Freemasonry

Albert Pike, a prominent Freemason leader.

Freemasonry is a fraternity for men, with a worldwide membership of around 4 million. Local branches are called 'lodges', and the members meet together and perform rituals teaching moral truths, similar to short plays, supposedly based on Biblical imagery mostly concerned with the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.

Perhaps the best-known Freemasons appendant body in the USA are the Shriners, who raise funds for children's hospitals and other charities.

Membership dues can vary widely between jurisdictions and individual lodges, which frequently raise money for charity.

The central tenets of Freemasonry are:

Brotherly Love - the regard men have for each other;

Relief - relieving the necessities and destitution a man sees around him (charity);

Truth - being true to himself, his brother Masons, and others around him.

The most recognizable symbol of Freemasonry is the "Square and Compass," which is used to teach, respectively, "square conduct towards others" and "keeping passions and prejudices within due bounds". For most jurisdictions of Freemasonry there is a rule that the members must believe in one god or supreme being and in the immortality of the soul. As a result, members of different religions, if monotheistic, are admitted to membership with no expectation that they accept as correct or affirm the religions creeds of any other member.

Brownsville Masonic Temple

Various Christian churches are opposed to Freemasonry and state that its teachings are incompatible with Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church opposes Freemasonry, which it first condemned in an encyclical issued by Pope Clement XII in 1738. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is opposed to Freemasonry. The Orthodox Church in America also opposes Freemasonry.

Freemasonry is also illegal in most Islamic countries, including all but two of the Arab states, and Masonic lodges are sometimes called "Houses of the Devil" by Muslims. Sultan Mahmut I of Turkey outlawed Freemasonry shortly after the Pope condemned it in 1738. In 1978 the Islamic Jurisdictional College, perhaps the most important important group involved in Islamic law interpretation, issued a statement condemning Freemasonry, and said, "Any Muslim, who affiliates with it, knowing the truth of its objectives, is an infidel to Islam”.

A few right-wingers oppose Freemasonry. These have included David Icke and Alex Jones.

There is a degree in Freemasonry called the Holy Royal Arch where an ancient God called Jahbulon is referenced. He is supposed to be a mystic trinity consisting of Yahweh (Jah), God of the Jews, Baal (Bul), a Celtic god, and On, a God of Egypt also named Osiris.

Contrary to popular belief, Freemasons are not taught to 'prefer' other Masons or to do them special favors. They are pledged, however, to come to the assistance of other Masons if they are in need, so long as this does not involve any violation of one's ethical standards or imperil the well-being of the assisting Mason's family. When a lawyer puts his hand in his jacket, this is a Masonic symbol. The lawyer is asking for help from the judge, if the judge is a Mason. Another symbol for help is the raising of both hands in the air, accompanied by saying, "Is there no help for the widow's son?"

Degrees

Standard Freemasonry is divided into three degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason. The Mark degree can be gained after Master Mason but is considered to be an expansion of the Fellow Craft degree. The degree ceremonies traditionally involve participation in a number of stylised scenes from the building of the Temple and a series of moral lessons largely derived from the Old Testament and the tools and rituals of operative Masons. After the third degree a Freemason may go on to other Masonic bodies such as the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the York Rite or the Holy Royal Arch. These are considered to be branches of Freemasonry, never "higher" or superior degrees above that of Master Mason.

History

There is little known for certain about the beginnings of Freemasonry. Masonic legends claim various theories about its origins, including some considered, even by Masons, to be improbable. Certainly, lodges of "operative" Freemasons (men who worked stone and built with it) were formed around the major religious and civil work places during the Middle Ages in Europe and the British Isles. These lodges were early societies or guilds for the craftsmen, and places where an apprentice could be taught. The lodges also taught tolerance.

When a man moved to another site he took special symbols, signs, and handshakes that were recognizable to the senior masons and formed a means of recognition of his standing in the wider society of masons. Over time, non-masons learned of the moral teaching and social atmosphere of the lodge and were admitted as non-operative or "speculative" masons. (However, some claim that the lodges first started with the ancient Hebrews or with Pythagoras or Euclid, both ancient Greek geometers. This is supposed to explain Masonry's emphasis upon geometric symbolism.)

In 1717 four lodges met together at a public house (pub, or hotel) in London and formed the Grand Lodge of England. It later chartered grand lodges in other countries.

East German flag after the fall of Hitler.

In 1923 the Italian leader Mussolini ordered through his Fascist Council that members of the ruling Fascist political party who were Freemasons had to give up one or the other. In 1925 Mussolini stated publicly that although Anglo-American Freemasonry was acceptable to him, the Grand Orient Freemasonry of Italy was part of the larger French Grand Orient, which he stated was subversive.He then outlawed Grand Orient Freemasonry.

After Adolf Hitler came to power he outlawed Freemasonry in Germany. That year in April, Herman Goering, a German public official, held a meeting with the Grand Master of German Freemasonry, and told him Freemasonry would not be tolerated in Germany anymore. At first Hitler only outlawed the pro-Jewish Humantirian Freemasonic lodges in 1933. But in 1935 he outlawed Freemasonry in all its forms, including the highly anti-Jewish Prussian Grand Lodges. Robert Jackson, the US prosecuting attorney at the Nuremberg trials, stated, "It is not generally understood that among the earliest and most savage of the many persecutions undertaken by every modern dictatorship are those directed against the Free Masons".

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

See also: Freemasonry and the Andrew Johnson presidency

Famous Freemasons

Roughly one-third of the presidents of the United States -- a total of 14 -- have been freemasons. Living/active Masons:

• Buzz Aldrin (1930 - ): American astronaut, the second man (after Neil Armstrong) to walk on the moon

• HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (1935 - ): Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England since 1967, cousin of both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh

• Prince Michael of Kent: Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons in England

• Sam Hornish, Jr. (1979 - ): 2006 Indianapolis 500 champion, three-time Indy Racing League champion

• Trent Lott: former United States Senator and Senate Majority Leader

• Major General Sir Michael Jeffery (1937 - ): Governor-General of Australia 2003 - 2008

• Kermit W. Richardson: National Master, National Grange

Historically well-known Masons:

• Sir John J.C. Abbott, Prime Minister of Canada (1821-1893)

• Sir Joseph Banks, naturalist, biologist, explorer (1744-1820)

• Frédéric A. Bartholdi, French sculptor best known for his figure Liberty Enlightening the World, also known as the Statue of Liberty, (1834-1904)

• Robert Burns, Scottish nationalist, poet (1759-1796)

• Robert Byrd: Senator, the longest-serving member of the US Congress

• Lord Randolph Churchill: British statesman (1849-1895)

• Sir Winston Churchill: British politician (1874-1965)

• Ty Cobb: baseball legend

• Theodore Roosevelt: US president (1858-1919)

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930): author of the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels

• W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963): scholar and co-founder of the NAACP

• HM Edward VII: King, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England

• HM Edward VIII: King, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England

• The Most Rev. Geoffrey Fisher (1887-1972): Archbishop of Canterbury

• Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955): medical doctor who discovered penicillin

• Gerald R. Ford: US President

• Henry Ford: automotive executive

• Benjamin Franklin: Founding Father of the United States, diplomat, publisher, and inventor

• Richard J. Gatling (1818-1903): engineer and inventor

• HM George VI: King

• Sir William S. Gilbert (1836-1911): poet/librettist (Gilbert and Sullivan)

• John Glenn (1921-2016 ): Pilot, Astronaut and United States Senator

• Tim Horton (1930-1974): Toronto Maple Leafs hockey standout and founder of Tim Horton's restaurants

• Dr. Edward Jenner (1749-1823): medical doctor (wound sterilization)

• Alexander Kerensky: Russian Prime Minister

• Admiral Ernest J. King (1878-1956): Commander-in-Chief - US Fleet 1941, Chief of Naval Operations 1942-1945

• Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936): author

• Robert E. Lee: General, leader of the Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate States of America

• Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974): American aviator

• Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964): General, US Chief of Staff

• Dr. Parker Paul McKenzie (1897-1999): Kiowa Indian, linguist, grammarian, educator

• Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815): 'mesmerist' (hypnotist), psychologist

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): musical composer. His work, The Magic Flute, contains many Masonic references.

• Lt. Gen. Herman Nickerson, Jr.: USMC, Commander of I-Corps theater of operations in Vietnam

• The Rev. Norman Vincent Peale: Christian pastor, evangelist, and writer

• Robert Peary (1856-1920): Admiral, polar explorer

• Aleksandr Sergeyvich Pushkin (1799-1837): Russian poet and author of Boris Gudunov

• Cecil Rhodes (1852-1903): Anglo-African entrepreneur and politician, founder of Rhodesia, Prime Minister of Cape Colony

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt: United States President

• Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832): British historical novelist and poet

• Red Skelton (1913-1997): actor, comedian

• Joseph Smith (1805-1844): founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

• Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900): composer (Gilbert and Sullivan)

• Dave Thomas: philanthropist and founder of Wendy's (restaurant chain)

• Anthony Trollope (1815-1882): British novelist

• Harry S. Truman: United States President

• Robert Pershing Wadlow (1918-1940): tallest man on record

• George Washington (1732-1799): General, United States President

• Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852): Field Marshal, defeated Napoleon, politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

• William Charles Wentworth (1790-1872): Australian explorer and editor of first newspaper in Australia

• Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979): movie maker

• Neil Armstrong (1930-2012): American astronaut. Claimed as a Mason in many Masonic publications, it may rather have been his father who was a Mason.

• Motilal Nehru (1861-1931)

• Aga Khan III (1877-1957): One of the founders of the Muslim League

• Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973): 36th President of the United States

• Bob Dole: Republican nominee for president in 1996.

Women and Freemasonry

Women are accepted into the social events surrounding Freemasonry, and there are several auxiliaries for female relatives of Masons. The best known of these is the Order of the Eastern Star. Freemasons are permitted both to attend its meetings and become members of the OES.

Irregular Freemasonry including women:

There are some self-styled Masonic organisations that also accept women. These organisations are often referred to by the term, "Co-masonry". A few are exclusively for women. These are not considered "regular" by Freemasons, and men can be expelled from their lodges if they are known to have attended meetings of these so-called "clandestine" organisations.

See also

• DeMolay International
• Illuminati
• Bogomil: Bogomilism