|
Home
Officers
Trestleboard
Masonic
Links
Reading
Room
AHML
Museum
...More
to
Come!
|
| To
The Critics Of Freemasonry...Continued |
| |
| |
The Meaning Of "Light" |
| |
Other critics of
Freemasonry are concerned that when Masons use "light" someone might
think the word is referring to salvation rather than truth or knowledge.
But that's a word confusion again. Light was a symbol of knowledge
long before it was a symbol of salvation. The lamp of learning
appears on almost every graduation card and college diploma.
Masonry uses light as a symbol of the search for truth and knowledge.
It is very unlikely and Mason would think Masonic "light" represents
salvation. |
| |
|
| |
"Salvation by
Works" |
| |
Some believe
Freemasonry teaches salvation may be attained by one's good works.
masonry does not teach any path to salvation. That is the job of a
church, not a fraternity. The closest Masonry comes to this issue
is to point to the open Bible and tell the Mason to search there for the
path to eternal life. |
| |
|
| |
Masonry believes
in the importance of doing good works, but as a matter of gratitude to
God for His many great gifts and as a matter of individual moral and
social responsibility. The path to salvation is found in each
Mason's house of worship, not in his lodge. |
| |
|
| |
"Universalism" |
| |
There are those
who claim some Masonic writers teach the "heresy of universalism".
Universalism is the doctrine that all men and women are universally
saved. Masonry does not teach universalism nor any other doctrine
of salvation. Again - doctrines of salvation are the province of a
church, not a fraternity. In point of fact, one has to look rather
hard to find those "many Masonic writers" who supposedly teach
universalism, but even of you could find one, he's writing a statement
of personal opinion. It is important to remember that any Masonic
author writes for himself alone, and not as an official of the Masonic
fraternity. Masonry simply does not have a position, official or
otherwise, on salvation. Since men of all faiths are welcome in
Freemasonry, Masons are careful not to offend the faith of any.
Possibly, that may seem to be universalism to some critics. Masons
call it common courtesy. |
| |
|
| |
Racial
Exclusion |
| |
Some critics,
eager to attack Freemasonry than to out their own house in order, allege
"most Lodges refuse to admit African-Americans as members. Masonry
is not a whites only organization, as the hundreds of thousands of
Black, Native American, Hispanic and Oriental Masons all over the world
can testify. The petition for Masonic membership does not ask the
race of the petitioner, and it would be completely wrong to do so. |
| |
|
| |
At the
international celebration of the 275th anniversary of the Grand Lodge of
England in 1992 (the most recent Masonic gathering of about the same
size as the Southern Baptist Convention) there were far more people of
color than there were at the Southern Baptist Convention in Houston in
1993. |
| |
|
| |
At the same time,
Masonry in America, like churches and society in general, has not lived
up to its teaching of brotherhood as well as it should. That is
changing, in Masonry and society. While it is still true, as
Martin Luther King, Jr., remarked, "Sunday morning at 10:00 is still the
most segregated hour in America", it is getting better throughout all
organizations. |
| |
|
| |
<<Back>> |
|
<<Next>> |
|
