Historically, it has been too often true that minority groups have been persecuted for their beliefs. Whatever the details of their witness, some have been called evil, sacrilegious, blasphemous, or worse. To resist this injustice, the persecuted generally have not hoped for victory by force, but rather through the confidence that being in the right would eventually overcome the lies of the oppressors. They spoke truth to power in the certainty that power would eventually yield, toppled by the weight of its own illogic and intolerance.

Today, Freemasonry is in such a position, ironically criticized by some of those who believe they represent religious truth in the ongoing struggle to vanquish evil from the world. This persecution is frequently caused by misunderstanding and should be corrected by clear explanation. But it remains true that the best way to avoid offending anyone is to stand for very little. This will never be the goal of Freemasonry.

Who Speaks For World Masonry?
In examining errors about the Fraternity, one is immediately struck by the confusion about its structure. This is understandable, as it is a complex body of organizations. Perhaps the best way to think of Freemasonry is by visualizing the American flag. In the upper left corner is the Union, or field of blue containing many stars. Each of these stars may be thought of as a Grand Lodge, a body overseeing all of the Lodges in a particular area. The United States, Australia, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil have Grand Lodges in each state or province; other countries have one Grand Lodge controlling all Masonic activities in that national jurisdiction. I recall seeing an anti-Masonic cartoon that described an individual as being the "Supreme Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry." There is no top boss of Freemasonry, but a leader for each Grand Lodge, who is called the Grand Master. Thus, each Grand Lodge is as separate and independent as is each of the stars on "Old Glory."

The stripes of the flag represent various Masonic or Masonically related organizations which are called Affiliated, Appendant, or Other Bodies. These include the Eastern Star and Amaranth (primarily for women), the Order of DeMolay (for young men), and the Rainbow Girls or Job's Daughters (for young women). Among other "stripes" are the Shrine, Grotto, Tall Cedars, the York Rite, the Scottish Rite, and others.

In the neighborhood Lodge (properly called the Symbolic or Blue Lodge) are taught three Degrees, or lessons, namely the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason, the last being the highest Degree in Freemasonry. Most Masons stop here. But those wishing further lessons in philosophy may join the York or Scottish Rites. There are other such Rites in the world, but these two are the best known in the United States. The lessons or earned Degrees (as opposed to the honorary 33°) of the Scottish Rite happen to be numbered 4 through 32. This gives the impression that a 32° Scottish Rite Mason is a lot smarter than a regular Master Mason, and can be quoted as an authority or officer of Freemasonry, but this is not so. Think of the alphabet. The letter Z comes later than A. Still, it would be odd to think of Z as a higher letter than A. Just so, the Degrees beyond the Blue Lodge in the Orders of Freemasonry are not higher or more authoritative. They simply represent further study in Freemasonry. None of the Affiliated, Appendant, or Other Bodies in Freemasonry is higher than any of the stars, the Grand Lodges.

Freemasonry And Religion
Regular Freemasonry, anywhere in the world, requires a belief in a Supreme Being. An atheist cannot become a Mason. Beyond this monotheism, though, Masonry does not offer details on the truth of any religious doctrine. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and others are welcome in the Lodge, and no one may condemn another for his faith. Masons are proud of this tradition of impartiality and puzzled when they read that someone has said that Freemasonry is incompatible with Christianity. Masonry, they respond, is compatible with all religious beliefs. But it is possible that some views are incompatible with the Craft. To take an extreme example, the Thuggee sect, a Hindu cult eliminated during the British occupation of India, believed it was God's wish that they murder as many people as possible with sacrificial daggers. It would not have been possible for a Thuggee to be a Freemason. More to the point, some people today object that Masonry encourages moral and upright behavior without specifying the necessity of a rebirth in Jesus Christ. It is of no use to point out to them that the Girl Scouts do the same. If people believe strongly that this is un-Christian and sacrilegious, their views are intolerant of the beliefs of others and will be, therefore, incompatible with the religious tolerance of Freemasonry.

Furthermore, it is important to notice that people claiming the same faith may have differing views. For example, many Protestants believe that the literal, word-for-word reading of the Bible is the only source of spiritual information. Catholics, however, gain divine guidance from their priesthood, and Quakers believe that the revelation of God's will is delivered through members during their meditative meetings. All of these people refer to themselves as Christian, and, therefore, it is not possible for one group or individual to speak for the faith anymore than one person, this author for example, can speak for all of Freemasonry. Each Mason, like this author, speaks for himself and only offers his views for each Brother to consider according to his own lights.

The Name Of God
A related issue is the accusation that Freemasonry is a religion and that Masons worship some strange god or call God by another name. In the Royal Arch Degree of the York Rite and the Thirteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite, a supposedly lost word is found. The word is "Ja-bul-on," and critics say that it is the name of the Masonic god. Actually, the word's syllables probably came from Hebrew, the first being jah (the first consonants of Jehovah), bul or bel meaning "Lord" (as does Adonai), and on, which translates into English as "power." Thus the origin of this tri-word appears to be Biblical and to refer to God as described in the Torah or Old Testament. But perhaps there is a deeper issue here; if some people worship the Creator but call Him "Allah" or the "Great Spirit" or "Elohim," who has read the mind of God and, therefore, has the authority to correct them?

As for Freemasonry being a religion, if it is, it's a pretty poor one. Most people expect a religion to help them understand, at a minimum, our purpose in being alive, the afterlife, God's commandments, and what happens if you are good or bad. Freemasonry addresses none of these issues, but only asserts that God exists and cares about each of us. That is hardly enough for a religion, but it is a fine position statement for a fraternity.

What About Hiram Abif?
In the Master Mason's Degree, the candidate observes a drama in which the Biblical figure Hiram Abif is betrayed and murdered while working on Solomon's Temple. When this foul deed is discovered, he is raised from the makeshift grave where the criminals put him and reburied in a location of honor. Some people think this is a sure sign that Masonry is talking about a resurrection and salvation through good works without faith, a notion that they find unscriptural. Actually, the drama states that neither nature nor reason can offer people any hope at all of life after death; only faith can do that. The drama is designed to represent the positive changes that have taken place in the man as a result of his exposure to Freemasonry. He is to consider himself raised to a new plane of responsibility to his own honor and to every fellow creature.

A Secret Society
Perhaps one of the things that piques curiosity about Freemasonry has also caused it trouble: the concept of a secret society. If things are on the up and up, why would Masons need to keep secrets? Interestingly, the so-called "secrets" of Masonry can be found in exposés in any library or discount bookstore, so access is not the problem. What's so secret? Masons recognize each other the same way members of any fraternity would, with confidential words and handshakes. Most pretenders don't go to the trouble of learning this sort of thing, so it is amazingly simple to distinguish real Masons from false Masons.

Since Masons know they can count on each other in times of need, the passwords and grips are actually very helpful. They are an instant connection to Brothers that Masons have never met before, wherever they might roam.

Those Bloody Oaths
People sometimes accuse Freemasonry of making members swear awful oaths about secrecy and loyalty, oaths that have grisly penalties attached for those who disobey. There have been penalties associated with the Degrees, though they have always been symbolic, not actual. Some jurisdictions have eliminated them entirely, some include them only for historic information, and some retain them out of respect for those men who went before. No one who "spills the beans" about Freemasonry would have his tongue or heart torn out, no matter what the oath said.

But where did all of this start? The late John J. Robinson, 33°, one of Masonry's most popular recent authors, speculates that the oaths were originally intended to keep membership a secret at a time when that information could get someone burned at the stake. This is not out of the realm of possibility. In our own time, the Nazis sent men to concentration camps and certain deaths for the crime of being Freemasons. No political criminal can allow a membership society founded on justice and equality to flourish; Masonry might give people dangerous ideas—like freedom, sovereignty, and liberty for all. And the tyrant's worry is well founded because Masonry has always espoused these tenets.

The issue of oaths generally is a thoughtful one. It is true that in the New Testament book of Matthew, we read that we should not take oaths (swear to tell the truth, be loyal, and so forth), but rather let our "yes" or "no" be good enough. Yet many of us have been inducted into the U.S. Armed Forces, and at least as many have testified in a court of law. Both routinely require the swearing of an oath. In a way, one takes an oath when saying marriage vows. Our promises make us think carefully about what we are saying, and thinking before speaking is an idea with much to recommend it.

Anything For A Brother
Critics note that Masonic oaths specify that Masons "keep the secrets of a worthy Brother." This sounds pretty bad. A Mason could do heaven knows what, tell another Mason about it, and be secure that no matter how rotten he had been, the Fraternity would keep his secrets. But the key here is obviously the word worthy. Not just any Brother, but a worthy Brother. If a man has done really bad things, then he is not worthy, Masonic Brother or not. The Una-bomber's brother turned him in to the police, which is just what any Mason would have done to such a morally faulted Brother.

Masonry And The New Age
In the last century, people were fascinated with, but concerned about, the advent of industrialization. If everything humans had done before could now be done by machines, of what use was our humanity? What about us was special? In response to this anxiety, interest in the occult really zoomed. Two young girls, the Fox sisters, ushered in the era of spiritualism (at a séance, they could put you in touch with a deceased person through raps under a table), and many people, including some Masons, began looking for a more mysterious and mystical nature for human beings. A lot of this looks silly in retrospect, like the idea that the "Grand White Masonic Lodge" is located on the star Sirius, which we now know burns at a temperature of millions of degrees Fahrenheit.

Part of this conjecture was the notion that Masonry's birth could be found among the ancient Egyptians or, even more exotically, at the time of Adam and Eve. Nineteenth Century writers speculated freely on all of this, and today we are left to answer the critics who say, for example, that Masonry's symbols are pagan and originated with Osiris, the Egyptian fertility god. It may be true that some of Masonry's symbols are that ancient, but that hardly makes Masonry pagan.

Masonic research sources from 75 or more years ago should be evaluated carefully against current thought on the subject, and it should also be remembered that everyone who writes the word Freemasonry is not necessarily some kind of official spokesman.

Do Masons Worship Lucifer?
One of the Nineteenth Century writers was Albert Pike, the man who organized the Degrees of the Scottish Rite, S.J., USA. He compiled Morals and Dogma, published in 1871, as a philosophical explanation of each of the Degrees, and he included his thoughts on the world's religious wisdom. As was typical of many volumes published at the time, it is a very esoteric book and not easy to read. Pike is the person most frequently cited as the "Ruler" of Freemasonry, so critics are quick to point out anything he wrote that seems strange. However, any quotation containing the phrase "yes, Lucifer is the god of Freemasonry" is, in fact, part of a hoax perpetrated and confessed by a man writing under the name of Léo Taxil. Pike never said any such thing.

Even though Taxil eventually confessed the lie, in print, it is apparently such a juicy and startling statement that Masons are still hearing about it today. Nearly all of what Morals and Dogma does contain on the subject relates to Pike's amazement that the devil would be called Lucifer at all, since Lucifer means "light bearer" and is often referred to as the "son of morning." The name really pertains to the planet Venus, which shines so brightly and hangs so low in the morning sky that today it is sometimes mistaken for a UFO. At any rate, nothing in Masonry has ever advocated the worship of Lucifer, much less Satan.

Are Masons Racist?
Freemasonry is a universal brotherhood of men who believe in moral behavior, spiritual and philosophical growth, and charitable works. As in any large group, there may be individual Masons who are still struggling with racial prejudice, but the tenets of the Craft do not advocate or condone such attitudes. Early in American history, when it was unusual for the races to socialize together, independent African-American Lodges were formed, beginning in the late 18th Century. These Lodges were administered by a Grand Lodge titled for the exceptional man who originally saw the need for a Freemasonry available to men of color. His name was Prince Hall. Today, many regular Lodges have Black members, and many Prince Hall Lodges admit Caucasians. To further complicate the picture, many regular Grand Lodges in the United States acknowledge Prince Hall Brothers as Masons, but Masons belonging to a separate organization. Prince Hall Masonry is proud of its independent tradition and does not seek a merger with the regular Grand Lodges. Eventually, of course, all of this will be sorted out. In the meantime, it is simple enough to remember that all Masonry evaluates men the way Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed our society one day would—by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

Freemasonry has been around for so long that questions that have already been answered are sometimes posed anew by another generation of critics. The Fraternity is not a perfect institution, and each generation of Masons also repeats old questions, this time to find interpretations of the ancient ritual and symbols that are meaningful and positive in these rapidly changing times. As always, however, Masonry continues to pursue its goal—making good men better.

Seán O'Néill is a psychotherapist in private practice in Annandale, Virginia. He is District Educational Officer for Virginia Masonic District 1-A, Lodge Education Officer of Ft. Hunt Daytime Lodge No. 353, Assistant Lodge Education Officer of Springfield Lodge No. 217, and Worshipful Master of Skidmore Daylight Lodge No. 237. He serves on the education committee of the Scottish Rite Valley of Alexandria, Virginia, and the editorial board of the Virginia Masonic Herald. He is a member of the Knights Templar, Shrine, Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, and an advisor to the Order of DeMolay.