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Introduction:While no one person, organization, District or Grand Lodge can speak for Freemasonry as a whole, the following questions and answers are taken from the Masonic Service Association of North America's Booklet One Hundred and One Questions About Freemasonry©, Twenty-fifth printing, December, 1996, and are used with permission. In some places, the language is archaic and in others, some of the information is written from the perspective of Masonry in the United States, but generally, most relate to Masonry world wide. They are not presented in their original order. Questions one through four relate to history; numbers five and six are principles upheld by most U.S. Grand Lodges and other non U.S. Grand Bodies; questions seven through nine deal with two common misconceptions about Masonry. We hope you find the questions and answers both thought provoking and informative. Table of Contents
How Old is Freemasonry ?
Back to TopWho Discovered, Designed or Invented Freemasonry ?
The most generally accepted orthodox belief as to those who "began" Freemasonry is that the Craft is a descendant of Operative Masons [see "How Old is Freemasonry].. These Operatives inherited from unknown beginnings, of which there have been several and were probably many, practices and some form of ritual. Speculative Masonry, reaching back through Operative Masonry, touches hands with those who followed unknown religions in which, however, many of the Speculative [moral] principles must have been taught by the use of symbols as old as mankind and therefore universal, and not the product of any one people or time. Back to TopWhy are We Called Freemasons ?
Back to TopWhy is the Masonry of Today Called Speculative ?
Speculative Masonry began with the practice of admitting to membership in operative lodges men who were not practical builders, stonecutters, architects, etc., but who were interested in the moral, ethical and philosophical teachings of the Fraternity. Back to TopWhy are Discussions of Religion and Politics Forbidden in Lodge ?
(Behavior after the Lodge is over and the Brethren not gone); "No private Piques or Quarrels must be brought within the Door of the Lodge, far less any Quarrels about Religion, or Nations, or State policy, we being only, as Masons, of the Catholick [universal] Religion above mentioned; we are also of all Nations, Tongues, Kindreds and Languages, and are resolved against all Politicks as what never yet conduc'd to the Welfare of the Lodge, nor ever will. This Charge has been always strictly enjoin'd and observ'd, but especially since the Reformation in Britain, or the Dissent and Secession of these Nations from the Communion of Rome." Freemasons today hold that the Old Charge prohibits lodge discussions of politics in the sense of partisan politics and religion in the sense of sectarian religion. Back to TopWhy Does Masonry Forbid Brethren to Ask Their Friends to Become Masons ?
Back to TopIs Masonry a Religion, or Has it a Religion ?
All Grand Lodges [those recognized by U.S. Grand Lodges] require their initiates to express a belief and trust in God. No Atheist can be made a Mason. Back to TopMasonry is a Secret Society. What Can Be Told and What Cannot ?
What is secret in Freemasonry is well phrased in the Ninth Landmark as adopted by the Grand Lodge of New Jersey: "the legend of the third degree; the means of recognition; the methods of conferring degrees; the obligations of those degrees and the ballot of every brother are, and must continue to be, inviolably secret." Back to TopIs is Expected That I only Do Business With a Mason ? Masonry is most emphatically not a back scratching organization, a Board of Trade, a Chamber of Commerce or a mutual admiration society. There is no obligation, actual or implied, which demands that, because you have become a Mason, you must forsake all those with whom you have been doing business who are not, and give your orders to brethren who may or may not, be equally satisfactory as tradesmen. Other things being equal, it is brotherly to give your business where it will help a fellow Mason. But other things must BE equal. If the twin born with you sold poor shoes at fancy prices, while your neighbor's son sold good shoes at reasonable prices, you would not buy of your own blood brother. To do so would be to injure yourself and your family, since you would be wasting your money. Exactly the same idea applies to your fraternal brother. The man who says: "Buy of me because I am a Mason" is not anxious to serve you, but to serve himself. If he is a good business man, he does not need to depend on mutual membership in any organization, whether lodge, church or club, for his business. If he is not a good business man - that is, he sells poor goods - he has no moral right to attempt to offset poor quality by whining that you belong to the same lodge. Similarly, he who comes to you and says: "I have come to you because I know you are a Mason; now I expect a discount because we both belong" is also using his Masonry to promote selfish interests and should be discouraged. Back to TopCopyright © 1996 - 2000, Masonic Services Association of NA. All rights reserved. |