Freemasonry's Beliefs and Their Struggle for Secrecy

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0530-019

        

William Degnan

Extended Essay

“Freemasonry’s Beliefs and Their Struggle for Secrecy”

January 13, 2003

0530-019

3,306

Abstract

        The extended essay project was done on the Masonic group of people who have been an influential part of history as a whole.  In this essay I am going to explore the belief system of the group.  As well as demonstrate why there is much controversy surrounding the group by expressing the opposing views.  The Masons basically are a group of men that have shared feelings about brotherhood, morals and community progress.  These men belong to the world’s largest fraternity in the world.  It spans all nations, races and religions.  The group as a whole is very secret.  For instance the origin and the time that this group was structured is still uncertain.  Many actions and activities of the group are also low key.  This makes the group very vulnerable for Anti-Masonic groups.  Many famous and important people in the world have belonged to the Freemasons.  When criminal acts or injustices in the community take place, the Anti-Masonic groups place blame on the masons.  What was found out by the research is that the secrecy of the Masonic organization is to be kept at all times.  Some times extreme measures are taken to insure its secrecy.  Anti-Mason groups are detrimental to the survival of the group.  They dampen their progress and lower their popularity rating with the public.  It is an ongoing battle that doesn’t seem like it will cease any time soon.  

There is a society in which many people belong.  Many people are your everyday people; people that run the country, people that own business to people that pass you on the street.  You wouldn’t know they belong to this society because they are everyday people.  This society has been around since the earliest of times.  The members are dedicated to brotherly love, relief for the community and strong morals.  More revealingly this group can be defined as a group of men, banded together in an exclusive lodge to advance, first and foremost, their personal interests and second, the interests of the community or other members of the group (Hoselton).  If you know anyone that sounds like he fits this profile they might belong to Masonry also called Freemasonry.  

         Masonry is touted as the world’s oldest and largest fraternity. Freemasonry and Masonry are interchangeable words for the same organization, which has its roots in the medieval trade guilds of stonemasons.  In Freemasonry the most widely used symbols are the tools of the stonemason, a square, compass and a level.  The level for example is a symbol that are men are equal and on the same level.  There are signs that point to the first congregation on this organization, which is back in 926 AD, when the first lodge documents were found.  There are writings and evidence that date back to the late 17th century.  There is no exact answer to when this society, lodge, group first originated. Even so Freemasonry was formally created in London in 1717.  The ideas and beliefs quickly spread to the American colonies and across Europe.  Today, there are probably four to six million men in the fraternity (Cambell).  

The Masons in the mid-seventeenth century were a secret society and since they were secret there was no historical document or writings.  There are basically three theories that surround their existence before it became public.  The first theory is that freemasonry is as ancient as the Masonic ritual claims.  It was indeed created as a result of happenings at the building of king Solomon’s temple and has been passed down to us through mechanisms unknown.  The second theory that scientists believe is that the development of medieval stoneman’s guilds, whereby Masonic skills with stone were translated into what masons call moral improvements.  The third theory is that masons rituals originally come from the Order Of The Poor Fellow- soldiers of Christ and the temple of Solomon, now better known as the Knights of Templar (Knight).

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One thing you will learn is that there are no exact answers when it comes to the Masons.  This society is held in high regard to its secrecy.  The rules and regulations are very sacred and if one is not performed or is broken than severe penalty will be placed in action.  The penalties are from removal from the society to death, depending on the act.  These rules and guidelines are what gave man his sense of security and sense of well-being back in the times when the world was not as civilized as it was today.  When the world ...

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