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GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE MASONIC
FRATERNITY
This information was
extracted from the Grand Lodge of
S.C.
How did Masonry begin?
Masonry is ancient, having existed in some form for so long that many
scholars have differed as to the time and place of its origin. There is
evidence of a craft association which antedates the Christian era. It
survived various transitions which took place during the Middle Ages.
Freemasonry was "officially" established in England in 1717.
Since then its lodges have spread to free countries throughout the world.
When Freemasonry reached the shores of the New World in the early 18th
Century, Masonic Lodges produced leaders who would make a lasting impact
upon our emerging nation. Of the thirty-nine men who affixed their
signatures to the United States Constitution, thirteen were Masons. George
Washington and Benjamin Franklin were members of Masonic Lodges, as were
thirteen of the American Presidents who would follow, including Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and Gerald Ford.
Is Masonry a Religion?
The answer to that question is simple. No.
We do use ritual in the meetings, and
because there is always an altar with the Volume of Sacred Law open
whenever a lodge is meeting, some people have categorized Masonry as a
religion. That does not mean that religion plays no part in Masonry
-- it plays a very important part. A person who wants to become a
Mason must have a belief in God. No atheist can ever become a
Mason. While Freemasonry is certainly a religious organization, it is
not a religion.
Meetings open with prayer, and a Mason
is taught, as one of the first lessons of Masonry, that one should pray for
divine counsel and guidance before commencing any important
undertaking. But that does not make Masonry a "religion."
Sometimes people confuse Masonry with
a religion because we call some Masonic buildings
"temples." But we use the word in the same sense that
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes called the Supreme Court a "Temple of
Justice." A Masonic Lodge is a symbol of the Temple of
Solomon. Neither Masonry nor the Supreme Court is a religion simply
because its members meet in a "temple."
In some ways, the relationship between
Masonry and religion is like the relationship between the Parent-Teacher
Association (the P.T.A) and education. Members of the P.T.A. believe
in the importance of education. They support it. They assert
that no man or woman can be a complete and whole individual or live up to
his or her full potential without education. They encourage students
to stay in school and parents to be involved with the education of their
children. They may give scholarships. They encourage their
members to get involved with and support their individual schools.
But there are some things P.T.A.s do
not do. They don't teach. They don't tell people which school
to attend. They don't try to tell people what they should study or
what their major should be.
In much the same way Masons believe in
the importance of religion. Masonry encourages every Mason to be
active in the religion and church of his own choice. Masonry teaches
that, without religion, a man is alone and lost, and that without religion,
he can never reach his full potential.
But Freemasonry does not tell a person
which religion he should practice or how he should practice
it. That is between the individual and God. That is the
function of his house of worship, not his fraternity.
What is Freemasonry?
Freemasonry is dedicated to the
"Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God." It uses
the tools and implements of ancient architectural craftsmen symbolically in
a system of instruction designed to build character and moral values in its
members. Its singular purpose is to make good men better. Its
bonds of friendship, compassion, and brotherly love have survived even the
most divisive political, military, and religious conflicts through the
centuries. Freemasonry is a fraternity which encourages its members
to practice the faith of their personal acceptance. Masonry teaches
that each person, through self-improvement and helping others, has an
obligation to make a difference for good in the world.
What do Masons do?
The Masonic experience encourages
members to become better men, better husbands, better fathers, and better
citizens. The fraternal bonds formed in the Lodge help build lifelong
friendships among men with similar goals and values.
Beyond its focus on individual
development and growth, Masonry is deeply involved in helping
people. The Freemasons of North America contribute over two
million dollars a day to charitable causes. This philanthropy
represents an unparalleled example of the humanitarian commitment of this
great and honorable Fraternity. Much of that assistance goes to
people who are not Masons. Some of these charities are vast
projects. The Shrine Masons (Shriners) operate the largest network of
hospitals for burned and orthopaedically impaired children in the
country, and there is never a fee for treatment. The Scottish Rite
Masons maintain a nationwide network of over 150 Childhood Language
Disorder Clinics, Centers, and Programs.
Many other Masonic organizations
sponsor a variety of philanthropies, including scholarship programs for
students, and perform public service activities in their communities.
Masons also enjoy the fellowship of each other and their families in social
and recreational activities.
What are Masonic
Principles?
Masonry Teaches some important principles. There's nothing very
surprising in the list below. Masonry teaches that:
Since God is the Creator, all men and women are the children of
God. Hence, all men and women are brothers and sisters, and
are entitled to dignity, respect for their opinions, and consideration of
their feelings.
Each person must take responsibility for his/her own life and
actions. Neither wealth nor poverty, education nor ignorance,
health nor sickness excuses any person from doing the best he or she can do
or being the best person possible under the circumstances.
No one has the right to tell another person what he or she must
think or believe. Each man and woman has an absolute right to
intellectual, spiritual, economic, and political freedom. This is the
right given by God, not by man. All tyranny, in every form, is
illegitimate.
Each person must learn and practice self-control.
Each person must make sure his spiritual nature triumphs over his animal
nature. Another way to say the same thing is that even when we are
tempted to anger, we must not be violent. Even when we are tempted to
selfishness, we must be charitable. Even when we want to "write
someone off," we must remember that he or she is a human and entitled
to our respect. Even when we want to give up, we must go on.
Even when we are hated, we must return love, or, at a minimum, we must not
hate back. It isn't easy.
Faith must be in the center of our lives. We find
that faith in our houses of worship, not in Freemasonry, but Masonry
constantly teaches that a person's faith, whatever it may be, is central to
a good life.
Each person has a responsibility to be a good citizen, obeying
the law. That doesn't mean we can't try to change things, but
change must take place in legal ways.
It is important to work to make this world better for all who live
in it. Masonry teaches the importance of doing good,
not because it assures a person's entrance into heaven -- that's a question
for a religion, not a fraternity -- but because we have a duty to all other
men and women to make their lives as fulfilling as they can be.
Honor and integrity are essential to life. Life,
without honor and integrity, is without meaning.
Why is Masonry so
'Secretive'?
It really isn't "secretive," although it sometimes has that
reputation. Masons certainly don't make a secret of the fact that
they are members of the fraternity. We wear rings, lapel pins and tie
tacks with Masonic emblems like the Square and Compasses, the best known of
Masonic signs which, logically, recalls the fraternity's roots in
stonemasonry. Masonic buildings are clearly marked, and are usually
listed in the phone book. Lodge activities are not secret -- picnics
and other events are even listed in the newspapers, especially in smaller
towns. Many lodges have answering machines which give the upcoming
lodge activities. But there are some Masonic secrets, and they fall
into two categories.
The first are the ways in which a man can identify himself as a Mason
-- grips and passwords. We keep those private for obvious
reasons. It is not at all unknown for unscrupulous people to try to
pass themselves off as Masons in order to get assistance under false
pretenses.
The second group is harder to describe, but they are the ones Masons
usually mean if we talk about "Masonic secrets." They are
the secrets because they literally can't be talked about, can't be put into
words. They are the changes that happen to a man when he really
accepts responsibility for his own life and, at the same time, truly
decides that his real happiness is in helping others.
It's a wonderful feeling, but it's something you simply can't explain
to another person. That's why we sometimes say that Masonic secrets
cannot (rather than "may not") be told. Try telling someone
exactly what you feel when you see a beautiful sunset, or when you hear
music, like the national anthem, which suddenly stirs old memories, and
you'll understand what we mean.
"Secret societies" became very popular in America in the
late 1800s and early 1900s. There were literally hundreds of them,
and most people belonged to two or three. Many of them were modeled
on Masonry, and made a great point of having many
"secrets." Masonry got ranked with them.
But if masonry is a secret society, it's the worst-kept secret
in town.
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