Are MASONS affiliated with any particular RELIGIONS?

Question

They seem kind of secretive. Anyone know why?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi Sam. In fact, we are not really secretive at all. You will find that we are more than happy to answer any questions that you have. This whole business of us being secretive is because people must ASK about us. We will not ask people to join because they must come to that decision of their own free will and accord.

We are not affiliated with any religions. We are not a religion, and do not openly discuss religion or politics in lodge. The only religious requirement is that you believe in a Supreme Being. In my lodge there are Catholics and other Christians, Jews, and Muslims. There are also Mormon masons. While most Masons in the US are Christian, that is because most people in the US are Christians, but this is not a requirement.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask, as we are more than happy to discuss our fraternity with anyone interested.

Answer 2

Kait it is amazing you could not so many words and never be right. I am a Mason the biggest hole in all the anti mason talk is the idea of higher degrees.

THERE IS NO HIGHER DEGREE THAN THE 3RD DEGREE.

the other degrees are labeled with higher numbers but are lateral moves not upward move. There isn't even any control over what these degrees involve. Two differ net Masons could have entire different 4th degrees. In most states the process of going for 3 to 32 is 2 days of watching plays.

The first sign a web page or book is full of crap is the moment the mention higher degree or higher levels of Masonry. It is simply foolish to think a group who main philosophy is all men are equal would have high and low levels

York and Scottish rites are not part of Masonry but are separate groups that require you to be a Mason to join. The group are
different from state to state.

Please Kait follow this link read the first line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_appendant_bodies

Answer 3

No religion. Only a belief in a Supreme Being.

They are not secretive at all. any mason will speak freely as to what they stand for, when they meet, and even who is a member of their lodge.

They are a society with secrets however, but that is like saying Coca Cola is a secret society because they won't reveal the formula.

Catholics are admitted, its the Pope that has a problem with it, not the Masons.

Answer 4

FREEMASONRY IN A NUTSHELL
A Christian frequently must render a decision about supporting or joining various organizations that exist in the community. In some cases it may be a service club, a charitable organization or a secret society such as one of the lodges. In all cases, the Christian should carefully examine the articles or constitutional principles that the organization is based upon.
In the case of the lodges, that is somewhat difficult to do, especially as lodge members are under oath not to divulge the nature of the foundational principles or the ceremonies that are carried out in the temples. However most comprehensive public libraries have copies of some official lodge publications and books written by Masons, ex-Masons, and non-Masons available for anyone who wishes to find out details of lodge rituals and beliefs.
While some Masons deny that Freemasonry is a religion, there are some like Coil, the author of "Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia" who would agree that it is a religion. When one considers that the lodge meeting places are called "temples", prayer is directed to a supreme deity called "The Great (or Grand) Architect of the Universe" at the opening and closing of all meetings and the Bible is considered a "piece" of lodge furniture and is referred to in some of the rituals, it becomes quite apparent that Freemasonry can be and is considered a religion by most people who have done research into its workings.
In his 1984 book titled "The Brotherhood", Stephen Knight, a journalist and author attempted to take as objective a point-of-view as he could in deciding whether or not Masonry was guilty of devil worship as many had charged, and whether or not it was compatible with Christianity. He decided that the matter did not require a great deal of knowledge of theology. On page 231 of his book we find:
"One does not have to be a theologian - nor even a Freemason or a Christian - to recognize that Christians and Freemasons would have to worship the same God for the two to be compatible. The question simply, then, is do they?
If Freemasonry were found, despite its protestations to the contrary, to be a quasi-religion and to have a different god from the Christian God, then the two would naturally be incompatible."
On pages 235 and 236, Knight goes on to reveal the
"ineffable" name of the G.A.O.T.U. which is deliberately hidden from the candidates and lower degree Masons.
"In fact the Masonic god - cloaked under the description Great Architect - has a specific name and a particular nature, which has nothing to do with Christ, Vishnu, Buddha, Mohammed or any other being recognized by the great faiths of the modern world."
"Two-thirds of Freemasons never realize the untruth of the line they are fed as to the identity of the Great Architect, because it is deliberately kept hidden from them. It is no overstatement to say that most Freemasons, even those without strong religious convictions would never have joined the Brotherhood if they had not been the victims of this subtle trick".
"The true name, although not the nature of the Masonic god, is revealed only to those Third Degree Masons who elect to be "exalted" to the Holy Royal Arch.""In the ritual of exaltation, the name of the Great Architect of the Universe is revealed as JAH-BUL-ON - not a general umbrella term open to any interpretation an individual Freemason might choose but a precise designation that describes a specific supernatural being - a compound deity composed of three separate personalities fused into one. Each syllable of the "ineffable name" represents one personality of this trinity:
JAH = Jahweh, the God of the Hebrew.
BUL = Baal, the ancient Canaanite fertility god associated with "licentious rites of imitative magic".
"ON = Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld
Coil records this in his Encyclopedia on page 516 as,
"Jah, Bel, and On appear in the American ritual of the Royal Arch degree on the supposition that Jah was the Syriac name of God, Bel (Baal) the Chaldean, and On, the Egyptian."
Anyone with a reasonable amount of Sunday School training will recall the great difficulties that the nation of Israel experienced whenever they became caught in the practice of Baal worship. 1 Kings, chapter 18 records the showdown between Elijah, the true prophet, the 450 prophets of Baal, and the 400 prophets of the grove. Verse 24 of chapter 18 says,
"And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God."
The account goes on to tell us that Baal did not, indeed, could not answer the 450 prophets, while God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob answered Elijah and consumed not only the offering, but also the wet wood and the trench full of water around the offering. Subsequently, the prophets of Baal were executed as they were false and had led the people of Israel into false idolatry.

Answer 5

Once I read a book about masons,
43 AD ,they were Jews who wanted to stop the fast spread of the Christianity at the beginning, later on Islam. Now it is different anyone can be a mason but there are 33 levels and not anyone can reach the last stage. They purposes now are different.

Answer 6

Masons are a non religious group. We accept all religions. But you must believe in some sort of God not atheists

Answer 7

I'm a mason.I am not overly secretive and am a Christian. I am not however a member of the Masonic lodge.

Answer 8

People say Masons are Christians, usually.

I don't know. I'm not a mason. It's probably just a secret golf club.

heh.

It's like a college fraternity but more serious and stuff.

Answer 9

I don't know much about why they're so secretive, but I do know they are affiliated with the Protestant branch of Christianity, rather than Catholicism.

Answer 10

they are affiliated with any religion that believes in a higher power or God, with the exception of Catholics, it is forbidden for catholics to join masonry.