Are women allowed to join your chapter and if so are they 100% equal with no restrictions or limits? I've seen conflicting info about this online, some sources say women are not allowed to join the freemasons and any chapters that allow it are considered "unofficial" or something of the sort, or that women have their own separate chapter specifically for women. Other sources say that rule is dependent on which region/country the chapter is based in. Other sources say there is no gender exclusivity/limitation/restrictions at all.
Does modern freemasonry (or more specifically, your chapter) have anything to do with religion? Again, what little I've read about freemasonry told me that freemasonry originally was religion based and that the organization claimed to hold "secret" information about jesus/christianity as a whole. Is it kind of like modern day mormonism, where it has roots in religion but modern day practices are mainly based around leading a good life?
if my questions are just completely off base, do please inform me as such. I know very little about the organization, only whispers here and there. I have (had) a close friend who is a freemason and basically lost him to it. It seems like the longer he was in it, the more closed off he became to anybody not part of the brotherhood. He also slowly grew a very bloated ego. Neither of these circumstances gave me a particularly good opinion of the organization and my opinion doesn't seem to be uncommon. It would be nice to have a deeper understanding of what freemasonry is, why somebody should join it, what the purpose of joining is, etc. So please enlighten me if possible.
bastion89 t1_iua3in7 wrote
Reply to comment by enderandrew42 in eli5: What are freemasons and why are there so many conspiracies about them? by SovietCyka756
if my questions are just completely off base, do please inform me as such. I know very little about the organization, only whispers here and there. I have (had) a close friend who is a freemason and basically lost him to it. It seems like the longer he was in it, the more closed off he became to anybody not part of the brotherhood. He also slowly grew a very bloated ego. Neither of these circumstances gave me a particularly good opinion of the organization and my opinion doesn't seem to be uncommon. It would be nice to have a deeper understanding of what freemasonry is, why somebody should join it, what the purpose of joining is, etc. So please enlighten me if possible.
edit: typos