by Bert Alweiss

Created on: March 27, 2009   Last Updated: April 01, 2009

It is not necessary for a person to become a freemason in order to know if freemasonry is a religion or not. Volumes of reading materials abound describing how masons work.

One can take the first step of entering the portals of Freemasonry by filling up A Petition Form for Degrees, which contains personal questions about the candidate. One salient question in the form is one which seeks to ascertain if a petitioner believes in a Supreme Being, with a warning that no atheist can join the masonic fraternity because freemasonry seeks to inculcate in its members the virtues of Brothely Love, Relief and Truth.

Masonic meetings are opened and closed with a prayer, but not mentioning a single name of the Deity. This is because its members come from various denominations and religious faiths and the most convenient way to express unity is merely to mention a supreme being, which masons call the Great Architect of the Universe. Masons are guided by the symbolic meanings of the squares, compasses, level, plumb, 24-inch gauge and other working tools of ancient masons, architects and engineers. It is no wonder, therefore, that they use the Great Architect of the Universe as the symbolic name of God.

Like the meetings of a Rotary Club or Kiwanis Club, a masonic meeting talks of ordinary business that the organization has to take up in order to achieve its goals on leadership, membership growth, community service, finances, and social events such as birthdays,family achievements, among others. There are no meditation sessions or prayer groups, or holy book sharings being done inside masonic meetings. I am a member of Kiwanis International and we always start off our meetings with a prayer, just like Freemasons do.

It would appear from the uninitiated or outsiders that Freemasonry is a religion because of the Holy Bible being placed inside the meeting room. In jurisdictions where there are members who belong to the Islam religion, the Holy Quoran is being placed beside the Holy Bible, merely to signify that Freemasonry unites people of various denominations and faiths. The presence of the holy writings does not make it a religion. Its presence is to remind all members of the need to believe in the Holy Writings as a rule and guide of one's faith and to continually be inspired by these words to become good Christians, good Islams, good Buddhists or good Hindus and thus fulfill their role to spread love, equality, fraternity, freedom and justice. The great founding fathers of the United States of America were firm believers of freedom and they attained great heights in the fight for independence by invoking the divine in all their undertakings. Thus, the framers of the Constitution who were mostly freemasons penned the first phrase of this sublime treasure with an invocation of God!

Indeed there is spirituality in masonic activities and undertakings. But this does not make it a religion. One must distinguish between spirituality from religiousity. Spirituality seeks for an understanding of the inner meaning of one's existence in this world and how can one's life be made more meaningful by helping others who seek comfort, relief, justice and freedom, without putting a singular devotion to a God. I would say Freemasons are people who desire to be spiritual by their quest for enlightenment and to be religious by practising their own respective religions with more fervor outside the portals of the masonic meeting halls.

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