Posted on 04/03/2008 8:28:09 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
It's been nearly a quarter of a century since Freemasons in Utah rescinded a 60-year ban that prohibited Latter-day Saints from joining their fraternity. And while many remember the religious division that had characterized Freemasonry in the Beehive State from pioneer times, Glen Cook believes he is evidence that things are changing among his Masonic brethren. Cook, a Salt Lake criminal defense attorney and Brigham Young University law school graduate, is believed to be the first member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be elected grand master in Utah in nearly a century, overseeing the activities of several lodges around the state and looking to make the group more open to public understanding.
During a recent tour of the Masonic Temple in downtown Salt Lake City following his installation in February, Cook said there are definite misconceptions about Freemasonry in Utah, particularly among Latter-day Saints, "but there's also some reality there as well."
Church founder Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were members of the Masonic lodge in Nauvoo, Ill., in the early 1840s, and historians have written in detail about the role of fellow Masons in the murder of the two men in June 1844. Smith's successor, President Brigham Young, and the three succeeding presidents of the church all were made Masons in the Nauvoo Lodge, as were many who presided in church hierarchy during and following Joseph Smith's death.
After leaving the Midwest for what was then the Utah Territory, most Latter-day Saints eventually ceased active involvement with Freemasonry, despite the fact that lodges were chartered here beginning in 1859. Cook said he thinks pioneer Latter-day Saints simply were too busy trying to build a city in the desert and serving their church to participate. Some historians have speculated about whether Freemasonry was discouraged by LDS leaders.
Whether or not that was the case, religious tension within the organization escalated to the point that, in 1925, "the Utah Grand Lodge Code precluded any Mormon ... totally from any relationship whatsoever" with Masonry in Utah, according to author Mervin Hogan's 1978 book, "The Origin and Growth of Utah Masonry and Its Conflict With Mormonism."
That provision of the code remained in force until 1984, when it was rescinded.
Freemasonry is not a religious practice, but confusion about what it is stems in part from the fact that the fraternity is believed by many historians to have originated in the ancient world because its symbols and rituals bear some similarity to sacred ceremonies that existed among the Egyptians, Coptic Christians, Israelites and even the Catholic and Protestant liturgies — all thought to have some common biblical source.
Many believe it originated with the stone masons who worked on Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, though no definitive evidence of that legend is known to exist. Others speculate that its tenets were had by Enoch, and possibly by Adam. Scholars have documented evidence that institutional Masonry dates back only to the Middle Ages, when great European cathedrals were being built by guilds of stone masons who practiced "the craft."
Cook said the fact that membership requires belief in a supreme being and a willingness to make obligations to fellow Masons through Masonic rituals and symbols that bear some limited similarity to LDS temple ceremonies also foster a misunderstanding of what the fraternity is, and is not.
"There is no question that elements of the (LDS temple) endowment and Masonic ritual are similar," Cook said. "The question for faithful Latter-day Saints is whether that makes a difference. I tend to be a rather concrete thinker."
For those who accept Joseph Smith as a prophet and believe he actually saw God and Jesus Christ in vision as a precursor to restoration of Christ's ancient church, "then the rest, I would suggest, should be a corollary" of that belief.
"I think sometimes we spend too much time worrying about issues that don't really matter to our salvation."
Nothing in LDS faith or practice precludes Latter-day Saints from becoming Masons, he said, though family and church obligations may limit the amount of time Mormon men can spend in other pursuits like Masonry.
"Freemasonry should be an adjunct to your faith and not a barrier to its exercise," Cook said. "I tell people that the only secrets we have are modes of recognition and the passwords. For those, you have to look on the Internet."
The "Encyclopedia of Mormonism" addresses questions about the faith's view of the fraternity, noting "the philosophy and major tenets of Freemasonry are not fundamentally incompatible with the teaching, theology and doctrines of the Latter-day Saints. Both emphasize morality, sacrifice, consecration and service, and both condemn selfishness, sin and greed. Furthermore, the aim of Masonic ritual is to instruct — to make truth available so that man can follow it."
The ritual resemblances between the two "are limited to a small proportion of actions and words," according to the encyclopedia, and "where the two rituals share symbolism, the fabric of meanings is different."
Cook said he sees signs within the Utah fraternity that a new openness is developing toward the community at large, and toward Latter-day Saints in particular, evidenced not only by his recent installation in ceremonies that were open to the public, but also in a willingness to acknowledge the faith in ways it hasn't previously been recognized.
On Feb. 2, during meetings before his formal installation took place, Cook said "a seasoned brother came to me and said, 'We should have a moment of silence for (deceased LDS Church) President (Gordon B.) Hinckley,"' as his funeral was taking place. "At 11 a.m., the grand master called the Grand Lodge of Utah to silence for that."
Later in the day, as members were having lunch together in the Masonic Temple downtown, someone mentioned that President Hinckley's funeral cortege would be passing their building shortly. "A group of Masons gathered on the front steps for that, not limited by religion, and stood with their hands over their hearts as the cortege passed," Cook said.
"I think those three things really signaled to me the change that has come about. ... I think LDS culture has changed, and that today, civic activities are not inappropriate."
As for what he plans to emphasize during his term as the 137th grand master of Utah, Cook said he will focus on the fraternal tenets of brotherly love, belief and truth.
"I find Freemasonry to be something at which to marvel, to be something which I view in awe," Cook wrote in a recent message published in a fraternal newsletter. "In a world in which men war and shed the blood of the innocent based on race, ethnicity and tribe, we have united ... without regard to the color of a man's skin, caring only about the tenor of his heart."
In short, Masons "are men who try to lead moral and upright lives. They contribute significantly not only on a private basis, but in a public way" as well, he said, noting they fund Shriner's Hospital for Children, help with arthritis research and other community causes.
"It's the place where I've found friends, men who have cared for me and my family and hold the moral values that I hold."
oops URL for that one
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/marksof.htm
> Your problem is why would a disaffected Mason leave the organization in the first place if it is so wonderful?
Any number of reasons. Ours is a wonderful society, but because we are all human we are not perfect: sometimes it is possible that we accept someone for membership who is unsuitable. Perhaps, for example, one who joins only so that he can write an expose for you to read.
> If it was simply because he lost interest, he would have no reason to be critical of Free Masonry, would he?
He wouldn’t resign, then — he would lapse his membership, but still be a Freemason. Either way, he’d still be bound by his Oaths.
> On the other hand, if some leave because they had some very serious concerns about the beliefs of Free Masonry, it should come as no surprise that some might want to pass on that information to the otherwise unaware.
And break a solemn, freely-given Oath, a promise to keep a confidence? How much credibility can such a cretin have, and why on earth would anyone want to have anything to do with such a person, far less listen to anything he’d have to say?
People do not go into Freemasonry with their eyes entirely shut — we do not let them. They are interviewed before we will even consider their application. They are not recruited, they have to ask to join — which means that this is something that they wanted badly enough to go to some inconvenience to achieve. During the Rituals they are asked if this is something they are willing to go thru with.
Nobody can plead ignorance, and nobody can say they were tricked. If they genuinely believe they made a mistake and choose to resign as a result, they are still honor-bound (to say nothing of Oath-bound) to preserve our confidential information.
Only a cretin breaks his solemnly-given word.
> You surely are nit going to try and tell me all new Masons are told everything about the beliefs and practices of Free Masonry as soon as they join, are you?
No, but they are certainly told enough so that they can make an intelligent choice. And if they have any questions, they are free to ask them and they will get an answer that should be sufficient to give them enough guidance to know whether this is something they want to be doing.
It’s not a cload-and-dagger organization, despite what some conspiracy theorists would like to think. It spoils their fun, so they will simply refuse to believe anything but the worst.
That’s a real shame.
Mormons would give a similar answer.
> You’re argument against accepting the word of former Masons are the exact same as the one used by the Mormons against former members.
Yup. A former member who has broken his Oaths is a willfully perjured individual, void of all moral worth, totally unfit to be received into any company of men who prize honor and virtue above the external advantages of rank and fortune.
Therefore, not to be believed.
> Mormons would give a similar answer.
Bully for them.
Masonry has none of those attributes.
1. To the extent it addresses the Bible, masons state “it is the rule and guide to a mason’s life.” Here is the EXACT teaching (from the Entered Apprentice degree):
” particularly direct your attention to the Great Light in Masonry, the Holy Bible. Howsoever men differ in creed or theology, all good men are agreed that within the covers of the Holy Bible are found those principles of morality which lay the foundation upon which to build a righteous life. Freemasonry therefore opens this Book upon its Altars, with the command to each of its votaries that he diligently study therein to learn the way to everlasting life. Adopting no particular creed, forbidding sectarian discussion within its Lodgerooms, encouraging each to be steadfast in the faith of his acceptance, Freemasonry takes all good men by the hand, and leading them to its Altars, points to the open Bible thereon, and urges upon each that he faithfully direct his steps through life by the Light he there shall find, and as he there shall find it.
If from our sacred altars the atheist, the infidel, the irreligious man, or the libertine should ever be able to wrest this Book of Sacred Laws, and thus remove, or even obscure, the greatest Light in Masonry - that Light which has for centuries been the rule and guide of Freemasons - then could we no longer claim for ourselves the great rank and title of Free and Accepted Masons; but so long as that Sacred Light shines upon our altars, so long as it illuminates the pathway of the Craftsmen by the golden rays of truth, so long and no longer can Freemasonry live and shed its beneficent influence upon mankind. Guard then, that Book of sacred and immutable law as you would guard your very life. Defend it as you would the flag of your country. Live according to its divine teachings, with its everlasting assurance of a blessed immortality.”
2/3. Masonry has no opinion on works/salvation.
4. No guru
5. The oaths of masons have been the same since recorded history.
6. Masons do not denounce other groups; in fact, they do encourage each mason to attend the church of his chosing, and have been instrumental in founding innumerous groups: the Lions, Rotary, Boy Scouts, Salvation Army, and US Marines, to name a few
7-14 Too bored with your silliness to bother. Just read the Answer to No. 1.
> Masonry has none of those attributes.
Good series of answers, Brother — well said!
In my guts I have a feeling that some folk are so determined to find Conspiracy where there is none that, rather than cope with disappointment, they will be happier if they invent one to their own liking regardless of what folk like you and I have to say.
It is self-delusion of the most helpful kind, as it hastens the advance of our hidden agenda of World Domination and the New World Order! ;-)
Masons are not a “parachurch”
It’s a fraternity.
Ah, if people only knew about a meeting. As secretary, let me see:
1. Pledge of allegence to USA
2. Read minutes
3. Sickness and distress report
4. Reports on trash pickup, food drive, fish fry
There are no “beliefs” of masons, any more than there are “beliefs” of the Boy Scouts.
(grin!)
> Ah, if people only knew about a meeting. As secretary, let me see:
1) Invoke familiar spirits
2) Read minutes
3) Open Lodge in First Degree
4) World Bank Report
5) Open Lodge in Second Degree
6) Special Report on Barcoding Technologies and 666
7) Special Report on DNA Banking
8) Open Lodge in Third Degree
6) Roswell Report
7) Correspondence from Illuminati
8) Nominations for New World Order Subcommittee
9) Collection for Jimmy Hoffa and Elvis Retirement Funds
10) Close in Third and Second Degrees
11) Welfare Report
12) Close in First Degree
13) Refectory
(Our Lodge always has 13 items on the Agenda. It’s good luck!)
Any one who labels Freemasonry a cult for it's "secret or esoteric" teachings is probably not aware of the extensive use of esoteric teaching in their own faith by the early Apostolic and Post apostolic Christians.
As I understand it the esoteric teachings of FreeMasonsry were passed down within the organization from the builders of Solomon's temple.
In the OT the understanding of the meaning of temple worship was lost for a hundred years when the book of the law was lost. God could have re-revealed the law to his prophet but he just let them find what was already in place hidden in the temple.
2 Chronicles 34:14 ¶ And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. 15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.
As Mormons claim to restore Biblical temple worship it is congruent that they would take what is already accurate within the Freemason organization about Temple worship. Sure God could have re-revealed the esoteric teaching to Jospeh Smith if he wanted to but it was easier to just tell him to go look next door. Just as it was easier for Hilkiah the preist to find what was already there.
If Freemasonry is actually passed down from Biblical tempe worship, as they claim, then the fact that mormons practice a form of it in their temples leads strengtrh to their position that proper Temple worship has been restored in the last days. For those who are still apt to call adherents of esoteric temple related teaching "cultist" The Bible itself in Ezekiel 40-44 discusses Temple worship and and a restoration of earlier esoteric rites being practiced in the last days.
____________________________________________
From FAIRLDS "Restoring the Ancient Church" CH. 6.
Esotericism in Early Christianity Esoteric Doctrines Secrecy in the New Testament Secrecy in the Post-Apostolic Church The Content of the Secret Tradition Secret Rites Baptism and Eucharist as "Mysteries" Were There Other "Mysteries"? "Orthodox" Christian Rites: The Mysteries of Clement The Secret Tradition Transmitted in a "Mystery" The "Drama of Truth" The "Ring-Dance" or "Prayer Circle" The Linen Garment The Secret Teaching "Orthodox" Christian Rites: The Later Rituals of Baptism and the Eucharist The Renunciation of Satan Initial Anointing and Baptism Second Anointing The White Garment The Prayer Circle Passwords and Signs Third Anointing The Sacraments Become Exoteric... etc.
Good point, and Pope Leo XIII remains one of my all time favorites.
Thank you for your well founded posts on this thread, and the clarification of Church law with respect to the evils of Freemasonry. Your defense of our faith, and its teachings, is appreciated. It is interesting that those who argue that the Catholic faith “allows” membership aren’t Catholics themselves, nor do they offer tangible evidence supporting their claims.
Whew!
You anti-Masons are exhausting.
My family has records of our Freemasonry that extends back to the early 1600s. It is a custom within my family that all oldest male children become Masons. I have just passed my Fellowcraft degree and I am proud to be part of this great and ancient organization. I feel no less a Christian now, and neither have my ancestors. I know I will meet them all in Heaven.
I don’t go to Lodge for religion - and I don’t receive it there either. I go to church for that. As a matter of fact, our temple was built by the man who built the Protestant church next door. It is given to us by the congregation and many of them are members. A temple in a nearby community hosts worshipers whose church burned down last year.
Although only a Fellowcraft, having been brought up in a historically Masonic family, I have more insight into the Craft than most at my level. I can only say that I’ve not seen more people with less knowledge of a subject espouse their “expertise” so loudly than I have here.
And as for the Catholics - they have always had trouble with the Masons from the beginning. At least one set of legends state that the Catholics are responsible for the existence of the Craft - through it’s roots in the Knights Templar, the order’s betrayal by the Catholic pope, and it’s subsequent movement to the underground, where it arose as Freemasonry in more tolerant times. It might be true, it might not, but the Catholics felt so threatened by Freemasonry that they started their own organization to counter it - the Knights of Columbus. They must see some benefit it fraternal fellowship. Incidentally, the master of my lodge is Catholic - and he sees no conflict with his ability to worship God and Jesus.
We don’t question a man’s religion and only require that he answer to a higher authority because it is from faith that men are guided to better themselves.
...and THAT, anti-Masons, is what the entire fraternity is all about.
What's his name or is that just another secret in the secret society?
whatever.
A couple of quick rejoinders and a thank you:
>except that one thing that all Freemasons will agree to is that Freemasonry is neither a religion
There’s lots of quotes we’ve seen from Freemasons that contradict this. I know it’s changed, but still, “all” is a bit too broad, unless it’s “all since 19__” and even then maybe not completely accurate.
>the Masons took a bunch of rocks and shaped and carved them into beautifully-architected Cathedrals..
I think masonry today is quite removed from the trade guilds of the past. I believe speculative masons entered in the 1600s or so, So it’s no longer a trade guild, quite different; I’m not sure the connection to the Cathedral builders is valid. Now a comparison to “trade secrets” may be, but it’s quite a different “trade” involved.
>Freemasonry is more than a clinical assessment of who we are and why we are: it also encompasses and incorporates the truly ennobling aspirations of the human spirit, such as Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth — all of which are also, coincidentally, part-and-parcel of most decent world religions (including and perhaps especially Catholicism, and certainly excluding Militant Islam).
Which is why it can be classed as a “religion” by some definitions.
>As to the Indifferentism, I guess it espouses Indifferentism to the same degree as, say, the US Military espouses Indifferentism or the local Businessman’s Club
These allow atheists and they don’t teach indifferentism, they are indifferent to religion. There’s a difference. :)
It’s back again to whether masonry is a religion or religious teaching.
>Perhaps for some Freemasons it can become a “religion” in the same way that Alcoholics Anonymous can become a de-facto “religion” for a recovering alcoholic.
Not a good comparison if masonry is not a religion. AA freely admits that it is a spiritual program and a set of spiritual tools. It’s steps are quite similar to Catholicism, and the Orthodox movement, AA’s predecessor, is Anglican and very much self-admittedly religion.
And finally, the thank you. Thank you for engaging in honest and courteous discussion with me here.
best regards..
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