Shriners
Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society.
Founded in 1872 in New York City, it is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and has over 200 chapters across nine countries, with a global membership of nearly 1.7 million "Shriners".
[1] The organization is known for its colorful Middle Eastern theme, elaborate participation in parades and festivals, and the Shriners Children's network of nonprofit pediatric medical facilities.
[2] Shriners International describes itself as a global fraternity "based on fun, fellowship, and the Masonic principles of brotherly love, relief, and truth".
[4] Shriners are obliged to uphold the fraternity's mission and values, which include self-improvement, service and leadership to the community, and active involvement in social and philanthropic causes.
The headquarters of local chapters, formally known as Shrine Centers, are sometimes called "Temples" or even "Mosques";[6] most have names such as Egypt, Sahara, Morocco, and Oasis, and many are built in the Moorish Revival style.
[6] Previously known as Shriners North America, the fraternity adopted its current name in 2010 in recognition of its increasingly global membership; as of 2024, there are Shrine Centers in Canada (since 1888), Mexico (1907) and Panama (1918), Puerto Rico, the Philippines (2010), Germany (2011), Brazil (2015) and Bolivia (2018).
[2] Notable American Shriners include FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, actors Mel Blanc, John Wayne, Ernest Borgnine, and Roy Rogers, Supreme Court chief justice Earl Warren, General Douglas MacArthur, and presidents Gerald Ford and Harry Truman.
To encourage membership, the Imperial Grand Council of the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for North America was created at the June 6, 1876 meeting of Mecca Temple.
[16] Architect Gulzar Haider was "fascinated" by its design, but criticized the "insensitive and callous misuse of another religion’s artistic vocabulary and symbolic grammar," claiming it was part of the "'oriental obsession' of the otherwise 'puritanical' Europeans and Americans.
"[16] Musicians who have performed at the Syria Mosque include Bruce Springsteen, Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Buffett, and The Beach Boys.
Membership in either organization is open to any woman 18 years of age and older who is related to a Shriner or Master Mason by birth or marriage.
In 2002, following the September 11 attacks, the "faux-Middle Eastern practices and trappings" led Shriners to be "mistaken for a Muslim organization, leading to harassment and vandalism.
[24] In 1991, brick-mason Michael G. Vaughan filed a lawsuit against the Oleika Shrine Temple in Lexington, Kentucky, for hazing practices to which he said he was subjected in his efforts to become a Shriner.
In court, Vaughan told jurors that in June 1989, he was blindfolded and received a jolt of electricity that was applied to his bare buttocks as part of the Shriners' initiation rites.
He said he was forced to walk on an electric mat that was meant to simulate the hot sands of the Sahara, and that he was knocked unconscious and received other injuries during his initiation.
The Shrine's charitable arm is the Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of 22 healthcare facilities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
McGonigal had declined to hire a direct-mail company indirectly linked to Gene Bracewell, the imperial treasurer of the fraternal organization.
Other Shriners came forward with additional complaints, including the mixing of charitable and noncharitable assets and the disappearance of money raised for the hospitals.
