I was watching a show about the Freemasons earlier today. You know, that super-secretive group that supposedly controls the government? Or at least, they have a lot of members in high-ranking positions, which fuels tons of conspiracy theories about them.
According to this show I watched, they have many features of religious groups (such as rituals and symbolism), although they do not adhere to any religion in particular. Most of their rituals are geared to allow their members to ascend from one of three ranks (called "degrees" of Freemasonry) to the next.
Some Freemasons that were interviewed on this show said that their main goal was to make their members into better people and foster ties within their community and such.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have found the Sharing.