three five seven #64
by Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Minnesota
01 December 2005
"The truths of Masonry are contained within the religions of the world."
From
the 26° of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite: Prince of Mercy or Scottish
Trinitarian.
It happened the other day that I was listening to a talk given by David
Gergen where he mentioned about asking the hard questions. Hard questions are
questions you know need to be asked but many times a person doesn't want asked,
or to ask, because he really doesn't want to give or hear the answer. It's kind
of like the commercials on TV lately where there's this elephant in someone's
home or office that no one wants to acknowledge or talk about.
Hard questions are not necessarily controversial; they're just questions
people would rather ignore. What may seem like a hard question to me may not be
considered a hard question by you. Well I have a couple of questions, and I hope
they're not hard questions; but I'm wondering how many Masons in Minnesota know
the position of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota on Religion? Have the officers of
your Lodge ever talked about this in a Lodge Communication for educational
purposes, or had something about it in the Lodge Newsletter?
I do believe all Masons know that Freemasonry is not a religion or a
substitute for a man's religion, but knowing what our Grand Lodge's stance is on
this question is very helpful to know why we advocate that Freemasonry is not a
religion.
The Grand Lodge of Minnesota's official position on this question can be
found in the latest edition of the Minnesota Masonic Manual, which can be
purchased from our Grand Lodge office, and it can be viewed, read and printed
from our Grand Lodge Web Site at
http://www.mn-masons.org under the topic
of Brethren Resources.
MASONRY AND RELIGION
Masonry does not profess to be a religion, although it is obviously religious
in character. It also does not pretend to take the place of religion, nor serve
as a substitute for the religious beliefs of its members.
Freemasonry will open its doors to all men regardless of their religious
conviction, the essential requirements in this regard being an avowed belief in
God and expected punishment for vice and reward for virtue. (See the first
Ancient Landmark in the Grand Lodge Constitution, Section C2.03 (1) That belief
in the Supreme Being, "The Great Architect of the Universe," who will punish
vice and reward virtue, is an indispensable prerequisite to admission to
Masonry.)
MINNESOTA'S OFFICIAL POSITION
The National Masonic Information Center proposes the following statement
concerning Freemasonry and religion and is encouraging Grand Lodges throughout
the United States to adopt this statement so that they will have a common
position regarding this religious issue.
The Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Minnesota adopted the following statement as a
standing resolution at its 1996 Annual Communication:
Basic Principles Freemasonry is not a religion, nor is it a substitute for
religion. Freemasonry requires of its members belief in God as part of the
obligation of every responsible adult, but advocates no sectarian faith or
practice. Masonic ceremonies include prayers, both traditional and extempore, to
reaffirm each individual's dependence on God and to seek divine guidance.
Freemasonry is open to men of any faith, but religion may not be discussed at
Masonic meetings.
The Supreme Being: Masons believe that there is one God and that people
employ many different ways to seek and to express what they know of God. Masons
primarily uses the appellation, "Grand Architect of the Universe," and other
non-sectarian titles, to address Deity. In this way, persons of different faiths
may join together in prayer, concentrating on God rather than on differences
among themselves. Masonry believes in religious freedom and that the
relationship between the individual and God is personal, private, and sacred.
Volume of the Sacred Law: An open volume of the Sacred Law, "the rule and
guide of life," is an essential part of every Masonic meeting. The Volume of the
Sacred Law to a Christian is the Bible; to Freemasons of other faiths, it is the
book held holy by them.
The Oath of Freemasonry: The obligations taken by Freemasons are sworn on the
Volume of the Sacred Law. They are undertakings to follow the principles of
Freemasonry and to keep confidential a Freemason's means of recognition. The
much-discussed penalties are judicial remnants from an earlier era and are
symbolic, not literal. They refer only to the pain any honest man should feel at
the thought of violating his word.
Freemasonry Compared with Religion: Freemasonry lacks the basic elements of
religion: (a) It has no dogma or theology, no wish or means to enforce religious
orthodoxy. (b) It offers no sacraments. (c) It does not claim to lead to
salvation by works, by secret knowledge, or by any other means. The secrets of
Freemasonry are concerned with modes of recognition, not with the means of
salvation.
Freemasonry Supports Religion: Freemasonry is far from indifferent toward
religion. Without interfering in religious practice, it expects each member to
follow his own faith and to place his Duty to God above all other duties. Its
moral teachings are acceptable to all religions.
Concerning Prayer
Masonic custom dictates that the Lodge be opened and closed with prayer. It
is always proper to address the Supreme Being as "The Great Architect of the
Universe." Addressing the Deity in prayer at Masonic functions should never be
done in a way that excludes Brothers of other faiths and of necessity should be
inclusive and universal, not sectarian or denominational.
Display of Flags
Every Masonic Lodge should have the American flag displayed to the right of
the Master's podium in the East and the other national flags or the Minnesota
Masonic flag displayed to the left. It is never proper to display the flag of
any religious group or faith tradition in a Masonic Lodge when conducting Stated
or Special Communications.
The Volume of Sacred Law
An open volume of Sacred Law (Holy Bible) which includes the Old and New
Testaments shall be displayed upon the altar at all Stated and Special
Communications. When Brothers of other faith traditions who have taken their
vows on a different Volume of Sacred Law are present, it is proper and salutary
to display on the altar the Volume of Sacred Law which they honor and revere.
This practice conforms to the highest ideals of our Craft in respect for the
various faith traditions of our members when in Lodge assembled.
The vows of the candidate's initiation must be taken upon the Volume of
Sacred Law that will bind them to the solemn obligations of our Fraternity. Each
candidate for Masonic initiation should be asked, prior to the first degree,
what Volume of Sacred Law they revere as their Great Light in Masonry. If a
candidate desires to provide a Volume of Sacred Law other than the Lodge's, he
may do so and his obligations can be taken upon that book. Separate books can be
used for each candidate.
"Masonry is a system of ethics and moral conduct. Genuine religion must
include morality but the science of morality does not include religion."
Brother Prentiss Tucker
Sans Dieu Rien = [French] = Without God, nothing.
From the Great Light of Masonry:
"Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being
polluted by the world."
James 1:27 NIV
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