Andy Chase

I just killed most of a Saturday morning responding to some comments on a Flickr photo, and because the points I was responding to come up again and again in discussions about Freemasonry among people who don’t know much about it, I’m reposting my slightly edited comments here.

The first point of confusion in the original discussion is a common one, even among Masons. In a Masonic lodge, the honorific title for the Master is ‘Worshipful.’ Masonophobes absolutely love to foam at the mouth about the phrase “Worshipful Master”, because of course it must prove that the Masons are some kind of weird cult religion who literally worship their Master.

In fact, the term “Worshipful” is simply an archaic English honorific, and has nothing to do with worship in a religious sense. Indeed, the title ‘Worshipful’ is still used for Mayors in the U.K. but for some reason you never read incoherent rants about how towns in England all worship their Mayors. Masonic ritual and tradition does change slowly over the years, but much of the language hasn’t changed much since the 17th/18th century. There are a great many words in Masonic ritual that you don’t hear used much in the 21st century, and more Masons and non-Masons alike would do well to take the time to actually look them up, instead of simply reciting them without knowing what they mean.

Similarly, there is much confusion over the Masonic phrase, “The Great Architect of the Universe.”

In Masonic ritual, the “Great Architect of the Universe” is simply a symbolic construct, not a deity specific to Freemasonry; if you’re a Christian, the Great Architect is your Christian God. If you’re a Muslim, the Great Architect is Allah… and if you don’t subscribe to any specific religion but believe that there is some kind of guiding presence behind the existence of the universe, that’s ok too.

Most US lodges generally have a Christian Bible on the altar during meetings, by virtue of the fact that most members (in the US) are Christian. However, candidates of other faiths take their obligations on the Volume of Sacred Law specific to their own religion, and in larger, metropolitan lodges where there might be members of several different religions, it’s not uncommon to see several religious texts on the altar together.

“Volume of Sacred Law” is just another symbolic construct for the idea that a man should observe his own faith according to the guidelines of its religious text. Those whose personal faith might not have a religious text are intelligent and open-minded enough to understand and appreciate the concept, and don’t object to the use of the Bible or any other religious text, understanding that it’s all representative of a universal truth.

In general, Masonic ritual is all about symbolism… but people get hung up on interpreting Masonic concepts literally and love to quote things out of context.

One of the single most appealing things about Freemasonry is the idea that you can gather with other good men regardless of their religious or political leanings, for the common goal of improving your own character, and by extension, improving your community. That’s why fundamentalist religions (and the Vatican, and many dictatorships throughout history) get so frothed up about Freemasonry; the idea that somebody else’s concept of God or their political ideas are perfectly valid and OK is usually at odds with their agenda.

All of which is fine - if your politics or the tenets of your faith prohibit membership in Freemasonry, all that means is that you can’t join. Freemasonry has no reciprocal attitude or agenda. Unfortunately, people with axes to grind take it a step further and make up all kinds of nonsense about the fraternity.