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Freemasonry in America: Religion or Fraternal Brotherhood?

Freemasonry in America: Religion or Fraternal Brotherhood?

Last updated on: October 4, 2024 at 12:23 pm by William T. Orr, Jr.

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Freemasonry in America: Religion or Fraternal Brotherhood? 2024-10-04T12:23:00-04:00 William T. Orr, Jr.

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Likely, you have heard of Freemasonry or Masonry, as it is often called. You might have a Mason in your family or seen a Masonic lodge in your town.

One question I often hear from non-Masons is that it is not exactly clear whether or not Freemasonry is a religion.

The author has been a Master Mason since 1976 and a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason for twenty plus years.

Author’s note: Freemasonry has evolved in different ways in different countries around the world. My statements about the fraternity regard Freemasonry only in the U.S.

Masonic lodges are found all across the U.S.

Masonic lodges are found all across the U.S. Gemini Generated Image by William T. Orr, Jr.

What is Freemasonry?

Masonry is not a religion. Its members do profess faith in a living creator deity. The deity is unnamed. There is no religious oath, promise or obligation. Masonry is concerned with how Masons relate to the world. Their personal religious beliefs are not a concern beyond a belief in deity.
Simply put, Freemasonry is a fraternity, a brotherhood of men who have chosen to belong to the organization and have inquired about membership. Masonry does not (legitimately) recruit, although individual lodges have broken this rule many times with impunity.

Masonry is not a secret society. Its members do not hide their affiliation. Masonry does have secret methods of recognition, secret rituals and secret knowledge of its requirements and obligations.
Masonic lodges and affiliated organizations do a lot of charity work and Masons are expected to be involved in activities helpful to others.
Freemasonry uses symbols to illustrate moral lessons. In the Blue Lodge, these symbols are related to the tools used in building with stone. You are likely familiar with the “Square and Compasses” symbol.
Masonry has been described as “A peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.”

How does it work?

The Blue Lodge

The most basic and fundamental structure is the local or “Blue” Lodge. Blue is the predominant color in most Masonic material and in U.S. Masonic regalia.

The first three degrees in Freemasonry are conferred by the Blue Lodge.

Entered Apprentice
Fellowcraft (Fellow of the Craft)
Master Mason

Master Mason is the highest “level” of Freemasonry.

Some confusion exists here. While there are 32 conferred degrees and one honorary degree, none of these is “higher” than Master Mason. The higher numbered degrees provide the Mason with instruction for living.

The Blue Lodge contains a slate of officers, elected annually. Presiding is the Worshipful Master, not because he is to be worshipped but because he is theoretically the most pious in his faith.

Each Blue Lodge belongs to, is chartered by, and is governed at the state level by a Grand Lodge.

Masons meet in buildings called lodges

Masons meet in buildings called lodges Gemini Generated Image by William T. Orr, Jr.

Scottish and York (English) Rites

Once a U.S. Mason has completed the requirements for the first three degrees, he may choose to continue his Masonic education by receiving the degrees of one of the rites available in the U.S., the Scottish Rite or York (English) Rite.

These rites evolve from different traditions and while both rites contain 29 degrees, there are differences in names, order and symbolism.

The Shrine

The Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine is a U.S.-based, worldwide organization of charity and public work which Mason are eligible to join. It is not actually a branch of Freemasonry, but an affiliated order.

Other Orders

Within the circle of Freemasonry in the U.S., there are several other organizations for men, for women and for men and women together. The best known is the Order of the Eastern Star, open to men and women.

Prince Hall Freemasonry

Prince Hall Freemasonry is much like non-Prince Hall Freemasonry in its earliest origins. In the English colonies in America in the 18th Century, most men of African descent were not free. There were, however, people of color who were free men. From this population, Prince Hall Freemasonry was born.

The full description is well discussed by the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.

On March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and 14 men of color were made masons in Lodge #441 of the Irish Registry attached to the 38th British Foot Infantry at Castle William Island in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. It marked the first time that Black men were made masons in America.

About a year later, since the conflict between England and America had commenced, the British Foot Infantry left Boston, along with its lodge, leaving Prince Hall and his associates without a lodge. Before the lodge left, Worshipful Master Batt, gave them a “permit” to meet as a lodge and bury their dead in manner and form. This permit, however, did not allow them to do any “masonic work” or to take in any new members.

Under it, African Lodge was organized on July 3, 1776, with Prince Hall as the worshipful master. It wasn’t long before this lodge received an additional “permit” from Provincial Grand Master John Rowe to walk in procession on St. John’s Day.

On March 2, 1784, African Lodge #1 petitioned the Grand Lodge of England, the Premier or Mother Grand Lodge of the world, for a warrant (or charter), to organize a regular masonic lodge, with all the rights and privileges thereunto prescribed.

The Grand Lodge of England issued a charter on September 29, 1784 to African Lodge #459, the first lodge of Blacks in America.

African Lodge #459 grew and prospered to such a degree that Worshipful Master Prince Hall was appointed a Provincial Grand Master, in 1791, and out of this grew the first Black Provincial Grand Lodge.

In 1797 he organized a lodge in Philadelphia and one in Rhode Island. These lodges were designated to work under the charter of African Lodge #459.

In December 1808, one year after the death of Prince Hall, African Lodge #459 (Boston), African Lodge #459 (Philadelphia) and Hiram Lodge #3 (Providence) met in a general assembly of the craft and organized African Grand Lodge (sometime referred to as African Grand Lodge #1).

This is where things get sticky.

The United States has, in its most basic and belief system, allowed those who would buy, sell, and exploit the labor of other human beings to participate in the founding ideas and documents of the nation. For this reason, the practice was imbedded in our culture from the earliest days.

As the nation evolved and ripped itself apart in the 1860s over this very problem, the solution did not include any degree of fairness for the former enslaved people.

They became free but they had no resources but faith, grit, brains, and a mandate to survive.

After the Civil War, I am sorry to report that black men were often not admitted to the Masonic lodges in America’s cities and towns in many states.

Prince Hall lodges fulfilled the need for these men but the lodges and organizations were separate.

A solution is attempted

Beginning in the early 2000s, Grand Lodges of the Prince Hall and non-Prince Hall Freemasonry in several states began talking about mutual recognition. Various states have implemented various versions of the fulfillment of this desire.

In my state, the solution has tragically failed

In my (southern) state, the Grand Lodges have voted on “mutual recognition,” an act which provides the Grand Officers of both to claim success and progress. The problem is that the “recognition” does not include visitation of Masons within the two lodge groups.

I am not permitted to sit in a Prince Hall Lodge. A Prince Hall Mason is not allowed to sit in my lodge.

While lodges in my state now make Masons of men of African-American descent, the brothers in Prince Hall lodges are still barred from visitation.

It is for this reason that the author has taken a position of non-activity . I pay my dues which I am obligated to do.

I will not sit in a sit in a lodge that bars brothers who are regularly made Masons in a recognized lodge.

The apron is the badge of a Mason

The apron is the badge of a Mason Gemini Generataed Image by William T. Orr, Jr.

Is there more background?

The rituals and secrets of Freemasonry are not published. Much of the work in Blue Lodges is memorized by the officers and brethren.

The central legend of Freemasonry revolves around the building of the first temple in Jerusalem (King Solomon’s Temple). Much of the symbolism come from this legend.

The modern idea of Freemasonry began in the Middle Ages when guilds of traveling masons built the Gothic cathedrals of Europe, using mathematical and engineering techniques they learned from Muslim architects in Moorish Spain. This knowledge enabled them to build the soaring churches with sharply pointed arches and complex vaulted ceilings.

The knowledge they processed was carefully guarded. It enabled them to travel anywhere and command higher wages than the builders who only knew round Romanesque arches.

From this “operative Masonry” of the Middle Ages, there evolved in England a “speculative masonry” which used the symbolism of building with stone and the tools required to do so (the scale, the square, the plumb line, the compasses, the gavel, the trowel, etc.) to teach the moral lessons of Freemasonry.

The first Grand Lodge of England was chartered in 1717 in London.

All Grand Lodge jurisdictions in the U.S. are descended from that Grand Lodge.

There is a long and complex history after that.

There is one more thing that rounds out the picture for U.S. Masons

Someone had to organize and write the (non-secret part) of the degree work for the Blue Lodge and for the Scottish and York Rites in the U.S.

For the Scottish Rite, that someone was a Mason named Albert Pike.

Brother Pike was a scholar who wrote voluminous explanations about each of the degrees. He sprinkled these discourses with the names of Greek, Roman, Hebrew and other gods, heroes and villains.

These visions and symbols, ideas and historical claims make for dense and complex reading which could be condensed to about 20 % of its mass without losing meaning.

The degrees of the Scottish Rite include legends and myths from many cultures: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ethiopia, Greece. Centrally, however, is a focus on ancient Israel.

In addition to his extreme and cosmetic verbosity, Brother Pike was an officer in the Army of the Confederate States of America. His major work, Morals And Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Of Freemasonry is the basic work from which Scottish Rite degrees are drawn. Free pdfs are available online.

While Masonry clearly states no specific religious affiliation or set of specific beliefs, Brother Pike has included a great deal of Christian theology and ideology in his work.

I cannot reconcile some of these facts. Perhaps a reader can help me see the light.

In my next article, we will explore the Scottish Rite in more detail. Its degrees and moral lessons are quite interesting.

What are the takeaways?

We have discussed several aspects of Freemasonry, some more and some less important. Here are the main points:

Freemasonry is a fraternal organization for men.
Masons come from many religions.
Freemasonry does not favor any particular religion.
Freemasonry uses rituals and symbols to teach its lessons.
Freemasonry teaches moral lessons derived from religious ideology.
In some states, the relations between Grand lodge jurisdictions within states are complicated by the prejudices and fears of the officers and members, even today.
The situation of unsuccessful attempts at recognition, together with the very tricky history creates cognitive dissonance among some Masons.

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About William T. Orr, Jr.

William T. Orr, Jr. is a retired educator, most recently the principal of a high school named in the Top 10 in the nation by Newsweek magazine. Orr has a B.A. in English Language and Literature, a M.Ed. in Education Administration and Supervision, and an Ed.D. in Education leadership. He’s also completed Postdoctoral study at Yale Divinity School and Dallas Theological Seminary. You can read more about the author here.

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