About MASONRY:  

Purposes & Objectives

The primary purpose of Masonry is often stated in this way:

Masonry takes good men and makes them better.

The major task of Masonry is to provide a setting and context in which men can seek their own spiritual development. Masons engage in a program for personal growth. A person usually joins Masonry because he feels that there is "something more" in life that he is missing. Masonry stresses a process of self-control and self-discovery. The rituals are used to teach the basic lessons of human duty and responsibility, including duty to one's faith, one's country, one's community, one's family and oneself.

But Masonry also has objectives in the world. We know the great truth in the line, "No man is an island." No person of integrity can be truly happy when those around him are in sorrow and suffering. No one can rest comfortably when he knows that want and need surround him.

Thus Masonry works to improve the world by improving the lot of the world's people. Masons give to help children see and read and learn and run and play. Masons give to help the elderly live lives of comfort and security. Masons work to make communities better and cleaner and happier.

Masonry tells its members that the growth they experience must be shared, for it is our objective that all men and women shall someday have the same freedom of thought and action which are taught in the Lodge.

Masonry supports the Constitutional separation of Church and State because we know that in nations in which the two are combined, either the one or the other becomes subservient and weakened.

Masonry has a purpose. The liberation of all people from fear, from hatred, from poverty and from tyranny.

It makes its changes one Mason at a time, but each Mason influences the lives of those around him. Like a pebble cast into a pool, Masonry reaches out to touch the lives of the world.

SECRECY

My Minister said Freemasonry was a Cult?
Webster defines a cult as "the rites and ceremonies of a religion; or the practice of worshiping a deity or group of deities." Since Freemasonry is not a religion, but a fraternal association, it cannot be a cult.

Why all the secrets? Isn't Masonry a secret society?
It was popular in the 1800's for organizations like the Masons, the Elks, Moose, the Oddfellows to call themselves secret societies. It was a social thing. If you did not belong to at least one "secret society" you simply were not a part of the "in" group. But real secret societies are secret. They try not to let people know they exist. Its fraternal emblem identifies almost every Masonic building. The public is often invited to meetings at Masonic Halls. Masons commonly wear rings and lapel pins identifying themselves as Masons. And it is easy to find books in the library about Masonry. There's really nothing secret about the fraternity save for the modes of recognition.

What does Masonry have to offer that I don't already get in my civic club?
The purpose is different. Civic clubs exist to give their members a "break" each week from their usual occupations. They generally help their communities with projects of civic improvement. Masonry does these things also, but its purpose is learning and charity. It is mainly concerned with the self-development of men. We know it works because many wives tell us their spouses have become better men, husbands and fathers as a result of their involvement in Masonry.

I've heard it is complicated to join Masonry. Why do you have to go through three different degrees?
The process of becoming a Mason is not complicated, but three degrees, or stages of membership, are indeed required in joining. These are learning experiences. It takes time to learn and develop any skill, even the skill of productive living. The degrees of Masonry teach progressive lessons in morals, ethics, and philosophy. To understand these lessons and use them in our daily life requires that we invest some individual time and thought. But that's what makes being a Mason so special.

If Masonry is such a good organization, why do so many groups today seem to condemn it?
It's a matter of misunderstanding. Many people have been told the wrong things about Masonry by others who think they know what Masonry teaches, but have not taken the time to actually find out the truth. Spreading the same wrong information to others then perpetuates these myths. Some people sell anti-Masonic pamphlets, videotapes, and books in order to personally profit. They know that hate sells. Some members of the clergy are "coerced" into preaching against Masonry by anti-Masons within their own churches. But groups and organizations that take the time to find out for themselves usually end up as supporters of the fraternity.

Is there any hazing, or horseplay associated with the degrees?
No. The degree ceremonies of Masonry are both serious and meaningful.

I've heard that Masonry takes a lot of time. Is this true?
The process of becoming a Mason involves three evenings. There is some homework that goes with each degree that is worked out with another member of the Lodge. But, after a man becomes a Mason, the time he gives to the fraternity is entirely up to him. There is no requirement that a man participate in the meetings and projects of his Lodge. Each man determines for himself the time he wants to give to the fraternity.

Masonry is a fraternity for men. Does this mean my family cannot participate?
No. There are many activities that involve the wives and family members. Dinners, picnics, tours, study groups, forums, entertainment, and many others. There are organizations within the fraternity for women and youth. The meetings that are limited only to members are the business meetings, special meetings, and the degree ceremonies. Masonry is very much a family affair.

WELL KNOWN MASONS

Throughout the years, many well-known men have belonged to the Masonic Fraternity. This is only a partial listing.

MASONIC PRESIDENTS: George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon Johnson & Gerald Ford.

MASONIC FOUNDING FATHERS: Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, Henry Knox, John Sullivan, John Paul Jones, Mordecai Gist, Edmund Randolph, John Marshall, John Blair & William Richardson.

MASONIC MUSICIANS: Irving Berlin, Roy Clark, George M. Cohan,
Franz Josef Haydn, Ferlin Huskey, Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Mozart,
Jan Sibelius, John Phillip Sousa, Mel Tillis, Burl Ives, Hank Thompson & Paul Whiteman.

MASONIC ENTREPRENEURS: John Jacob Astor, Walter Chrysler,
Eberhard Father, Henry Ford, King Gillete, Charles Hilton,
Andrew Mellon, J.C. Penny & Nathan Rothschild.

MASONIC ASTRONAUTS: Col. "Buzz" Aldrin, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil "Gus" Grissom & James Irwin.

MASONIC AUTHORS: James Boswell, Robert Burns, Arthur Conan Doyle, William S. Gilbert, Wolfgang Goethe, Rudyard Kipling, Alexander Pope, Aleksander Pushkin, Sir Walter Scott, Jonathan Swift, Anthony Trotlope, Mark Twain, Lew Wallace & Oscar Wilde.

A FEW GOOD MEN: Thurgood Marshall, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court, Booker T. Washington, educator/founder Tuskegee Institute, Nathaniel "Nat King" Cole, American pianist and singer, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, orchestra leader/composer, Sugar Ray Robinson, mid/light heavy boxing champion, Scottie Pippen, #33, Chicago Bulls, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Harmony Lodge No. 88, Chicago, Illinois, Bro. Emanuel Cleaver of Eureka Lodge No. 170, Kansas City Missouri,  Mayor, Rev. Al Sharpton under the Jurisdiction of New York,

MASONIC MILITARY & POLITICAL LEADERS: Gen. Omar Bradley,
Sir Winston Churchill, Adm. William Crowe, Gen. Douglas Macarthur, Gen. Geo Marshall, Audie Murphy, Gen. John Pershing & Eddie Rickenbacker.

MASONIC ACTORS & DIRECTORS: Gene Autry, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Cantor, Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, W.C. Fields, Glenn Ford, Clark Gable, Arthur Godfrey, Oliver Hardy, Harry Houdini, Al Jolson, Louis Mayer, Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, "Red" Skelton & John Wayne.

MASONIC EXPLORERS: Adm. James Bruce, Richard Byrd, Elisha Kane, Charles Lindbergh, Robert Perry, Robert Scott & Lowell Thomas.

MASON FRONTIERSMEN: Stephen Austin, Kit Carson, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Davie Crockett, Sam Houston & William Travis.