Fraternal Orders

Im not much of a social fraternal order person. I went to a college that had no fraternities, I find the Freemasons a little scary (although this is only one of many fraternal orders), and I’m not really looking for reasons to hang out with the guys. But a few weeks back I was at my Catholic church, attending Mass, and there was a brief announcement asking for any men interested in joining the Knights of Columbus. I asked one of the members about the organization and thought it would be a good thing to sign up and begin helping out around the church. I was informed I needed to apply and be “approved” before I was allowed to join. A few weeks later I was told that I was approved and I could become a first degree Knight by attending the next first degree meeting. First degree? Ok… My sponsor picked me up at the church on a Sunday night, drove me into the city telling me about the various activities the Knights perform, then says, “Oh, and don’t let the initiation freak you out.” Suddenly my not so quick spider senses started tingling and I asked, “What do you mean?” He explained that no one is allowed in the meeting place unless they are a Knight, and he can’t tell me what happens during the meeting because I’m not yet a Knight, “But there’s nothing to worry about.” Long story short, each minute after arriving I gained more realization that my care-free jump into a club for the church has landed me into something I should have taken a more in-depth look into. I went through the secret initiation, swearing secrecy about what goes on in the meeting, and came out a little bothered and curious if the theatrical nature of the initiation was really all that necessary. I best do my research before I go for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th degree.

I was later curious to learn more about fraternal orders, so I did a typical web search and discovered there are many orders in existence. Most of the web sites I found were mason, with others being mason-like. But then I found the Fraternal Order of Moai (http://www.fraternalorderofmoai.org/). The navigation of the site is a bit out of the ordinary, but the web master did well by throwing out the book of web heuristics and making the site fun to use. But I was not only fascinated with the creativity of the website, I was amazed there could exist a fraternal order dedicated to Tiki culture and Polynesian pop era. I guess a basic club wasn’t enough?? I never knew there could be so much about the two tiki torches I have in my back yard. The core values of this fraternal order are, “Good Works, Fellowship, Spirit, Presence, Preservation, and Celebration”. So far so good. The Gumbo Limbo Chapter of this order "celebrates the tiki lifestyle while raising money for local animal charities.” Ok, I’m a bit apprehensive about my next Knights of Columbus meeting, but I’m all about the initiation process for this order! “With this Mai Tai, Tiki Daquiri, Coconut Rice, Blackened Chicken, and tiki torch, do you swear to abide by the laws of the Tiki Lounge? Can I get a ‘OH YEAH!’?” If I could go back in time, THIS would be the fraternity I would have started at college. The order is open to men and women, half our school parties involved some tiki, bikini, or anything else that looked beach like and required less clothes, and the order would have been a big hit! Add a few good deeds with animal activists and our order would have been well established and on its way to success.

I’m not really interested in joining, but as far as a fraternal order goes, this one seems cool.