What is Freemasonry?
Freemasonry is the world’s oldest fraternal organizations. The lessons Freemasonry teaches in its ceremonies, are to do with moral values. A Freemason is basically encouraged to do his duty to his God, his family and those who dependent on him. He is to help his neighbors through charity and service. None of these ideas is exclusive to Freemasonry, but all should be universally acceptable and Freemasons are expected to follow them.
Freemasonry is the U.K.’s largest secular, fraternal and charitable organisation. It teaches moral lessons and self-knowledge through participation in a procession of allegorical plays. Its bonds of friendship, compassion, and brotherly love have survived even the most divisive political, military and religious conflicts through the centuries. Freemasonry is neither a forum nor a place for worship. Instead, it is a friend of all religions which are based on the belief in one God. Freemasons are respectable citizens who are required to conform to the moral laws of society and to abide by the laws of the government under which they live. Only individuals believed to be of the finest character are favourably considered for membership. Every applicant must advocate his belief in the existence of a Supreme Being (atheists are not accepted into the Fraternity). One must ask a Masonic friend to recommend him for membership. Every Master Mason is welcomed as a “Brother” in any of the thousands
True Masonic ritual, as it always was intended to do, teaches the great lessons of life: the importance of honor and integrity, of being a person on whom others can rely, of being both trusting and trustworth, of realizing that you have a spiritual nature as well as a physical nature, of the importance of self control, of knowing how to love and be loved, of knowing how to keep confidential what others tell you so that they can “open up” without fear. In short, Masonic ritual teaches us to reach for a higher standard in conducting our lives. Freemasonry has sometimes been referred to as a “secret society.” This is an inaccurate statement. Freemasons certainly don’t make a secret of the fact that they are members of their Lodges. We wear rings, lapel pins, and tie clasps with Masonic emblems like the Square and Compasses, the best-known of Masonic signs that, logically, recall our early symbolic roots in stonemasonry. Masonic buildings are clearly marked and usually listed in the phone
This one of the most difficult questions to answer and even Freemasons themselves give differing definitions. This is probably due to the fact that Freemasonry does not impose any particular Dogma, has no Theology but simply attempts to guide members to a more moral way of life. ‘Attempting to make good men better’ is one definition. The page “What is Freemasonry” is a more detailed attempt to answer this question.
