Freemasons Recruiting

[Cognisant]

My father and grandfather are both grand old poobahs in the Freemasons, I'm not a member on account of being an atheist and you need to believe in some higher power but I still go along to their post-ceremony dinners and other events, it makes them happy and I enjoy it well enough.

At one of these events the discussion turned as it so often does to the topic of recruitment because the Freemasons in Australia are very much in decline. I few ideas were proposed, my father suggested getting caps and polos printed with "Freemasons" and their logo and hosting social meetings at cafes because people don't know the Freemasons exist and a bunch of old men hanging out in a cafe is going to help somehow.

Seeing this was going nowhere fast I joined in and explained that there's two parts to advertising, the message and how that message is conveyed to people. The message they need to convey is what Freemasonry is, what it involves and what is the appeal/benefit of being a Freemason, those are the three most important questions that need to be answered by any advertising campaign if they're to have any hope of successfully recruiting people. So how do we convey that message, that's too much information to squeeze into a 30sec TV ad, it's too wordy for a billboard, they already have brochures and documentaries but I pointed out people aren't going to read or watch that unless they're already interested in Freemasonry, they're good to have but it's not going to get people in the proverbial door.

What they need is a movie.
A movie that does for the Freemasons what Crackerjack did for Lawn Bowls.

Spoiler

I might have a go at writing a screenplay and I was wondering if anyone here has experience with that, ideas they'd like to contribute, or would they like to have a go at it themselves?

Spoiler: The plot of Crackerjack taken from Wikipedia, spoilers obviously

Jack Simpson is a wisecracking, directionless layabout who works at an inner city telemarketing firm. For years he has been a member at the Cityside Lawn Bowls Club (in fact he has three memberships), but he has never played a single game, having only joined to get the free parking spaces from which he makes extra cash by renting them to his workmates. But Cityside is in dire financial trouble and a greedy developer, Bernie Fowler, wants to turn it into a soulless pokies venue. The Club President, Len, decides that all existing members must now play and Jack reluctantly has to turn up on Saturdays to take part in the bowling matches. Jack proves to be a natural player but he soon annoys and upsets the older club members with his brashness and lack of tact. Veteran player Stan, sensing that Jack only needs some guidance, both in the game and in life, takes him under his wing, trying to teach him to think of other people apart from himself.

After losing his girlfriend and his job, the Bowls Club suddenly becomes all Jack has in his life and, despite himself, he grows fond of the older members. His flatmate, Dave, joins the club and he starts a relationship with Nancy, a journalist. Bernie, determined to take over the club, investigates Jack and exposes his illegal car park hiring scam, which almost gets him expelled. Cityside enters a major tournament at Bernie's glitzy club, the prize money from which will save their independence. Jack's selfish showboating almost costs them the first round but Stan and the others make Jack finally realise he is part of a team.

Police arrive to arrest Len as (in a tip-off from Bernie) they discovered marijuana stored at the club. The greenkeeper has been secretly growing it but Jack is blamed by the other members. Dave and two of the ladies, Gwen and Eileen, approach the State Governor and convince her to overturn a lifetime ban on Cliff Carew, the club's best player, and the latter takes Len's place. Cityside fights their way into the lead and Stan throws the winning shot but he suffers a severe heart attack as he does so and Bernie lodges a protest, meaning the shot is disallowed. Jack insists that the rules allow the team a re-shot and he takes his special shot, the 'Flipper', which wins the tournament. To rub salt into the wounds, Nancy proves that whilst spying on the club, Bernie violated a restraining order banning him from the club, an illegal act which disqualifies Bernie from holding a gaming licence.

Cityside experiences both triumph and tragedy; the club is saved and can continue in its old form. However, Stan passes away and the club names the green in his honour. The pot growing greenkeeper is sacked and Jack takes over his job and is comforted by Len who says Stan loved him like a son, he and Nancy begin a new life with their friends at the club. The film's end credits feature a postscript with still images and a narration by Jack describing the later exploits of all the characters.

So far my best idea is to have some young guy from a broken home, whose life is on a trajectory into drugs, crime and hoonery, he does something illegal and gets caught red-handed by an older man. This older man takes pity on him and offers him a deal, if he joins the Freemasons and makes it to the third degree then the older man won't rat him out to the cops. He's not keen on this at all but he has to do it and at first he's got this terrible attitude and just doesn't want to be there, until he prepares for and successfully completes his first degree and for the first time in his life gets some genuine respect and encouragement.

Now he's in denial about it, getting his first degree was a good experience for him and despite himself he's keen on participating and practicing for his second degree, but he's still a bit embarrassed by it, and his friends who are a bad influence on him are making fun of Freemasonry and him for being a part of it. Then there's this girl he fancies who's in this same group of delinquent 20 somethings and he really wants to hang out with and pursue her, maybe he's afraid of losing her to another guy that's been making moves on her, but the ceremony for the second degree is scheduled for the same night as some big party.

I dunno, I do know I want there to be a scene where she sees him in his white jacket dinner suit all dressed up and dignified as they are when they do their ceremonies and that plays a part in why he gets the girl in the end, because his life is now on a good trajectory as being a Freemason has taught him how to be a gentleman and confident, and dignified, to be able to speak well in front an audience and the diligence needed to focus on something and work hard at it, etc.

 

[birdsnestfern]

My stepmothers brother and father, and several of my sons friends, and they are ultra practical reliable types. A secret society with a lot mystery about it. You'd have to convince someone its not as scarey as it sounds to recruit.

 

[Hadoblado]

What in the actual fuck up is down and boybands play instruments Cog is a religious proselatiser.

 

[Hadoblado]

Agree about crackerjack. I'd maybe consider playing the conspiracy angle as well because that's got the most hook power.

While I would never join for similar reasons to you, I think there are a lot of people who would at least be curious enough to check it out. Men as a group need to rethink their social, and if it's intergenerational without being forced that's even better.

 

[Cognisant]

What in the actual fuck up is down and boybands play instruments Cog is a religious proselatiser.

I don't have an irrational hatred of religion, I have a rational and well reasoned hatred of religion, and so far Freemasonry hasn't tripped any of my militant atheism triggers.

Agree about crackerjack. I'd maybe consider playing the conspiracy angle as well because that's got the most hook power.

True but that conspiracy appeal is a very superficial thing and I think leveraging it to get people interested would be setting them up for disappointment, there's no live sacrifices, no hidden satanic rituals, no swearing allegiance to the Illuminati, it's all very humdrum compared to the pop culture depiction of a secret society.

Spoiler

I'm thinking of something like the plot to Kingsman, a lot less violent obviously because again I don't want to be setting people up for disappointment but certainly there's that culture clash between the modern idea of what's cool and the more traditional gentleman-like idea of what a man ought to be.

Spoiler

There's a friend of mine who absolutely adamantly refuses to wear a suit for any reason because in his mind he's not a suit wearing kind of person and I think that's a damn shame. Also there's a growing drug and hoon problem in Australia and I get the impression we're losing a culture war. That movies like the "Fast & Furious" series, TV shows like "Breaking Bad" and "Narcos", and the whole hip-hop/rap culture from the USA are collectively pushing a message of "do crimes, sell drugs, get bitches" and young men are being influenced by it because there's no effective counter-narrative.

 

[Hadoblado]

I was thinking about this a little bit more while I walked, and I think there's an issue with standing out from the competition. Namely, if I want to hang with dudes, it's gonna be while doing something e.g. a sport or pastime.

Most people with inadequate social lives need some means of social transition such as mutual interests or engagement. Why would I pick the freemasons over any hobby given that hobbies will simultaneously scratch other itches while also easing the social?

 

[Cognisant]

The appeal of Freemasonry is the social aspect and the ceremonies/dinners are really just an excuse for them to get together. You're totally right that's going to be intimidating to an introvert or someone with sub-par social skills, but that's the point. Freemasonry itself is meant to help men socialize and develop their social and public speaking skills.

That being said as an introvert myself it does seem a bit boring, I enjoy going to their dinners as a guest but if I was a member I'd have to attend regular events and that seems like a hassle. I mean I just don't enjoy being social for its own sake, you're more likely to find me at the local Hackerspace.

But then again I don't go to the local Hackerspace because I don't have the time to volunteer to their projects, whereas Freemasonry is a fairly low demand commitment.

 

[birdsnestfern]

From the Ritman Library Facebook page:

Hermetic Holidays
The Rosslyn Chapel (1446), Scotland
Last week, we highlighted the Italian 'Cappella Sansevero', a chapel which might almost be regarded as a 'twin' of the Scottish Rosslyn Chapel. It is said of both buildings that it contains a secret code awaiting future revelation. Whereas Rosslyn’s code is thought to be related to the Mysteries of the Grail and the Templars, Cappella Sansevero is thought to conceal much alchemical and Masonic secrets.

The Rosslyn Chapel, formally known as the 'Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew', is thought to be the work of William St Clair, the 3rd Prince of Orkney, who was the local lord when the chapel was constructed. As we read on the Rosslyn Chapel website:

"It was said of him: William, with his age creeping upon him... came into his mind to build a house for God's service, of most curious work . . . that it might be done with greater glory and splendour".

It took more than 40 years to build the chapel, which William intended to be 'a building of curiosity and splendour'. After his death in 1484, construction work seems to have ceased. Although the chapel had been more or less forgotten before Dan Brown referred to it in his 'The Da Vinci Code' (2003), the chapel became famous and books were written on the subject of the chapel, such as 'The Rosslyn Hoax?' (2006). At the heart of these works is the stone crypt inside the chapel that is believed to be related to the legend of the treasure of the Knights Templar. This treasure, which was allegedly smuggled out of the Holy Land which the Templars were forced to abandon seven centuries ago, is believed to represent the Holy Grail, sacred scrolls or even a detail of Christ's Cross.

Masons claim the Rosslyn Chapel as part of their Masonic heritage. It seems the secret of the chapel will never be unraveled fully, as the builders have left no written clues that might explain what they meant by all the figures and carvings. Even part of the St Clair family archives have literally gone up in smoke as a result of fires raging in and near Rosslyn Castle...

 

[Cognisant]

Stone masonry, the science of shaping and stacking rocks really well.

Spoiler

Medieval peasant's reaction to the slightest amount of engineering:

Point is, any "secrets" the Freemasons have are either old news or religious nonsense, either way nothing of any real value.

 

[Kuu]

The purpose of Freemasonry was political maneuvering and elitism gatekept by occult mysticism. In that sense it has largely been neutered and turned irrelevant as they succeeded in subverting the catholic church and monarchies and the power mafias have no longer much use for it. All that remains is pathetic boomers LARPing which will not be saved by any amount of advertisement.

Just let it die and make a men's club that doesn't involve ritual LARPing. Oh and give it a political program that is actually relevant to people today, not the gerontocracy.

However, a large part of Masonry's success was the exchange of ideas and influence which today is far easier to do online. Highly localized chapter organizations are plainly archaic. Things like the alt-right darkweb or lesswrong rationalist cult are probably the closest thing to a modern day analogue to freemasonry.

 

[scorpiomover]

At one of these events the discussion turned as it so often does to the topic of recruitment because the Freemasons in Australia are very much in decline.

The Freemasons is an industry organisation, like the National Association of Jewellers. Most of these organisations are about networking, giving each other tips about job opportunities.

However, these days, any old organisations are looked up by the media and paid thinkers in modern governments with disgust. So in modern countries, saying you belong to one of these organisations is considered tantamount to admitting you're part of a secret global conspiracy that wants to enslave all men and turn all women into sex slaves.

That way, the only organisations that exist, are those that are not that entrenched in the population, and thus it's easy for a modern government to influence them and convince them to do things that would subtly manipulate the population to be primed to believe the things that their government would want them to believe.

Seeing this was going nowhere fast I joined in and explained that there's two parts to advertising, the message and how that message is conveyed to people. The message they need to convey is what Freemasonry is, what it involves and what is the appeal/benefit of being a Freemason, those are the three most important questions that need to be answered by any advertising campaign if they're to have any hope of successfully recruiting people.

If you're trying to draw someone in, as Dale Carnegie said, you need to "arouse in the other person an eager want", i.e. you have to give them the impression that being an ordinary Freemason would mean achieving something they really want, i.e. you need to sell the perks.

So how do we convey that message, that's too much information to squeeze into a 30sec TV ad, it's too wordy for a billboard, they already have brochures and documentaries but I pointed out people aren't going to read or watch that unless they're already interested in Freemasonry, they're good to have but it's not going to get people in the proverbial door.

I used to work for a PR/marketing company. They are pedantic over every word, to make sure that everything sends the perfect message.

What they need is a movie.

Movies that preached something, where people's attitudes changed, like the attitude towards capital punishment and having a black man as President of the USA, took several movies.

A movie that does for the Freemasons what Crackerjack did for Lawn Bowls.

I think that you have to play to Freemasonry's strengths. I would suggest a movie like The Da Vinci Code, only Tom Hanks is a Freemason who discovers a secret plot by The Illuminati to save the world, by travelling around the world and getting his Freemason brethren to help him.

Most young people are worried about the future and their chances of getting work. They also want to be able to travel the world.

If you can present them with a lifestyle that gives them the impression that if they go anywhere in the world, then Freemasons will help them find somewhere to stay and a job, and a decent job, then being a Freemason sounds cool.

It would be especially cool, if the character is only able to solve puzzles using unread books in dusty libraries that only his fellow Freemasons know about, as that gives the impression that if you're a Freemason, you'll be given access to secret knowledge that would put you miles above the competition.

"Top Gun" was said to have been supported by the USAF to increase recruitment.

However, films tend to get a lot of public attention from groups, and easily trigger activist groups to cause even more negative attention.

It might be easier to present this more often and more under-the-radar as a TV series like the way "Walker, Texas Ranger" presented the Texas Rangers.

You could even make something wild, say, that the Freemasons have known about aliens for ages, and need a young man to fight in an intergalactic war and save a beautiful princess like in "Star Wars". You could call it "Star Masons".

 

[scorpiomover]

At one of these events the discussion turned as it so often does to the topic of recruitment because the Freemasons in Australia are very much in decline.

Alternative suggestion:

Offer free ethical dating classes to members. Advertise on the r/incel forums. You'll get tons of new applicants.