The Odd Fellows is one of the oldest and largest altruistic fraternity in the world. Our fraternity was first founded in England in the 1700's and was imported to America in 1819 which then spread to different countries where we are now one of the few existing 'worldwide fraternities' having more than 12,000 chapters and nearly 600,000 active members in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
WHY THE NAME ODD FELLOWS?
There are many theories about how our fraternity got its name. The generally accepted belief is that they where a group of English working men involved in odd trades and odd jobs who banded together to form a brotherhood. At that time, there was still no welfare state, National Health Insurance, or even trade unions, so this brotherhood of ordinary people found it necessary to group together and contribute some of their hard-earned wages to a common fund which they could use for unfortunate times such as sickness, losing a job and even death. They would work together to help each other and the unfortunate families back on their feet, whether it was rebuilding a barn that had burned or putting in a new crop after a devastating season. Such brotherhood came to be known as "Odd Fellows," said to be named by the general population who thought they were "an odd bunch of fellows" who would behave in such a selfless and seemingly impractical fashion. The fraternity then adopted the name.
WHAT WE STAND FOR?
We are practitioners of UNIVERSAL FRATERNITY. We support the idea that all people irrespective of race, skin color, nationality, social status, gender, religion, rank and station are brothers and sisters. For us, fraternity is not an empty notion, we experience this on a large scale in our communities and throughout the world.
We are advocates of genuine FRIENDSHIP. We encourage our members to "be yourself" and entrust that no one will take advantage of him or her in our fraternity. This means that our atmosphere will be one of warmth and understanding. Outside the fraternity, we also aim to give friendship to every person, avoid any uneducated conflicts and contribute to the realization of the ideal: "Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Mankind".
We are enactors of LOVE in a way that we feel jointly responsible for our fellowmen and prepared to give attention and help wherever and whenever help is needed. As a fraternity, we are dedicated to succoring the needy, cheering the despondent and protecting the helpless. We are the type of people who treat others, especially women and children, with dignity and respect. We accept the fact that nothing is perfect but believe that we have an obligation to contribute in making the world a better place to live.
We are pursuers of TRUTH and adhere to equality, justice and righteousness. As a fraternity, we have certain standards of living that govern our thoughts and conduct according to the principles of practical wisdom. Our members undergo solemn dramatic induction ceremonies that imparts practical lessons and encourages each to renew his or her life by leaving away vices and selfishness, to practice real friendship, to live a life of unfettered love by helping people in need and to always speak and stand for the truth. We believe in making good and well-considered choices called "behaving in a responsible way".
HOW 'ODD' ARE WE?
Odd Fellows was conceptualized as an 'Odd' deviation from the common and negative perception of a fraternity and sorority. We are Odd because we do not practice hazing or use violent means upon our applicants. We do not practice elitism; we welcome applicants not because they are rich or poor, not because they educated or uneducated, but because they are upright individuals. We are against inequality and discrimination; we accept both men and women on equal terms and avoid segregation. Rather than just meet for selfish purposes, we encourage our members to do good works toward each other and the community. We stand against vice of any form such as drug and alcohol abuse. Also, we do not involve our fraternity in political and sectarian arguments and activities.
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Inside One of the Oldest Fraternal Organizationby IOOF18191,929 views
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