If masonry isn a religion, why do masons call people “Worshipful” and buildings “Temples”?
Masonry has been around since at least the 16th century and much of the ritual work and names were created long ago. In old English, the word “Worshipful” was used in the same way that the word “Honorable” would be used today. For lack of any compelling reason to change, masons prefer to use the old word because that is the way we have historically done it. “Temple” was a word used to represent any building disserving of respect. This included most public buildings, courts, civic centers, churches, and buildings where masons met. As with other words, we prefer to use the historic definitions.
