Some churches...
- Thread starter dax
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Gary
Guest
My take on it is that some religious "figure heads" saw Freemasonry as a threat.
The catholics went so far as creating The Knights of Columbus (modeled directly after Freemasonry).
Fear of the unknown is what it boils down to. Since we don't openly talk about our rituals, the assumption is made that we must be up to no good. Despite the fact that one must believe in a higher power (read god) to even join, do charitable and good deeds, live a moral and just life, etc. And NO we don't worship the devil, Baphomet, or any of that other rediculous nonsense.
Freemasonry accepts members of all faiths. That disturbs some because they are taught that their religion is the only valid belief. The truth of the matter is that there are Catholic, Baptist, Anglican/Episcopal, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc., members world wide.
It seems that religions as a whole are gaining more acceptance and understanding of Freemasonry. It's only taken a couple of hundred years for that to take place though.
The catholics went so far as creating The Knights of Columbus (modeled directly after Freemasonry).
Fear of the unknown is what it boils down to. Since we don't openly talk about our rituals, the assumption is made that we must be up to no good. Despite the fact that one must believe in a higher power (read god) to even join, do charitable and good deeds, live a moral and just life, etc. And NO we don't worship the devil, Baphomet, or any of that other rediculous nonsense.
Freemasonry accepts members of all faiths. That disturbs some because they are taught that their religion is the only valid belief. The truth of the matter is that there are Catholic, Baptist, Anglican/Episcopal, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc., members world wide.
It seems that religions as a whole are gaining more acceptance and understanding of Freemasonry. It's only taken a couple of hundred years for that to take place though.
Ashlar2006
Masonic Mafia
GaryE pretty much hit the nail on the head .
East_Regalia
Real Men Wear Aprons
My feeling is this. Freemasonry is open to all religions or men that profess a belief in a Supreme Being. The problem is that some organised religions (or individual religious leaders) don't care for free thinkers and prefer to enforce strict doctrine and belief structures.
In Freemasonry, we do not push any particular doctrine whatsoever and perhaps that is the reason why there is intolerance towards us. Here in Asia, I sit in an open Lodge with Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jews and Hindus and we are all Brothers. To me, that is one of the great aspects about Freemasonry.
G
Gary
Guest
The "threat" being us free thinkers....
Some Churches' Intolerance and Bigotry
Some Churches and some Religious Leaders are against Freemasonry because they want to be "in control" of their followers. They do not like the idea that Truth can be found outside the bounds they have artificially set up. They do not recognize the eternal principle that "God will force no man to Heaven... or allow them to either".They do not understand "Moral Agency". They want to limit God, Our Eternal Father to their sectarian creeds and man-made interpretations. Ignorance of truth and how to have truth revealed to oneself is the cause of much intolerance and bigotry. They are afraid of Freemasonry because they are not very confident in their own faith system to be able to measure up to "True Religion".They do not understand that Freemasonry is NOT a religion(to have to compete with) but instead a brotherhood of religious men that follow God as He is revealed to them individually!
Some Churches and some Religious Leaders are against Freemasonry because they want to be "in control" of their followers. They do not like the idea that Truth can be found outside the bounds they have artificially set up. They do not recognize the eternal principle that "God will force no man to Heaven... or allow them to either".They do not understand "Moral Agency". They want to limit God, Our Eternal Father to their sectarian creeds and man-made interpretations. Ignorance of truth and how to have truth revealed to oneself is the cause of much intolerance and bigotry. They are afraid of Freemasonry because they are not very confident in their own faith system to be able to measure up to "True Religion".They do not understand that Freemasonry is NOT a religion(to have to compete with) but instead a brotherhood of religious men that follow God as He is revealed to them individually!
Robert Birtch
DeMolay/Freemason
I can agree with this, I feel that things like Heaven and Hell, are self-imposed, rather than as a reward or punishment for what you have chosen to believe.
PatrickWilliams
I could tell you ...
Dax, you've gotten several replies and all of them are valid. I will reply, too.
First: Freemasonry is a fraternity for men who believe in God. Because of that association, many people think that we must, therefore, be a religion. That, of course, is far from the truth: when I was young (lo, so many years ago!) a boy had to profess a belief in one of several approved dieties to become a Boy Scout. Did that make Scouting a religion? Of course not, but some people held then (and still do as far as I know) that Scouting was/is a faith. The same is true for Freemasonry.
Second: because our membership comes from a wide and divergent basis of faith, we pray to the Great Architect of the Universe (or the Supreme Architect, etc.) This, of course, is partly because we don't want to alienate any of our membership. We say, "Pray to whatever God you choose, but let's call Him the GAOTU here so that nobody is offended." Unfortunately, this offends some people (anti-Masons).
Third: We are a society with secrets (as opposed to being a secret society). The fact that there are things we will not tell the uninitiated challenges the elders (etc.) of certain faiths. They believe that they should be privy to everything from any part of their believers lives. Therefore, they see the 'secrets of Freemasonry' to be a direct challenge to their moral authority, and so, these faiths forbid their members to join us.
Fourth: there are faiths out there which forbid their members the society of those who do not belong to their church/faith/society. We hold that all believers in whatever deity share in a common truth. We do not discriminate (for the most part) on the basis of faith. Here in Wisconsin, I am told that there are Wiccans, Christians (Protestant, Catholic AND what-have-you), Jews, Moslems, Gnostics, and many other faiths represented in our fraternity. A faith which limits the society of its adherents would find this a direct challenge to their moral imperative.
Fifth: The Masonic fraternity has held for countless generations that our membership should NOT rise to the challenge and debate with those who oppose us. This basically translates to mean that anybody can say anything they want to say about Masonry and we will just be silent. This makes it easy for those out there who must have an enemy to point at us. They can say whatever they like, make us the devil incarnate in the minds of their followers, and we remain silent.
And if five wasn't enough, there are dozen and dozens more reasons that certain religions/political groups/etc oppose us.
Hope this gives you some insight.
First: Freemasonry is a fraternity for men who believe in God. Because of that association, many people think that we must, therefore, be a religion. That, of course, is far from the truth: when I was young (lo, so many years ago!) a boy had to profess a belief in one of several approved dieties to become a Boy Scout. Did that make Scouting a religion? Of course not, but some people held then (and still do as far as I know) that Scouting was/is a faith. The same is true for Freemasonry.
Second: because our membership comes from a wide and divergent basis of faith, we pray to the Great Architect of the Universe (or the Supreme Architect, etc.) This, of course, is partly because we don't want to alienate any of our membership. We say, "Pray to whatever God you choose, but let's call Him the GAOTU here so that nobody is offended." Unfortunately, this offends some people (anti-Masons).
Third: We are a society with secrets (as opposed to being a secret society). The fact that there are things we will not tell the uninitiated challenges the elders (etc.) of certain faiths. They believe that they should be privy to everything from any part of their believers lives. Therefore, they see the 'secrets of Freemasonry' to be a direct challenge to their moral authority, and so, these faiths forbid their members to join us.
Fourth: there are faiths out there which forbid their members the society of those who do not belong to their church/faith/society. We hold that all believers in whatever deity share in a common truth. We do not discriminate (for the most part) on the basis of faith. Here in Wisconsin, I am told that there are Wiccans, Christians (Protestant, Catholic AND what-have-you), Jews, Moslems, Gnostics, and many other faiths represented in our fraternity. A faith which limits the society of its adherents would find this a direct challenge to their moral imperative.
Fifth: The Masonic fraternity has held for countless generations that our membership should NOT rise to the challenge and debate with those who oppose us. This basically translates to mean that anybody can say anything they want to say about Masonry and we will just be silent. This makes it easy for those out there who must have an enemy to point at us. They can say whatever they like, make us the devil incarnate in the minds of their followers, and we remain silent.
And if five wasn't enough, there are dozen and dozens more reasons that certain religions/political groups/etc oppose us.
Hope this gives you some insight.
emarsh
New Member
Sadly there seems to be a shortage of that in Texas.The "threat" being us free thinkers....
Winter
I've been here before
I must say, all of the Brothers that have posted before me have nailed the proverbial nail on the head. if I may, I will add my half shekel.
For many centuries, the ONLY route to Heaven was through the Throne of Peter, usually by anoher intermediary of the Holy Catholic Church. Religion was life/politics/and day to day life.
Then, somewhere in the dim recesses of the past, this upstart fraternity starts that says, "It is not as important WHAT you believe, but THAT you believe." Not only that, but every individual's relationship with G-d is his own.
And now you have a direct challenge to the established dogmatic faith that once controlled the rising and setting of the sun. Unfortunately, (thankfully) they've never been able to successfuly deal with us!
So, NO, we are not a religion. But, we are a beautiful compliment to any religion, whether they think so or not. Our membership learns to put aside preconcieved prejudices and embrace his fellow man, regardless of race/creed/religion and that, to me, reafirms my decision, many years ago, to take that first step.
My apologies if this post was not entirely helpful. LOL I was just feeling cheeky. I'd be happy to help answer any specific question you have.
For many centuries, the ONLY route to Heaven was through the Throne of Peter, usually by anoher intermediary of the Holy Catholic Church. Religion was life/politics/and day to day life.
Then, somewhere in the dim recesses of the past, this upstart fraternity starts that says, "It is not as important WHAT you believe, but THAT you believe." Not only that, but every individual's relationship with G-d is his own.
And now you have a direct challenge to the established dogmatic faith that once controlled the rising and setting of the sun. Unfortunately, (thankfully) they've never been able to successfuly deal with us!
So, NO, we are not a religion. But, we are a beautiful compliment to any religion, whether they think so or not. Our membership learns to put aside preconcieved prejudices and embrace his fellow man, regardless of race/creed/religion and that, to me, reafirms my decision, many years ago, to take that first step.
My apologies if this post was not entirely helpful. LOL I was just feeling cheeky. I'd be happy to help answer any specific question you have.
Windrider
Plus-sized tuxedo model
Being a former member of one of the Religions that forbade membership in Freemasonry, I can tell you that the reason given me by them was that believers should not have any secrets from their priests in the confessional. Since a Mason could not reveal the secrets to anyone other than an other Mason, the Craft was forbidden to them.
I know many Brothers who are members of that Religion now, so this may have changed.
I know many Brothers who are members of that Religion now, so this may have changed.
There are some religions, and some Christian denominations that are opposed to Freemasonry. This is a reality, that we must live with. The current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, is opposed to Freemasonry. The Southern Baptist Convention, has some members that are opposed to Freemasonry, the official position of the SBC is that each man must make the decision to participate in Freemasonry on his own.
You should check with your local pastor or priest, and get his/her advice and guidance with respect to Freemasonry. We are accepting of men from many different religious backgrounds. Only an avowed atheist cannot be made a Mason. I suggest you visit this website:
Anti-Masonry: Points of View
You should check with your local pastor or priest, and get his/her advice and guidance with respect to Freemasonry. We are accepting of men from many different religious backgrounds. Only an avowed atheist cannot be made a Mason. I suggest you visit this website:
Anti-Masonry: Points of View