On being Christian and a Freemason

I know I have written extensively about this in the past, just apparently not on my weblog.

I am a Christian and a Freemason.  I am a Past Master of Rockingham Lodge #76 in NH.  I haven't really practiced in over 6 years, since moving here to Arizona because I am lazy and there is no Lodge close by.  :)

There is a ton of stuff written about Freemasonry out in the internet and you can read them all and form your own opinions (but please be sure to read articles from more than one source, not just the anti-Masonic sites) but I thought I would share my own thoughts.  Freemasonry is not a religion, it is a religious fraternity.  That means that in order to become a Freemason, you need to belong to a faith that adheres to the principle of ONE GOD.  Off the top of my head the 3 primary religions would be Christian, Jewish and Muslim.

The PURPOSE of Freemasonry is to provide an environment where somewhat like-minded men can spend time together and perform charitable acts.  It is meant to make "good men better."  Freemasonry does not teach religion, neither does it allow the discussion and debate of religion (or politics for that matter) in Lodge.  To that end, before you join you are met by several Brethren who interview you and sometimes family and friends to make sure you are a man of good character not given to drink, bad habits, foul language, committed felonies, profess belief in God, etc.  If your petition is accepted then you begin the process of becoming a Freemason being introduced to the Lodge and having the members vote on your entry.

Before I go any further I should mention that Freemasonry is deeply embedded in our country and cultures in ways you might not expect or have realized.  Many of the country's forefathers were involved in Freemasonry and this influenced them during the creation of our country.  They were also Christians, or at the least, Deists.  Once while visiting my mother I noticed she had an Ellis Island booklet that contained the oath taken by immigrants.  I was surprised as I read it because the oath is so similar in wording to part of the Freemasonry oath that you could swap them out with only a few words changed.  (The Freemasonry oath is definitely older, tho' slightly varied from state to state and country to country).  Other cultural sayings that come directly from Freemasonry are things like "on the level" and "black balled", the first referring to how all Freemasons treat one another and the second referring to the processing of voting in new petitioners.  The voting process consists of selecting a white or black marble and dropping it into a box.  If a "black ball" is found in the box, the person is not allowed to join the Fraternity.  He is "black balled".  There are other cultural references but that is all I will go into now.

I cannot go too far into the process of becoming a Freemason but I will say that it involves ritual.  Basically the rituals are "plays" that involve characters and their actions.  These rituals were designed to remind us of the basic, Old Testament points of morality and ethics and much of the ritual is directly derived from the Old Testament.  Also involve in the ritual are symbols.  It is these symbols that cause the most consternation for some Christians.  The symbols are not meant to represent idols, or anything of the sort, but instead (like the rest of the ritual) are meant to make it easier to remember the basic, biblical principles by providing visual cues.  Many of them have to do with Masonry tools and geometry since the original Freemasons were actual stone masons (and the idea of the Lodge and Fraternity came from the building in which the stone masons lived when constructing cathedrals and other structures in the Middle Ages).  Some of the symbols came from personifications of "Justice" or "Time".

The other problem some churches have with Freemasonry is "the secrecy".  There really are no secrets in Freemasonry.  There are secret handshakes to help recognize Brethren if they don't have their member IDs, and there are secret words... but honestly, all of them are available on the internet.  No, the REAL secrets (and the ones that are most jealously guarded) come from our meetings.  Freemasonry is about raising money for charitable purposes.  During our meetings we decide WHO GETS THE MONEY... can you understand why that would be secret?  Lodges get requests for donations constantly, and there is never enough money to go around for all the requests.  That means they have to discuss who should receive money... these discussions are what are secret.  It is not proper to air matters of this nature to the general public.

Finally, there IS one danger of Freemasonry.  The Lodge I joined and the ritual I took was clear that the initiate should be a man of faith who attends his church regularly and who is actively involved in it, no matter what that church is.  But I have found that while some Lodges and some members adhere to this idea, not all do.  I have met Brethren who have actually stated to me that "Freemasonry is my religion."  This is very, very wrong and inappropriate, and they do not understand Freemasonry and what it is for.  But I have seen this with some frequency.  It is my only concern with Freemasonry.  It isn't meant to be or replace your faith/religion, but to augment it by providing a group of men and a setting to engage in charity and brotherhood.

I guess that is it for now.  There is a lot more that could be said but I will leave it here.