Which One Would Attract Members

How should free masons as a fraternity attract younger members?

Thats kind of a tough question for me. I dont knownif younare a Mason or not, but we don't recruit. Every single degree and ritual asks the candidate if it is of his own free will and accord. Each degree, atleast im the blue house, asks that very same thing several times. Knock and the door will be opened. To be one ask one. Things like that are all part of the rich history of this beautiful fraternity. I am kind of tossed up in the air about this. If our military is needing people they recruit. Hell, theres depots all over the country. Likely in your own city. The average age if a freemason in america is mid to upper 60s. The numbers are declining and the members are dying off. Personally inthink recruiting would be of some benefit. BUT with information so reafily available and the opinions of people are so easily spread through platforms such as you tube, i think that would probably hinder alot of people from joining who would have otherwise. Me? I was a huge conspiracy theorist. I actually was anti mason for several years. I was under the impression that masons ran the world. Eating babies n things of that nature. When i stopped watching tv and you tube and deleted my facebook, i started educating myself. From both masons and non masons alike. Pro and anti. Sir. In order to get younger members, we will have to stop listening to morons on youtube that gets their information from other morons. Iron sharpens iron. Make sense? We need to turn off the tv's turn off you tube and get off the damn internet. Until then? We will keep getting poisoned. Our minds will continue to be packed full of evil. Our youth will continue to be dumbed down. As parents, we should care more about that. Cause in 25 yrs? Some millenial will be president. That should scare you knowing that the president in 2045 will be somsons who ate tide pods. Freemasonry has an opportunity to capitalizs on it. It just doesnt. Hope this help.

I am attracted to a family member (my uncle). How can I ignore and let go of these feelings?

Feelings do not go away if you ignore them. They just come back shouting harder and harder that they want to be acknowledged. The trick to get rid of feelings that you do not want, is to acknowledge them. Feelings, are always okay to have. They are just feelings. Nothing more. It is not because you have the feeling that you want to be in your uncles arms, you are going to betray your boyfriend with him. You have that feeling. Whether you want it or not. It sounds like you do not intend to betray your boyfriend (i assume) especially not with your uncle (my personal opinion on that is irrelevant). So who is gonna judge you? The only person knowing, is you. You are the only one knowing your thoughts and feelings. So the only one doing the judging is you.It is okay, to have those feelings. Feel them. Don’t judge them. Don’t judge yourself. Feelings will result in thoughts. Think them, don’t judge them. Thoughts will result in more feelings. Feel them. Think, feel. think, feel. Process. That will get you somewhere.It may very well be, that you uncle has given you a very good feeling when you were much younger, and that you have always remembered this. That it’s nothing more than just some far away almost completely forgotten memory of you sitting on his lap, or he maybe singing you a song or what ever. Our minds work in strange ways.

What do you believe attracts people to cults?

In short, The cult promises something they think they need. Knowledge, spiritual experience, enlightenment, community, healthy living, counseling, purpose, hope, power, even ridiculous things like getting taller or getting rich. Why Do People Join Cults?" Enter the group recruiter. They are introduced into a group with simple (but "sensible") answers.  They offer simple rules and a simple life-style and social support. Most are happy to trade off their liberty (and assets such as they are) for the (illusory) glory, power and security of that group. The group (cult) appears to offer all they need and want.Rather shy, unassertive people who seem inhibited and awkward in social situations are particularly attracted to groups with formulaic interaction patterns with their predictability and rule following.Extreme groups offer simple, clear messages in an increasingly complex world. Old certainties are crumbling; ethics even science is portrayed as having only relative truths. The world is corrupt, evil, unfair and very complex. So a group or leader who offers a "sensible, sane" explanation for the complex world, a secure group and personal salvation is very attractive. They come in many forms: politicians of the extreme left or right; religious leaders; romantic revolutionaries; persuasive writers; power-hungry individuals, brilliant orators; movie-star saviours.People who join extreme groups are not strange, disturbed, sheep-like idiots. We are social animals and members of many groups. The more secretive the group the more we are likely to label it a cult. The more zealous the member them more likely we are to call them deviants. And if they are involved in quasi-military activity, they are terrorists.All the above applies to saboteurs or Luddites, if people are group members and act on behalf of groups. A lot of dark-side behaviour in organizations is group work. Certain forms of stealing and cheating cannot be done by individuals alone. People club together to revenge themselves. And they do things on behalf of groups that many seem strange and unacceptable primarily because they do not fully comprehend the value of group membership.No one sees themselves as a cult-member. Cult is pejorative. Indeed even members of fairly extreme groups like Trappist monks or Amish farmers would never think of themselves as cult members. But they owe their survival to many of the principles outlined above."