by
The Rev. Baron Dr. Lloyd Worley
Fellow of
the Philalethes Society
Associate Regent, York Rite Sovereign College
2644 11th Avenue #D-109
Greeley, CO 80631
FAX
303-352-7650
copyright 1986,1992 ,1995 by Lloyd Worley All rights reserved. This article, nor any portion thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner, including electronic transmission, without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Anti-Masonry began as early as 1738 with the first Papal Bull of Pope Clement XII whose protest was not religious, but political, i.e., that Freemasonry was "secret" and could not be controlled by the church. Since that early time, Freemasonry has suffered a long series of unwarranted attacks and opposition from the fearful, the ignorant, and the tyrannical. In the face of such attacks, the practice of Masonic Grand Lodges has been to remain silent. However, recently even the Grand Lodge of England, the Mother Grand Lodge of the world, has thought it necessary to respond to the lies being spread by the anti-masons. The reason for the breaking of the silence is simple: the impact of modern broadcast and print media has made response necessary.
This article originally appeared in The Philalethes, the official publication of The Philalethes Society and was written by Rev. Baron Dr. Lloyd Worley, an active Freemason who is also a university professor, nobleman, and clergyman. Baron Worley has made a study of anti-Masonry for many years. While pro- Masonic material usually concentrates on the charities and well-known persons of Freemasonry, this article is one of the few-and may be the only one-that focuses exclusively on the theological and religious aspects of anti-Masonry. The purpose of this article is not necessarily to convince the anti-mason of the excellence of Freemasonry, but to inform the neutral person and to aid and assist the Freemason who may be, for the first time, exposed to the poisonous cutting edge of anti-Masonry. The information herein is presented in the form of an inquiry by a man who wishes to petition a Masonic Lodge, but has been confused and scared by a "friend" whose Pastor is anti-Masonic. This format has been used because it represents a real-life occurrence.
Dr. Lloyd Worley, an active Master Mason, has dropped by the home of a man to pick up the man's Masonic petition. However, he finds the man deeply troubled. Sitting at the man's kitchen table, the following conversation begins_
Baron Worley, I was planning to petition the Lodge, but now I'm not sure. I mentioned Masonry to a friend at work, and he acted like I was planning to become a Satanist. Last night, he and his pastor came over and gave me these pamphlets that say a lot of bad things about Masonry. I'm confused and a little scared. Could we talk about that?
Of course, John, I'd be happy to discuss whatever topics they presented to you.
Well, first of all, they claimed that their statements about Freemasonry were based upon this ritual book. Does this book of printed rituals which they left with me really reveal Masonic rituals?
Well, John, the simple fact of the matter is that, as a Mason, I don't discuss Masonic Rituals with anyone other than another Mason. We consider our Rituals our own business, but I will tell you this: if some publisher was lucky enough to sell that Pastor a "ritual book" for ten or twenty dollars, he shouldn't come waving it at us Masons demanding to know the authenticity of the goods. We don't have to verify anything. The Pastor paid his money, so now he takes his choice. It is entirely up to the owner of such a book to decide whether or not the "rituals" are "real." If the decision is that the "rituals" are not "real," then the book can be thrown away; if the decision is that the "rituals" are "real," then it doesn't matter what I say about the book since the matter has already been settled. However, I can offer you this one statement with absolute confidence: the only place where really authentic Masonic Ritual can be found is in a regular and legally constituted Masonic Lodge that is under the jurisdiction of a regular Grand Lodge.
Now, about that Pastor. As the owner of a publicly distributed "Masonic ritual," he is faced with an interesting dilemma: either, (a) the writer of the "ritual" is not a Freemason and has never been in a Masonic lodge, in which case the writer is a liar or a dupe who lacks firsthand experience of Masonic Ritual: or (b) the writer claims to be a former Freemason who has decided to "reveal the secrets" of Freemasonry, despite the promises of secrecy he claims he made as a Mason, thereby demonstrating that, as a perjurer, his word is no good and that he can't be trusted.
Either way, the writer of a printed "Masonic ritual" is a liar, and the owner of the "ritual" is in the difficult position of having to make decisions based upon the word of someone who is, simply said, a liar.
But I have seen this same Masonic Ritual enacted on a TV evangelist's weekly broadcast on a Christian network.
Yes, but the same answer applies to either the written or performed "ritual"-I am under no requirement to validate someone else's denunciations! Anyway, the TV evangelist you are referring to makes his living attacking other groups, and the Masonic Lodge is only one in a long line of organizations he is opposing. By the way, you'll notice that TV show is such an embarrassment to the so-called "Christian" network that it feels compelled to run a disclaimer of responsibility both before and after the broadcast. But, of course, the embarrassed "Christian" network soothes its guilty conscience with the sweet balm of the TV evangelist's air time money.
Despite the evangelist's pretense at "fairness" and "concern for souls," it is quite obvious to any normal, thinking person that the entire purpose of his particular anti-Masonic, anti-everything program is to make money. It's all money, money, money. The TV evangelist begs for donations, and he also has a whole line of items he wants to sell you so that he can pay for his suits and his cars. And once you're on his mailing list, you'll find that he has plenty of other things to sell you, and you can bet his computer will see to it that your mailbox is stuffed with offers.
So, the publisher of "rituals" makes money from the hatred of Freemasonry, and the TV evangelist makes money from the hatred Freemasonry, and the only one who makes no money from Freemasonry is the Freemason himself-because he doesn't hate it.
The Pastor claimed that Freemasonry is a religious institution, and that, therefore, Freemasonry is a Non-Christian and false religion.
That Freemasonry is a religious institution is readily acknowledged by Freemasons everywhere, but Freemasons and Freemasonry absolutely and correctly deny that the Order is a "religion" of any kind.
Freemasonry is a "religious institution" in the same sense that a Methodist, Presbyterian, or Roman Catholic hospital is a "religious institution," or a Methodist, Presbyterian, or Roman Catholic college is a "religious institution." But is that hospital a "religion?" No, of course not. And is that college a "religion?" Certainly not.
Any normal, thinking person understands that "a religious institution" is an organization whose members are required to be religious. Since Freemasonry requires its members to believe in God, in that sense only is Freemasonry a "religious institution," and only the simple-minded or the bigot attempts to make anything more out of this classical definition of the Order.
Freemasonry is a social and fraternal organization. The only areas that Freemasonry has in common with "religion" are (a) a requirement that its members believe in God; (b) a belief in the immortality of the soul (and in some Grand Lodges, even this is often implied, rather than directly stated or required); (c) a belief in and the use of prayer; and (d) a belief in the everyday application of ethical behavior. No matter now hard they try, the enemies of Freemasonry can't make a "religion" out of these four simple characteristics...not, of course, that they don't try.
Well, the Pastor also said that Masonry is a religion because men make the Lodge their Church.
John, you should know that the Masonic Lodge is absolutely neutral in the matter of a man's religious affiliation. If a man says, as some men do, that "the lodge is church enough for me," then that is the personal decision of the man involved, and Freemasonry is not and cannot be held responsible for it. If a man declares that the lodge is his "church," what he is really saying is that his need for God and his need for fellowship are not satisfied in his church, in which case it is the church that has failed, not the lodge. Instead of blaming the lodge, it is the responsibility of the church to examine itself, its own educational programs, and its own spirit of Godly love to find the cause of its failure.
Next, I was told that Freemasonry offers Prayers to a false god named the "Gaotu."
First of all, the term "Gaotu" never occurs in Freemasonry because it is nothing more than a lying, imitation word created by anti-masons who try to offer it as "proof" that Masons are "worshipping" a "false god." In fact, anti- masons have merely concocted the "word" from the first letters of the legitimate Masonic phrase "Great Architect Of The Universe," which Freemasons use to refer to the God of the Bible. The phrase follows the building/construction symbology used in the Masonic Lodge, and Masons use the phrase out of respect for the building tradition from which Freemasonry developed and out of love for God. Frankly, it is perverse and wrong to suggest that the phrase means anything more.
Secondly, it isn't Freemasonry that offers prayers, it is Freemasons who offer prayer. Each man is praying privately to God, and the fact is that these "preachers" who sit in judgment of the Masons have deluded themselves into believing that they have inherited the mantle of Moses and other Old Testament Prophets who destroyed the ancient pagan idols of brass, gold, and iron. Unfortunately, the anti-masons lack the mental equipment to see that there is a vast difference between a pagan heaving babies into the open mouth of Moloch and a Freemason quietly offering prayer to God. And if these "preachers" have noticed the difference, they refuse to believe it.
Luckily for Freemasons and all lovers of personal liberty, the framers of our Constitution saw to it that no preacher, pastor, priest, church, or government holds any right whatever to take action against a devout man who they think is praying to a "false god." I say it is lucky, because, otherwise, these self- appointed prophets would fuel the fires of martyrdom with Masonic books and with the bodies of Masons. Don't think it can't happen, and don't think that the anti-masons, with their fascist mind-set, wouldn't shed the blood of Masons if they could: history proves otherwise. (Remember: of the 7,563 political prisoners of the Nazis, 1,265 were accused of the "crime" of being Freemasons.) To believe that Freemasons offer prayers to a "false" god is a theological insult, a religious lie, and a danger to Constitutional freedom.
Well, here's something that really bothers me. You know that I'm a devout Christian, but the pastor says that nowhere in your prayers can the name of Jesus be found. He said that Freemasonry offers Christless prayers to God and that, without Christ, those prayers are an abomination to God.
The whole idea of "Christless prayer" in the Lodge is absurd because the form of the prayer used in the Masonic Lodge is based upon Old Testament models, the prime example of which is the Lord's Prayer of the New Testament.
It is ironic that the anti-Masonic preachers who rave about "Christless prayers" in the Lodge apparently have not noticed that the Lord's Prayer itself exactly fits their definition of a "Christless prayer"! However, I am not surprised that they haven't noticed this because the ability to think straight is not a strong point of anti-masons.
John, one of the lessons of the Lord's Prayer is that God can be addressed directly as "Abba" or "Father." The idea that a prayer must be offered with the "through Jesus Christ our Lord" ending is a later theological development not found in the New Testament Gospels.
The prayers of Freemasonry are Biblically sound. There is one prayer at the opening ceremony, one at the closing, and one in each Initiation. The prayers call upon God to bless the proceedings and lives of the men present.
Anyway, these anti-masons are trying to play both sides of the field. That is, if our prayers did end the way they wanted them to, then they would accuse us of being another religion/church. With them, it's a no-win situation-if we had no prayers, then we would be a "godless institution," and, since we have prayers, we're a "false religion." What bottom-dealers these people are!
I understand that, but the pastor said that Freemasonry denies Jesus Christ and is anti-Christian because Freemasons must leave the Savior at the Lodge door.
That statement is absolutely false. It is no more possible for a Christian to "leave Christ at the Lodge door" than it is for him to leave the color of his eyes at the Lodge door. If a man is Christian when he enters the Lodge, then he is Christian while he is in it, and continues to be Christian when he goes home. The statement makes no sense whatever and actually reveals the speaker as being dangerously intolerant and bigoted.
Freemasonry follows the example of the American Constitution and recognizes the right of religious belief. Following this inalienable principle of freedom, Freemasonry, while requiring its members to have a faith, is neutral as to the expression of that faith.
For Christians, the neutrality of the Masonic Lodge is perfectly permissible, as Jesus himself said "He that is not against us is for us." (Mark 9:40) Freemasonry is most definitely not against Christianity. How could it be? Freemasonry does not expect any person (Freemason or otherwise) to alter or change his religious beliefs in any way whatever, except, perhaps that it hopes that a man's faith becomes stronger.
A man's religious beliefs come from his church and do not originate within the Lodge, whose only interests are to promote brotherly relations, intellectual and philosophical improvement, and social activities among its members.
In the printed Masonic Ritual that the pastor left with me, you can see that the name of Jesus Christ has been removed from the Bible quotations. The pastor said that this is wicked.
Freemasonry doesn't do anything "wicked." However, that pastor's printed "ritual" is wicked because, for the purpose of leading people astray, it knowingly and deliberately presents distorted ideas and direct lies about Freemasonry.
The pastor showed me where the Bible says "Be not yoked with unbelievers," then he said that Freemasonry yokes together believers and unbelievers.
You were lied to. The Biblical reference here quoted ("Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." II Corinthians 6:14) has nothing whatever to do with Freemasonry or the Freemasonic brotherhood. In fact, the reference by Paul is to marriages between a Christian and a non-Christian. But this is a good example of how the anti-masons will wrench a Biblical quotation from its proper context and deliberately misinterpret it for the purpose of putting Freemasonry in a bad light. That's their job; it's what they like to do.
I was told that Freemasonry is a Satanic cult that has occult practices.
Utter nonsense. Freemasonry does not fit any intelligent person's definition of a "cult," is not "Satanic" by any stretch of the imagination, and has no practices of any kind that any normal, educated person would describe as "occult." Your Pastor is making himself ridiculous with these outrageous comments.
Well, I didn't think that the Masonic Lodge was really Satanic, but the pastor did say that Freemasonry requires its members to take blood- curdling oaths that require mutilation and murder of seceding members.
John, Freemasonry does not require its members to take oaths of any kind, "bloodcurdling," "murderous," or otherwise. It does require its members to enter the Fraternity by making a series of promises to live a faithful and moral life and to pursue knowledge. This series of promises constitutes a vow and is called by Masons an "Obligation."
An "oath" and an "obligation" (or vow) are not the same, despite modern usage which confuses the two terms. The Masonic Obligation is perfectly legitimate and is cast in the form of a medieval legal contract, a form that most modern people simply are not familiar with. For the purposes of emphasis and tradition, certain parts of the Masonic Obligation are couched in striking medieval metaphorical and allegorical phrases which are understood by all Master Masons to be "exclamation points" used for emphasis. Further, those metaphorical and allegorical phrases the candidate will later understand to be links (or references) to certain characters found in Masonic Ritual.
Anyway, what kind of person is that Pastor? Only a fool would believe that Freemasons are interested in or involved with mutilation or murder. The Pastor should know that the use of allegory and metaphor to emphasize the importance of certain actions or belief is common. For example, in the New Testament Jesus told His disciples...
...to castrate themselves ("For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (Matthew 19:12)...
...tie millstones around the necks of bad Christians and drown them ("But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18:6), or cut off their own hands and feet or gouge out their eyes if they sinned by means of them ("Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." (Matthew 18:8,9).
Do you suppose that the Pastor actually believes that Jesus really wanted His followers to do these things, or did Jesus have a point to make? Well, the Masons have a point to make, and the nature of the Masonic Obligation is explained to the Masonic candidate right before he takes it. The Candidate has the perfect right to refuse to take the Obligation and stop the initiation ceremony. To my knowledge, no man has done so because, in the setting of the Lodge, it is clear what is happening. And, of course, the Candidate isn't an idiot or a coward and is confidant that what he doesn't understand will be explained later. He's right.
By the way, don't you find it interesting-and revealing-that none of those men who have "exposed" the "secrets" of Freemasonry have been mutilated or murdered, but live righteously on, their eyes cast to heaven, and their oh-so-clean hands held out to virtuously collect the royalties and profits from their scurrilous books and pamphlets? How could that be if such "murderous oaths" had been taken? Surely these noise-makers would have suffered at the hands of their vengeful ex-Brethren. But, of course, they haven't. The absolute worst fate an erring Freemason could suffer from his Masonic Brethren is expulsion from the Fraternity; the second worse fate would be temporary suspension; the third worse fate would be to have to put up with stupid lies from anti-masons.
But the pastor said that Jesus forbids the swearing of oaths.
Jesus does not forbid the taking of an obligation (or vow). In the context of Scripture, Jesus is forbidding the swearing of oaths that rely on the inanimate creation of God for enforcement and fulfillment. Jesus does not permit that action because it is useless to swear by the earth or by heaven.
The correct method of making a vow is carefully described in the Old Testament ("And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth." (Numbers 30:1,2), and it does not involve relying on inanimate objects, but upon God. Think about it: if Jesus were actually forbidding the taking of an obligation (a legal contract constituted by a series of promises), then what would that truly mean? For example, all our wedding obligations (vows) would be invalid and unchristian! We couldn't buy a home-after all, a buyer's contract is a form of vow, and one with a rather severe penalty, too. And your credit card is a form of promise to pay-a vow to transfer money from your account to another's. And so on. You can see the absurdity of believing that Jesus forbids the taking of an obligation, including the Masonic one.
My friend's pastor said that Freemasonry offers a plan of salvation by works, and showed me the public funeral ceremony which assumes that the "good Mason" has gone to Heaven.
Freemasonry offers no plan of salvation whatever-that is the purpose of religion, not the Lodge. What the Masonic Lodge does do is to constantly demonstrate, emphasize, and demand right conduct in its members. Following the counsel given in Proverbs and Psalms, the Freemason believes in and practices right conduct and the ethical life in daily living.
As for the funeral ceremony, its purposes are to comfort the family and to allow the Masonic Brethren to show their last respect for one departed. What normal, caring person would want to increase the misery of the family by suggesting that the departed loved one was in hell? (I do point out, however, that I've been to so-called "Christian" funerals where the so-called Pastor did just that-raging on that the departed had gone to hell because he wasn't of the "Pastor's" particular brand of raligion...and then had the gall to urge tthe shocked and weeping family to profess their faith to avoid their beloved's fiery fate! Amazing, isn't it? Misery and nastiness in the name of religion!) Anyway, the Masonic ceremony of burial assumes that the Mason has followed the tenets of his religion, and that it is the man's religion that is responsible for the state of his soul after death.
The pastor also said that Freemasonry admits only men and therefore is sexist.
This odd statement originated with the American Synod of Roman Catholic Bishops, not a one of whom is a woman! The hypocrisy of their accusation is obvious. And how nice of the Pastor to agree-for once-with Roman Catholic Bishops. Yes, it is true that in following its traditional origins, Freemasonry admits only men. It's good to know that the Pastor strives to be so sensitive and politically correct.
The pastor then said that Freemasonry is racist since it admits only Caucasians.
Freemasonry is not racist, although-sad to say-there are Freemasons who are racist, just as there are non-racist and racist Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Moslems. The guiding principle of Freemasonry is to admit as members men of good character who have a belief in God. A deviation from that principle is un- Masonic. In fact, many Grand Lodges have specific statements of non- discrimination in regards to race, and more and more Grand Lodges are including such statements in their constitutions. However, it is not possible to give exact figures on the racial makeup of Freemasonry because there is no place on a Masonic petition to indicate one's race.
But didn't the Prince Hall Masons begin, and aren't they unrecognized even today, because white men wouldn't allow black men in their lodges?
The development and current status of the Prince Hall (Black or Negro) Masonic lodges are related to historical, geographical and jurisdictional developments, all of which have been complicated by American racial prejudice. The original Lodge that initiated Prince Hall (who was Black) was a perfectly regular Irish military traveling lodge. After the Revolutionary War, Prince Hall's Lodge had some charter difficulties related to distance and complications of delivery, and it is likely that these problems were made worse by racial prejudice. Later, the major problems with Prince Hall Masonry had to do with (a) "regularity," i.e., who issued a proper charter to Prince Hall to form a lodge, and (b) the problem of jurisdiction, since, in the United States, the rule in the past has been that each state could have only one Grand Lodge. Modern Masonic research has been able to provide satisfactory answers to these questions, and, as a result, more and more American Grand Lodges are now recognizing Prince Hall Grand Lodge Masons as being regular, and intervisitation is increasing. But you mustn't get the idea that Black Masons are clamoring to enter white lodges. The Prince Hall Lodges have a proud and cherished tradition which they are not anxious to relinquish, and Black Americans, in honor of that tradition, have caused Prince Hall Masonry to flourish.
The pastor was really upset about Freemasonry being a secret organization.
Freemasonry is not a "secret organization." Of course, this is the accusation that anti-masons really like to banter about, but actually, if Freemasonry were a "secret organization," then no one would know about it -would they? But almost everybody knows about "the Masons." Masonic buildings are clearly marked, Masonic meetings and activities are often publicly announced in the newspaper, and Masons like to wear Masonic rings and pins. That's hardly a way to run a "secret organization." The idea is simply absurd.
It is true that Masons don't talk about their Rituals, and they don't talk about their proceedings, but that's because they consider these matters private. There is nothing unusual or sinister in this. For example, most normal people won't discuss the amount of their annual salaries or how much they have in the bank. They consider those matters private. I imagine that the Pastor would also be "really upset" if we published his private business in a book!
The pastor said that God doesn't want his people to be Freemasons.
Any normal, thinking person can see the foolishness of this statement. Nowhere has God forbidden Masonic membership.
However, Masonic membership has been forbidden by Communist and Fascist governments and other dictatorships that fear the love of freedom. It's a sad fact that a dictatorship can be religious as well as political; there are certain church "leaders" who could give lessons in fear and mind control to Marx, Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, and Saddam Hussein (all anti-masons). The ability of these church leaders to twist and pull and distort Scripture is quite remarkable. If God wants anything, then He wants his people to be loving, righteous, and free, and so does Freemasonry.
But the pastor showed me some books that said that Freemasonry is of pagan origin and is full of pagan symbols with heathen interpretations.
You know, Freemasons grow quite tired of non-masons and anti-masons interpreting our own rites and symbols to us. Every Masonic symbol has an official explanation offered by the Grand Lodge of each jurisdiction, but only one understanding of a symbol is hardly enough. It is the nature of symbols to be multi-faceted and to have various interpretations, which is why there are so many Masonic books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias written by individual Freemasons such as Albert Mackey or Henry Wilson Coil.
When anti-masons who are "Christian" triumphantly point to a "pagan" symbol, it is equally easy for a genuinely Christian Mason to point to a Christian meaning of the symbol. That's just the nature of symbology. And no one knows the exact origin of Freemasonry, pagan or otherwise.
It is important for you to know, John, that a symbol doesn't really teach you anything new, but rather, it intensifies whatever you bring to it. If you are wise, a symbol makes you wiser. If you are educated, the symbol leads you to more education. And if you are a fool, a symbol might only make you more foolish.
The pastor said that my church doesn't want me to be a Freemason.
Freemasonry has no interest in seeking converts or in forcing a man to become a Mason. If a man's church has so tightly bound its dogma that it doesn't want him to become a Freemason, then, perhaps that man shouldn't petition the Masonic Lodge.
If a church thinks that it has found reasons to forbid membership in Freemasonry, then, you know, under American law, it is free to enforce that prohibition upon its members, with or without explanation, and the members are free to put up with it if they wish. The error of certain churches occurs when those churches suffer the delusion that theirs is the true Christianity and that its particular anti-Masonic stand applies to all of Christianity, and that it is a sacred duty to issue anti-Masonic books and pamphlets full of distortions and lies. Some churches and church leaders are hoping that their members have forgotten that this is America, not 18th century Rome where Freemasons were jailed or Nazi Germany where Freemasons were gassed.
When a man has formed a favorable opinion of Freemasonry and wishes to petition a Masonic Lodge for membership, then petitioning for Masonic membership is a legal and moral act that he is free-or should be free-to perform. If some church, under the pretense of "biblical injunction" or "pastoral authority," interferes with or forbids the moral, legal, proper and constitutional privileges of its members, then perhaps the individual church member should re- examine the exact nature of the church to which he belongs, especially if the religious body pretends to hold the power to cut off a human being from the fellowship of God.
Well, Baron Worley, you've really put my mind at ease about my questions. But why would all these churches oppose us?
Well, John, "all" churches don't oppose Freemasonry. In fact, most don't, and there are millions of active, believing church members and tens of thousands of busy clergy within our Order. Truth be told, our only opposition comes from adults who, when they were children, believed that there were monsters under the bed and in the closet. And when they became adults, their imaginary monsters moved from under the bed and out of the closet and into the Lodge.
The anti-masons are the fearfully ignorant whose religion is hatred, whose philosophy is ignorance, and whose practice is belligerence. They have raised shrines to their bigotry, and they keep their sacred fires of destruction burning with their printing presses and TV advertising money.
Let's examine your question more closely: why do certain people spend so much time and energy in combat against a benevolent brotherhood such as ours? The answer is somewhat complex and, depending upon the group, has something to do with history, politics, and a peculiar kind of theology.
First, there are the numerous smaller "fundamentalist" groups who oppose Freemasonry primarily through the influence of their individual church Pastors who learned tyranny instead of truth at their Bible colleges-if they attended Bible college. These anti-Masonic Pastors and their churches all share one characteristic: they are afraid. Their "faith" is a religion of fear and isolation and arrogance whose rigid theology is so narrow that it is generally incompatible with everything else, including the beliefs of other Christians! Hence, their leaders thrive on fear, and they use fear to motivate both themselves and their members. What they cannot control, they seek to destroy. It is they who "worship a false god," a "god" who is a hot-tempered Big Daddy who can hardly wait to get His naughty children to the woodshed. Of course, their ultimate fear is the "fire of hell," and since they are perfectly willing to send other people to hell for the slightest disagreement, they think that God is too.
Haven't you noticed that these folks know more about and talk more about fear, wrongdoing, and hell than they do about heaven? They believe that they should be for God by being against so many things. The Psalm says that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," but note that fear is only the beginning. The New Testament goes on to say that "perfect Love casts out all fear."
I believe that if these people loved God more, and hated themselves less, then they wouldn't have to worry so much about the Masons. Generally speaking, it is these smaller groups that make the most noise by printing the numerous anti- Masonic pamphlets and the book which you have been given.
There is another religious group that opposes us: most people are aware of the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to Freemasonry (how often I have heard it said that "Catholics can't be Masons"). Actually, the Roman Catholic dislike of Freemasonry was originally political, not religious, with its roots in that Church's suspicion of anything that was related to Henry VIII, including the Anglican Church and its Protestantism. Since the first Grand Lodge of Freemasonry was considered a "British" institution (London, 1717, although modern research shows that its members were Irish, meaning that the first Grand Lodge was an Irish institution!), Papal prohibition against the "British" organization was soon forthcoming (by the way, modern research strongly suggests that Masonry originated in Catholic Ireland!).
Next, in the democratic revolution lead by the Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi against the Vatican's control of the civil government of Italy, the Vatican's worst suspicions about the Masonic Lodge were confirmed when it discovered that Garibaldi was a prominent Mason (who eventually became the Grand Master of Masons of Italy).
In nearby France, the anti-clericalism of Masons in the French revolution was based not on theology, but on the Church's attempt to control the civil government. Also, the French Church-and Rome as well-fell victim to hoaxer Leo Taxil who, to embarrass the Church, produced a truckload of forged documents to show that the Masons were "satanic." Indeed, it is Taxil who manufactured the fake Albert Pike quotations about "satanism" and Freemasonry. Once Rome had swallowed the bait, Taxil revealed the hoax and everyone had a good laugh-everyone except the Church leaders, of course. As amazing as it sounds, I'm not making this up! Taxil's hoax and forged documents are a matter of history, and even today, those anti-masonic "Pastors" often rely on Taxil's forged documents.
But in both the Italian and French revolutions, as well as in Taxil's hoax, the Roman Catholic Church remembered, not that the people were struggling for control of their own governments or that Leo Taxil was a faker, but that Masons were "leading the fight against the church." Hence, "the Masons" were condemned as anti-catholic.
The strongest anti-Masonic statement from the Roman Catholic Church was made in the late 19th century by Pope Leo XIII in his shameful Bull entitled "Humanum Genus." This Bull embarrassed Roman Catholics world wide because it condemned Freemasons for promoting such "evils" as free public schools, the right to vote, and freedom of religion. Because the Bull has never been rescinded, it should still be an embarrassment.
In the late 1970's and early 1980's, the Vatican's prohibition against Roman Catholics becoming Freemasons was relaxed, but under the current conservative trend in the Roman Catholic Church, and seeing that its original political condemnations were no longer valid, the anti-Masonic stance has been reinstated, and the Vatican has taken up some of the anti-Masonic ravings of the fundamentalists. Anti-Masonry makes for strange bedfellows! (Indeed, according to the Vatican, Roman Catholics who are also Freemasons are ranked with murderers as living "in serious sin." Tell that to a Roman Catholic Freemason who has just spend several hours working for a Masonic charity such as the Knights Templar Eye Foundation, the Tall Cedars' Muscular Dystrophy Rose Sale, or a Shriner's hospital.)
Let it be plainly said that the Masonic Fraternity is not now and never has been anti-catholic, and there are many Roman Catholics who are also active Freemasons, despite their church's prohibitions against membership.
Thirdly, you will find that opposition to Freemasonry also comes from certain Lutheran Church denominations. This opposition appears to have its roots in the Roman Catholic Church from which the Lutheran Church developed. Most Lutheran denominations have official anti-Masonic positions of one kind or another. For example, the constitution of the Lutheran Church in America (the LCA) says that "no person, who belongs to any organization which claims to possess in its teachings and ceremonies that which the Lord has given solely to his church, shall be ordained or otherwise received into the ministry." This deliberately vague and arrogant regulation is designed to deny lodge membership of any kind (including Masonic) to LCA clergy, but it does not apply to LCA lay members.
It is safe to say that our most vehement opposition comes from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod whose campaign against Freemasonry is organized, missionary, fanatical, and perhaps even maniacal. However, the Freemasons shouldn't feel alone: the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod opposes all fraternal orders and groups, including even the Boy Scouts! That church even maintains a "Commission on Fraternal Orders" whose purpose is to maintain and distribute a steady flow of anti-lodge pamphlets and booklets. Incredibly, the Missouri Synod has distinguished itself in the act of Christian love and charity by opposing other Lutheran denominations, going so far as to refuse to use a common hymnal or even accept the baptisms of other Lutheran groups! No further comment is necessary.
I do point out, however, that not all individual Lutherans oppose Freemasonry. In fact, I have met and spent wonderful fraternal time with non- clergy Lutherans who were also Freemasons. So not "all" Lutherans are anti- Masonic.
Some people think that all Baptists are anti-Masonic, but that isn't true. To date, no Baptist group has taken an anti-Masonic stand, and there are tens of thousands of devout Baptists who are also active Masons. Nevertheless, it is possible to find within the Southern Baptist Convention some opposition to Freemasonry. Right now, the most "Baptist" anti-Masonic noise is being made by James L. Holly who claims in a self-published book that Freemasonry is a "spiritually devastating and ungodly brotherhood of satanic darkness." (Sure it is, Jim. And the AMA and the CIA and the KGB are poisoning your water with flouride, too.) Meanwhile, the Interfaith Witness Department of the Southern Baptist Convention issued a report saying that Freemasonry is not a religion, that the matter should be left to the individual Baptist, and that the SBC itself take no stand on Freemasonry. However, there appear to be political struggles going on with the SBC, and, if Holly and others like him have their way, Freemasonic non-membership may become a convenient test case for Baptist correctness.
Some Bishops in the various Eastern Orthodox Churches oppose Freemasonry, but the Orthodox Church itself has no position on the matter. Indeed, two of the most outstanding leaders of the Orthodox Church within the last generation-Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople and Patriarch Benedict of Jerusalem-were Freemasons.
Frankly, John, it is a shameful and sad thing to be anti-Masonic because anti- Masonic sentiment is often a cover for religious and racial prejudice and anti- semitic feeling. In 1992 The Cable News Network carried a report of recent Anti-Masonic and Anti-Semitic attacks against the the Masonic Temple and two Jewish synagogues in Albany, New York. Hate posters, pasted to the doors of Masonic and Jewish buildings carried messages that stated: "The white man is a devil. Judaism is black magic. The Jewish-Masonic conspiracy, is Judaism. Judaism is the religion of Satan. The Kabbalistic Rabbi is Jacob, the Amun priest. Presidents are the puppets of Masonry." The posters also bore swastikas. If one is anti-Masonic in complete sincerity, the folly is even greater, but we should not be fooled by sincerity. The Roman Inquisitors were sincere, Hitler was sincere, Mussolini was sincere-and in their sincerity they arrested, tortured, and murdered men whose only "crime" was to be Freemasons. History bears witness to these facts, and the student of history sees that the anti-masons are in league with the tyrants, the dictators, and the Fascists. In 1743 John Coustos, a Swiss lapidary, was arrested by order of the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal, where he was Master of the Masonic Lodge. He was imprisoned and tortured in many ways, then condemned to the galleys by the governor and four inquisitors. But on demand of the British Minister he was released in October, 1744 and expelled from Portugal. (The Roman Inquisition exists to this day, now being called The Congregation of Doctrine.)
Let there be no doubt, if the anti-masons could grab the reins of governmental power, they would once again arrest, imprison, torture, and murder Freemasons, since they believe that Masons are supporters of a group that is a "spiritually devastating and ungodly brotherhood of satanic darkness," as Holly claims. A man can be totally sincere and still be wrong, and these anti-masons are wrong.
The doors of Heaven are closed, not to Freemasons, but to hatred and to those who spread it. Freemasonry has never and will never persecute and kill. If only the same could be said of the anti-masons, whose lies have shattered men, sundered families, and brought needless tears and anguish to wives and children.
History has shown that anti-Masonry is a threat to both government and religion, but Freemasons have a saying: Mighty is the Truth, and it shall prevail. We counter the anti-masons, not with physical force, but with the spiritual force of the Truth of our words and lives.
Thanks, Baron Worley. Here's my petition. I hope it is accepted at Lodge.
Well, John, the Lodge is always ready to receive intelligent and courageous men like you. I'm sure you will do well.
About the Author
Born in 1946, Baron Worley was a DeMolay (PMC & Chevalier) and was Initiated, Passed, and Raised in Hope Lodge #145 in Lafayette, Louisiana at age 21. Baron Worley was active as a DeMolay Dad in Pennsylvania and Colorado and founded Chapters in those states. The Baron holds the DeMolay Cross of Honor and the active DeMolay Legion of Honor. Baron Worley is also active in the Blue Lodge and York Rite (Associate Regent, York Rite Sovereign College) in Colorado. His Blue Lodge is Century Lodge #190 (Greeley, CO). The Baron's first exposure to anti-Masonry was his discovery, in 1970, of an "anti- everything" book published by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. He then corresponded with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Commission on Fraternal Orders and collected, over the years, much anti-Masonic material. Finally, in 1986, Baron Worley assembled all the theological arguments for an article for The Philalethes. That article has been used by several Grand Lodges in their educational programs. Baron Worley holds his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University. He was ordained Priest of The Liberal Catholic Church in 1976 and is currently Rector of an active Parish in Greeley, Colorado. He is Hereditary Baron of the Noble House of Worley of Christy of the Byzantine Roman Empire and is Sovereign Grand Master of The Religious and Military Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an Order of Chivalry (non- Masonic). Baron Worley is also active in The Rose @ Croix Martinist Order (non-Masonic). Baron Worley is Full Professor of English at the University of Northern Colorado. He is married and has two grown children.
c 1986, 1987, 1993 by Lloyd Worley.
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