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I am cross-posting my answer to a question I received on a message forum:

"Tell me what do Freemasons do or think, I have been hearing alot about them lately!"

Hmmm..there are so many answers to this question.

At it's most basic level it is this:

"A men's social club that practices a bit of amature theatre."

And, that, really, is all there is to it.

We are a men's social club, we meet once or twice a month. We are an amature theatre group in that we put on a ceremony. We all memorize our parts and try to perform them exactly correctly. At each meeting we perform our roles and them retire for pie and cookies.

In between the theatre we hold a brief business meeting where we do the following:

(1) Introduce visitors

(2) Read the minutes of the last meeting.

(3) Read petitions for people to join the club.

(4) Vote on new members.

(5) Get a treasurers report.

(6) Inquire into the health of our members.

(7) Discuss fund-raisers and community service projects.

The bit of theatre we perform is the reproduction af a ritual that has been going on for *at least* three centuries and probably a lot longer. The main point of the ritual ceremony is to teach lessons in morality. Why these lessons seem to be imparted more strongly because we memorize them and do them over and over again, is still a bit of mystery to me.

Only about one in ten people who joins the club actually stays active in it (meaning they help perform the plays).

The moral lessons are pretty basic stuff, the golden rule, love your neighbor, be honest, trustworthy, helpful, and kind. I like to call it 'Boyscouts for Grownups'.

The key aspects of it that make it unique are democracy and tolerance.

It is an absolute rule that in lodge there is *no* discussion of religion or politics. The only requirement to join is to be of good moral character and profess a belief in God. No one, and I mean no one, will ask you to define what your personal belief in God is; and it will never be discussed. Freemasons can be Christians of every flavor, as well as Jews, Hindus, you name it. If you are willing to say you believe in God, and your are of good character, you can join.

There are a number of officers and each year all of the officers rotate. So, if you join then in seven years you can be the 'leader of the lodge' for one year. It is truly democratic system.

The core prinicples of the institution are individual liberty, freedom, equality, brother love, relief, and truth.

If you want to know what Freemasonry 'stands for' all you have to do is read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. These are both, essentially, Freemason documents.

Both the American Revolution and the French Revolution were organized and executed by Freemasons who had great ideas about democracy, freedom, liberty, and justice.

George Washington, John Hancock, Nathaneal Greene, and Benjamin Franklin were all Freemasons. As was vritually every single general in the revolutionary war. It is one of the most patriotic institutions in this country.

Freemaons in the recent past have been your WW-II veterans and, historically, are composed primarily of clergy, police officers, and firemen. People already devoted to service to their fellow man and the public good. Roosevelt and Truman were both dedicated Freemasons, in fact something like 13 American presidents have been members. Today, suprisingly, there are quite a few software engineers involved in the organization. I tend to think this is because the teachings appeal to the kind of logical and rational thinking that engineers like.

Most people know who the Shriners are, and know about their great charity the Shriner's Hospitals, but not a lot of people realize that all Shriners are Masons. You have to be a Mason before you can join the Shrine.

I hope you find this information useful.


>>I 've seen the shriners wear black hats with a sort of tassel stuck on it.

Actually the hats are red with black tassles.

>>Do the masons also wear hats.

Not in the Blue Lodge. We wear aprons. Scottish Rite masons wear a little hat though.


>>Are the shriners 99th degree masons?

No. The Shriners is purely a social club.


>>You say the masons are 3 centuries old. Who is the original evangelical leader or founder of the mason's

There is none. It's not a cult or anything. Freemasony 'evolved' from the ancient cathedral builders; the guys who built the great gothic catherdrals in Europe during the 11th through the 14th centuries. They had an initation ritual, ceremonies, secret handshakes, and passwords to help identify them and distinguish them from the rest of the world. They were deeply spiritual artists, afterall, they were building great testaments to God in stone. If you have never been to Saint Eustache or Notre Dame in Paris you have missed an awe inspiring experience.

Over the centuries non-Masons became interested in joining these 'operative' Masons to gain some of the benefits of their society. Slowly some were allowed to join and they began to translate the ritual involving the art of building in stone to a metaphor for makind buliding the temple of spirit. As great cathedral building slowly died out after the 14th century, speculative Freemasonry grew and evolved to become more about building mankind spiritually, on principles of freedom, liberty, equality, and justice. You have to put this in the context of the time. This is when men were being burned at the stake for heresy and people like Galileo were being arrested by the inquistion for stating simple basic scientific facts.

In large part the scientific revolution and, ultimately the enlightenment, were driven by Freemason thought. We say it is 'three centuries old' because that is when Freemasonry was 'outed'. By this time the protestant reformation had run is course enough that people figured they could come out into the light of day without threat of destruction from the Roman Catholic Church. Men of all levels in society championed the order, including princes and kings as well as men of lower social classes. Within the Freemason lodge they were simply known as 'brother'. The terms 'meeting on the level' or 'acting upon the square' come from Freemasonry.

In 1717 the Grand Lodge of England came out in public. That is not to say this is when Freemasonry was created, there is substantial documentary evidence in support of its existance for centuries before that.

No one 'created' Freemasonry. It is a system that has been handed down, probably for thousands of years, as part of what are called the "Western Mystery School" traditions. These are initatory systems that teach through symbolic morality plays important spirtual lessons.

There is no dogma in Freemasonry! There is no Freemason bible. An individual mans personal faith is just that, personal. However, it does teach that there is only one living and true God, regardless of how any individual person chooses to worship him. It teaches that all mankind are brothers and that it is a great spiritual endevour to work in peace and harmony. It teaches strong principles of morality that crosses all religions of the world.

Some have accused it of being syncretic or universalism, which may be considered somewhat true. However, the specific reilgious beliefs of any individual truly is up to themself. About the only thing that would preclude you from being a Freemason is if you were unable to be tolerant of another persons' religious belief.

>>The word "mason" where did it originate?

It is based on the phrase 'Free-Mason'. Back in the middle ages people did not have the right to travel. Today we think nothing of getting in our car and driving where we want. We are generally pretty free to travel to other countries too. However, back then, you did not have the legal right to so much as travel to another village without permission from your local king. The Guild Masons, however, were one of the very few groups that had a right to travel 'freely' wherever they wished, without grant or specific permission required.

Groups of Free-Masons would travel from one location to another and spend years, if not decades, there while they built some great Cathedral.

You can learn a lot about it from this excellent resource called "The Builders". Freely available online. http://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/bui/

A quick brief on the structure of Masonry.

To be a Freemason simply means that you have gone through the three ritual-cermonies (plays) that have been pretty stable and intact for three centuries.

They are "Entered Apprentice", "Fellowcraft", and "Master Mason"

They represent youth, adult, and old age.

As an Entered Apprentice you are made aware of your duties in life and the goals you should strive for. As a Fellowcraft you are taught how to be a productive member of society, to do good work, and to educate yourself using science, logic, reason, mathematics, and the arts. As a Master Mason you are taught the importance of passing on your knowledge and learning to those younger than yourself and the lesson of immortality of the soul. While immoratlity of the soul is generally a belief espoused by Freemasony, still it teaches no specific path for salvation. That is a matter of your own personal faith.

That is all there is to Freemasony. This is called the 'Blue Lodge'. Anything beyond this is purely 'extra' or 'bonus' material and it not 'more important' or makes you something extra in any way. The highest honor in Freemasony is to be a Master Mason.

There are, however, other Freemason groups you can get involved with that teach additional lessons in morality plays. These include the York Rite and the Scottish Rite. In addition to these there are entirely *social* organizations, such as the Shriners, which have no direct attachment to Masonry other than you have to be a Mason to join.

An absolutely awesome reference for information on this subject is a new book out called "Freemasons for Dummies". I strongly recommend it if you are truly interested in the topic. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764597965/104-7413730-1936769?v=glance&n=283155

There is a lot of awareness in the public mind on these topics due to the wild success of "The DaVinci Code" as well as the movie "National Treasure"