The REAL historical reason for the problems between freemasons and the RCC are two:
The original masons were just that, masons --- a trade union of masons. Membership insured that the masons --- sefs --- could travel where there was work to be had --- hence "free masons" --- unlike many other serfs who were tied to the land.
They had secret passwords to prove membership. They also kept state secrets (how to build arches, walls, etc,) that were the ancient equivalent of today's nuclear weapon secrets.
Anyway, like all unions, the trade union would get into wage fights with its customers --- lords and the RCC primarily.
This caused much bitterness, and the lords would pressure the RCC to union-bust, and occassionaly, they would find some weak-kneed (or broke) bishop to do just that.
Anyway, the masons were quite strong in Scotland when another group --- the Knights Templar --- made the King of France mad because he owend the Knights a lot of money.
Long story short, the Knights were vulnerable after a bad military defeat at the hands of the muslims, and the RCC was also in a bad bind, the pope having moved to France.
This pope was a good guy, but weak, and reluctantly caved to pressure from the a-hole French king and cooked up all sorts of now-admittedly-bogus charges against the Knigths Templar, accomplished by torture, and then publically recanted.
Anyways, one Friday the 13th, the French attacked the Knights with the weak pope consenting to the attack.
The Knights were tipped off, and went three ways --- one became the Knights of Christ in Portugal, the second to Switzerland (and now provide the Swiss Guards to the Pope, btw), and the third, the Navy sailed to Scotland where they joined up with the revolutionaries who happened to be bankrolled by the free mason union.
Eventually, the KT and the freemasons mereged to form what is now known as the York Rite. (The Scottish Rite, ironically, is French, and has a largely seperate origin.)
This merger is where the religious trappings of the masons comes from.
Anyway, the bad history there made the masons membership largely protestant, which, back in the day, was considered a Very Bad Thing, and much slander arose.
So there you go.
All about money and turf, and nothing about theology.
Not nearly as exciting, I know.
*All about money and turf, and nothing about theology.
I just read a book about the Templars. It was very interesting. All I had ever read before were SHORT diatribes about how awful the Templars were.
The book I read gave a very balanced and accurate, I think, history of the Templars. You generally nailed it too, in blazing brevity.
However, I had never known the exact connection between the Templars, the Freemasons and the Scottish Rite.
Now I do. THANK you.
*Isn't that usually the case? :o)
I didn't know any of that. Thank you for the info.
Seems pretty stupid for men of good will to be at each others throats centuries later over something I'm betting they didn't know about either.