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Comment by sersi | Hacker News Reader

I had a great experience when I was part of a lodge. I'm atheist and so could join a Droit Humain lodge in France (which does not require belief in a Great Architect of the Universe and is mixed). I'm now in Hong Kong but unfortunately have failed to find a lodge that doesn't require a belief in God and that is mixed (I refuse to go to a male only lodge).

It's a pity because I found freemasonry to be hugely beneficial in terms of friendship, interesting discussions and support.

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Unfortunately, there are lot of politics involved in that. I'm in a traditional AF&AM lodge (male only and believe in the Great Architect of the Universe). I myself is not a Christian nor believe in any major religions. I believe praying/meditation is a private affair. I find being male only is hugely beneficial in fact. It doesn't mean that we don't have social activities with women. There's the Order of Eastern Star, and Jobs Daughters, Rainbow, etc., which we donate to and have social events with to celebrate holidays and awards, etc. They have their own supportive matriarch and sisters which is also mentally and socially beneficial for them.

Or you could just choose to believe in God. It's not that bad, there are worse things.

Most atheists can't 'just choose' to believe in a god. This is also why most religious converts come from other religions and not non-belief. If they thought about their opinion and made that decision consciously, the suspension of disbelief is gone. Religion will just feel too unreal, artificial and human-made. It's like asking a kid to just choose to believe in Santa after they spotted their parents hiding the gifts.

If choosing to believe in Santa means he continues to get an extra present every Christmas, and revealing his lack of faith means he doesn't, then it makes sense for him to choose to continue to believe in Santa for as long as possible.

But that's exactly why I said it's not possible. Some people may be able to forcefully change themselves into truly believing whatever is the most advantageous for them, but most aren't. Once the illusion is shattered, you usually can't put it back together because they can't just choose to just swap their system of reasoning - it will feel like lying and fooling themselves. Any atheist can pretend to be religious in a hostile society like how the kid can pretend to never having seen the parents, but it will just be an appearance that's not indicative of what they truly think inside.

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