Judging by the location of your question under cultures and groups, I think you mean the Freemasons, not stone Masons. I can explain to you the difference.
If you know what a Mason is, you are familiar with some of the jobs that a Mason might have, as far as building with stone and brick. Masons use certain tools and concepts to do their work. These are called operative Masons.
Freemasonry is also referred to as speculative Masonry, and this is a fraternal organization that (to make things simple), assigns certain ideas or principles to the working tools of operative Masons, and uses these to teach certain moral lessons. Our group is a fraternity based on this concept of conveying intangible ideas through the use of symbolism derived from ancient Masonic teachings.
As an example, Masons use a square to make sure that structures adhere to perfect angles. We may use this to remember to square our actions with others (to deal with people squarely and fairly). Also, an operative Mason uses a level to make sure that something is evenly perpendicular to the ground. Speculative Masons use this to teach that we are all equal and on the level with others.
Those are just a few examples of how Freemasonry and operative masons are related. However, it in not required that Freemasons be operative masons. We are bankers and ditch diggers, waiters and software engineers, preachers and bartenders, and all other occupations.
While it was pretty common for men at the time of the founding of the United States to be Freemasons, not all of the Founding Fathers were brothers. Ben Franklin, George Washington, Paul Revere were members, but John Adams and and others were not. The reason that so many were members is because the Masons believe in freedom and equality, so it stands to reason that men of such belief would be involved in the creation of our country. It should be mentioned, however, that this political activity was not done as an act of the Masons. In fact, many Masons at the time were also loyal to England. Another false assumption is that many US presidents were Masons. In fact, only 13 of them were members of the fraternity.
There are a lot of conspiracy theories about the Freemasons out there, and many outrageous claims that we are Satanists or that we rule the country. First, how could an organization that gives about $2 million dollars A DAY to charity be an evil organization. Second, we are forbidden to discuss politics in our lodge meetings, so it would be pretty difficult to run a country while not speaking of politics.
Also note that all of these crackpot accusations about the Masons are made by non-Masons, so they really wouldn't know what they are talking about, would they?
If I can answer any further questions, please feel free to contact me.
2007-02-26 04:58:58
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answer #1
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answered by maboot24 5
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I think you need to add more details to your question, as Brother Maboot24 said it seems that you are speaking of freemasonry.
2007-02-26 19:10:48
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answer #2
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answered by pretty_as_me 3
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For sure! and why not!!! I couldnt do without and we all know what that means!!!!
2007-02-26 10:09:01
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answer #4
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answered by Julia M 1
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