python,
Masons are not as secretive as they were in the past. We are a fraternity. We do many acts of charity and community support without standing up and demanding applause for it.

[Thordic]

Dude it was a joke, chill out

[1stdeadeye]

I understand that

Originally posted by Thordic
Dude it was a joke, chill out

I understand that. It is a very bad one that never seems to die. Hearing people make cracks like that about an organization that does untold good behind the scenes really ticks me off. I wasn't trying to bite your head off, but it came out that way. I am very protective of my organization because we are so quiet. Most people don't know 1/4 of the charitable things we do. That is one of the reasons I joined. Look at our home, New Jersey. How many groups are out there protesting this or that? When it gets fixed, they take all the credit and the limelight? How charitable is that? Charity is when you do good unto others without ANYTHING in return! Most charities spend as much time patting themselves on the back as they doing actually helping!

Back to the original theme:
Are there any Demolays on AO?

[ShooterJM]

Nope. But when I was first inducted into the OA I went on an outing with with local Demolay chapter in Connecticut. Gotta tell ya, I was pretty impressed, really nice guys.

[cphilip]

Well is still somewhat confusing to the continued link of Masons to Shriners. I know that Shriners were originaly a group of Masons who took things a step further and developed the apparel and such that they are known for today and mostly it is an American thing it seems to me. But I think distinctly seperate Free Mason groups still exist in Europe and here in the US as well that do not practice the same rituals and such. So how much they remain the same is unclear to me. Free Masons were a social fraternity and so were early Masons who formed the Shriner order and then became Philanthropic much later. They have recently come under some critisism for devoting a bit more of their proceeds to the Social functions than the philanthropic ones but still all and all they seem to do good work. But I have seen Masonic "dress" and it differs vastly from the Fez and such that the Shriners use. And they seem to have seperate Temples and such as well. But yet they do the same things and seem to have the same organizations and contacts just the same as well. So there is a definate direct link but I do not see that they are the same exact thing in every instance of practice. I could be wrong though! But that confuses me.

[Vendetta]

I guess Im not a "joiner", but all the things sound strange to me.

By the way, it turns out the Jack the Ripper was an artist. I forgot his name, but this women wrote a book last year that compared this artist's letters with the ones Jack the Ripper wrote to the newspapers.

[Thordic]

The truth is no one has ever solved the Ripper murders. There are about 20 different suspects, with plenty of theories, and proof both for and against most of the suspects.

The idea that it was a mason, as presented in the movie From Hell, is only one of the more prevalent ideas.

Personally, it shouldnt matter one way or another. Plenty of Americans do bad things, does that mean I should be ashamed to be an American? No. So whether or not the Ripper was a Mason should have nothing to do with how anyone feels about the group, deadeye.

There's a really interesting book called Angels and Demons (or Angels and Devils? I forget) about the Freemasons, the Catholic Church, and the group known as the Illuminati. Good reading (Its a novel, not a history book)