3. Basically Any Man Can be a Mason
In order to be a mason, you have to ask a mason. Then, the only parameters for acceptance are that you believe in a god, are eighteen or older and are a man. It doesn’t matter what religion you believe in, so long as you believe in some form of a higher power. The masons accept anyone with these qualifications no matter their race or sexual orientation. Once accepted, there is no talk of religion or politics allowed at lodge meetings. Women can still not be freemasons, but they can join the Order of the Eastern Star, a masonic adjacent society created for men and women in the late 1800s by Master Mason Dr. Rob Morris.
The walls of the Masonic Hall are lined with photographs of famous men, especially New Yorkers, who were Masons such as Harry Houdini, John Jacob Astor, and New York City Mayor Fiorello Laguardia. It is rumored that up to twenty-five presidents of the United States have been Masons of one rank or another, but it is verified that at least fourteen were.
