Why does Freemasonry bother some people?

[AmazingPanda]

I'm not necessarily talking about the conspiracy nuts here, I mean just regular people. Many of the reactions people have are apprehensive, at least. Especially among the Christian community. Looking at the basic ideas of Masonry, there should be nothing offensive, particularly to church going people.

 

[Zack]

In a word........ignorance.

 

[PatrickWilliams]

Well, Panda, let me say first that I agree with you: there is nothing offensive about our fraternity. But that, of course, is our opinion. There are many reasons that people object to Freemasonry, and a comprehensive list of them would fill several volumes. Let's look at three of the ones I have encountered most frequently:

1. Freemasonry is a fraternity for religious men but we do not, in most jurisdictions, specify what religion (or spirituality) a man must hold to become a member. Because we pray to a 'non-specific' God (the Great Architect of the Universe), some people are offended. They believe that their God is the only true God and that to deny that by refusing to pray in his name is blasphemy.

2. Freemasonry has secrets. We have secrets that we keep even from the leaders and administrations of the various faiths out there. There are those who believe that because we have secrets, we could be up to anything, and that anyone who could be up to anything has got to be up to something evil.

3. This one is more specific to Catholicism: Because some of our members, in the distant past, were politically active and advocated the overthrow of the royal houses in Europe (and European royalty were functionaries of the Church as 'Defenders of the Faith"), the Church was directly threatened by Freemasons (note I did not say 'Freemasonry', but 'Freemasons'). Because of this threat to the Church, along with other reasons (two of which are above), several Popes have issued proclamations (called Papal Bulls) which forbid Catholics from becoming Masons.

So there are three examples, out of hundreds, why 'church going people' are taught to be anti-Masonic.

 

[CoachN]

Some people need a target to focus their:

• Fears
• Prejudices
• Issues
• Angers
• Guilts
• Shames
• Losses
• etc...

upon, to distract/excuse them from what they need to work on personally. Freemasonry provides this simply by existing.

Freemason is also used by other organizations, their leaders and members as a convenient leveraging tools to control those within their organizations. As long as they have a convenient outside reference, they can make anything they want up about it that sounds remotely credible and they have their leveraging tool.

Take your pick. If it isn't Freemasonry, it would be something else that could play the role just as well.

IMO

Coach N

 

[Gary]

Excellent responses my Brothers! Where is the "like" button on this forum? LOL

 

[Duncan1574]

When I mentioned it to my friends, the most common resposnse was "CULT!". I have one friend whose Dad was a Mason, from the era of total secrecy, she has nothing but distain for FM, because Dad wouldn't tell her. I have another friend whose Dad was a Mason and she missing going to things at the Lodge, another knew her Dad was a Mason but nothing else.

 

[Bob Franks]

My dad had a bad experience at one of the plants where he worked: If you were not a Mason, you never got the plum assignments or promotions.
If you were a Mason, any late clock-in or disciplinary write up was downgraded to insignificance or lost altogether.

It pains me that the prohibition of pecuniary benefits was ignored.

He never knew it, but in his actions and in his heart, he was prepared to be a Mason.

S&F

 

[mdonahue66]

3. This one is more specific to Catholicism: Because some of our members, in the distant past, were politically active and advocated the overthrow of the royal houses in Europe (and European royalty were functionaries of the Church as 'Defenders of the Faith"), the Church was directly threatened by Freemasons (note I did not say 'Freemasonry', but 'Freemasons'). Because of this threat to the Church, along with other reasons (two of which are above), several Popes have issued proclamations (called Papal Bulls) which forbid Catholics from becoming Masons.

Growing up Catholic in a very Irish/German Catholic town of about $60,000, I knew nothing of the Masons. I knew that there was this cool building called the Masonic Temple, but absolutely nothing else. At my senior year football banquet (so this goes back nearly 30 years), which was held at the Masonic Temple, my dad said something like "you know, when I was a kid, the nun's would make us walk across the street before passing this building". I didn't ask why, or pursue the conversation, but that statement has always stuck in my mind. So, a few years ago, when I decided I had better tell him I'm a mason, before he found out some other way, the response I got was "Oh, well that's OK" and that was it for the conversation. I guess that's a better result than some of my Catholic brothers (and there's quite a few of us) in Owatonna. Our current WM tells me that his mother still believes he's a devil worshipper.

 

[Bob Franks]

(snip)
1. Freemasonry is a fraternity for religious men but we do not, in most jurisdictions, specify what religion (or spirituality) a man must hold to become a member. Because we pray to a 'non-specific' God (the Great Architect of the Universe), some people are offended. They believe that their God is the only true God and that to deny that by refusing to pray in his name is blasphemy.
(snip)

This is REALLY ironic in the case of the Fundamentalist Protestant Christians such as the Assemblies of God (they don't even like the Boy Scouts!), because the expression for The Diety we use, "Great Architect of the Universe," was first used by John Calvin, the early Swiss Reformer!

S&F

 

[Bob Franks]

(snip)
2. Freemasonry has secrets. We have secrets that we keep even from the leaders and administrations of the various faiths out there. There are those who believe that because we have secrets, we could be up to anything, and that anyone who could be up to anything has got to be up to something evil.
(snip)

I used to be in an organization that kept secrets, wore clothing distinctive to the group, used insider jargon, and made strange hand signals and body postures in their assemblies. They even have killed people who tried to leave their group without permission, the last known occurring on January 31, 1945.
I imagine that a clergyman demanding that a member of this organization reveal secrets he's been entrusted with, would be in trouble very quickly!

I used to be in the Army...

If you don't think anyone should have secrets, PM me your bank card number and PIN!!

with tongue firmly in cheek,

 

[AmazingPanda]

haha. Great responses!

Yes, I've gotten "Isn't that a cult?" response too. I'm concerned I may have difficulties because I am a Christian, and there are those in my church who are very "charismatic". Since I joined, I had been wondering if someone would see the S&C on my car and say something. So far, no one has. Nonetheless, it irks me that so many people see our fraternity as "evil." Before I joined, I did a *ton* of research - so much so that I was asking the investigating committee (and later, my mentor) questions they had to look up the answers to. lol. Anyway, I found a lot of crap out there that is grossly misinformed or flat out lying about something I know to be a good organization. It's perplexing.

 

[Gary]

My dad had a bad experience at one of the plants where he worked: If you were not a Mason, you never got the plum assignments or promotions.
If you were a Mason, any late clock-in or disciplinary write up was downgraded to insignificance or lost altogether.

It pains me that the prohibition of pecuniary benefits was ignored.

He never knew it, but in his actions and in his heart, he was prepared to be a Mason.

S&F

Similar situation with my dad. Any talk of Masons sends him into a tizzy. Sad, because he too is Mason material.

 

[Bob Franks]

Similar situation with my dad. Any talk of Masons sends him into a tizzy. Sad, because he too is Mason material.

We still have too many members, not enough Masons.
Too many there for the socialization, never listened to the Lectures.

S&F

 

[CoachN]

We still have too many members, not enough Masons.
Too many there for the socialization, never listened to the Lectures.

S&F

Far fewer still who do the Work that Lectures point toward.