Can a Christian become a Freemason?
Is Angelina Jolie an attractive woman?
Is the sky blue?
Can I chew gum and pick my nose at the same time?
Apparently today is the day for stupid and idiotic rhetorical questions on the Masonic blogosphere.
Can a Christian become a Freemason? What an absurd question. It's not even a question, of course. It is really a passive aggressive form of rhetorical posturing.
Let's put this in perspective. Why not ask the *real* question?
"Why are so many Christians Freemasons?"
"Can a Christian join the Lions Club?"
"Can a Christian be a good person?"
"Can a Christian have non-Christian friends?"
Maybe these questions delve a little closer to the truth of the situation.
Let's be blunt here. The vast majority of Freemasons in America, just like the vast majority of American's, *are* Christians.
When I attend my lodge meetings we carefully schedule our activities around the Christian services that our brethren participate in their local Church. When I attend an installation ceremony, typically, the installing Chaplain is also a Christian minister.
This so called 'question' of whether or not a Christian can become a Freemason is no question at all. It is a veiled attack based on prejudice and ignorance.
This entire line of questioning is entirely absurd.
And, really, that is why I have volunteered to be interviewed by the Truth, Love, Freedom podcast. Now, this is actually a really nice website that tries to perform some degree of due diligence in monitoring abuses within positions of power. I also like the host of the program; he comes across as very knowledgeable, well read, and his interviewing style is friendly in tone.
That said, the real problem is with the questions themselves. Who asks questions about 'Lucifer' with a straight face!??? What is that all about? Are you serious? The question itself is absurd. It raises all kind of concerns about the motivation, intent, agenda, and deep seated prejudice of the person asking them.
Let's be real here. How can you ask questions about 'Lucifer' with a straight face? I can't seriously answer questions that are rooted in superstition, ignorance, and just plain nonsense. Why is the person asking these questions? What does the person asking them really believe? What is their own private hidden agenda, personal dogma, or fundamentalist belief that is motivating them to pursue such an absurd line of questioning?
Can a Christian be a Freemason? Give me a freaking break! As I do a Google search on churches in my small little town I get the following result. With thumbtacks littering the page Google maps informs me that there are 214 results for Churches in a five mile radius of my home. I won't bother to count how many of those are unique but I can assure you that well over 98% of them are Christian Churches.
I love how the rhetoric in our country tries to pretend that Christianity is under attack as I drive past the 200+ Christian churches within a five mile radius of my home.
The question, as stated, is simply wrong. The question should read "Can a non-Christian become a Freemason?" That is the real question to ask and, from what I have read on the Internet about other jurisdictions in other states the answer is not necessarily 'yes'.
So, on Friday when the interviewer starts asking such absurd and loaded questions I have no intention of playing along. What I want to know is why the host chose to ask that question and, more to the point, phrase it the way he did. What are his pre-conceived notions and beliefs that led him to ask questions that could only be answered if you adopted his particular belief system and models?
I can't answer a question about 'Lucifer' with a straight face because, let's be real here, I don't believe in 'Lucifer'. In fact, I don't believe in the vast bulk of superstitious nonsense which riddles the minds of so many with irrational thought and bizarre ideology.
Homey don't play that.
Most of these questions have embedded within them assumptions that are entirely false. I cannot attempt to seriously answer a loaded question that is built upon a house of self-delusions, superstitious nonsense, and general rubbish with a straight face.
I don't know how the interview is going to go, but I did ask that the the host ask me the same exact questions he has asked other Freemasons in the past and, let me assure you, I most certainly will *not* give the same answers....
Comments
I just ran across a Masonophobe site by a purportedly ex-Mason.
http://iamamason2.wordpress.com/
And I agree that too often Masons respond half-heartedly to the accusations of being Baphomet worshipers and straying from the path and replacing the light of Jeebus with the false light of Masonry and all that. Why not strip away the BS and ask the real question that some of these "true believers" seem to be asking: Can a Christian associate with anyone that is not another Christian, or with any group that is not their own church?
I really believe that going to Lodge can function quite well as an Interfaith get-together and I enjoy not having discussions of religion or politics. I especially enjoy not having to discuss politics because I went to college for Political Science and am graduating from Law School. You can't imagine how many times someone asks, "McCain or Obama?" When I am in Lodge, no religion, no politics, I just sit down and perform ritual, etc.
I think Ex-Masons have a different grudge against the Fraternity; perhaps they were expelled, or his spouse did not like him being away. I just believe that there is always more to the story and we should accept that they did not get out what they were expecting. I can say with relative certainty that at least 3/4 of the members are Christian and I am grossly underestimating that number.
Nick
I hear ya loud and clear. I react to it because I don't like to hear it, so why not address it. Sure it encompasses a lot of old world superstition, but as I'm sure if you were to survey those 200+ churches, you would find that a good number of those attendees still believe a guy with cloven hooves, a arrow tipped tail, and pointy horns. The purpose of the post was to drag the rhetoric out, identify it, and try to put it into a reasonable order. Otherwise, they, like the former mason I'm talking about, will continue to take every past text out of context and continue to paint the fraternity out as a villain.
In marketing, its the concern that people are more apt to repeat a negative story than a positive one. The longer it goes on, the more people hear it unchallenged, and the more people they tell.
I'm just tired of it getting passed on.
Masonic Traveler
As a Baptist minister and Freemason I get this question every once in a while. And, as you say, it falls into the category of "Is the sky blue today?" Its so absurd it is hard to answer with a straight face when I know that on Wednesday night a Commandary of Knights Templar is meeting down the street, Masons who are almost all Christians. Or when I attend lodge and over dinner people are discussing the church dinner they are cooking for next week. Or when I look around one of the several lodges I'm a member of and see a couple of Pastor friends on the sidelines on the other side of the lodge.
As you have said, it isn't a real question. It is an agenda by fundamentalist Christianity. Go for it brother and call them out for foolish agenda it is!
If they want to believe that, I suppose they're entitled to it.
Tim Bonney mentioned the K.T. In Canada, one must sign a declaration that they believe in Christ as the Saviour; in fact, the question is put to the candidates at the start of the ceremony in one of the Orders. I defy anyone to say that's not Christian.
I also belong to the Red Cross of Constantine, which is also open only to Christians (who are Royal Arch Masons). The lesson of one of the appendant orders is "He is risen" with numerous mentions of Christ being the Saviour. Why don't Freemasonry's religious objectors ever complain about this order? They always seem to have something evil to find in concordant bodies.
Justa Mason
The fact is, for many years the Catholic Church made it clear that members of their faith could not be Freemasons. Becoming a Brother meant, for the church, automatically being excluded from membership of their faith of choice.
In many areas this is still a burning question, and a major problem.
It may well be that the Evangelical, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and other similar (more liberal?) faiths have moved with the times and seen the benefits of Masonry, but the Catholic church has not.
The question is still very relevant today, and one which needs addressing rather than shrugging off.
Pi.