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Freemasonry the teachings and practices
of the secret fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons, the largest
worldwide secret society. Spread by the advance of the British Empire, Freemasonry remains
most popular in the British Isles and in other countries originally within
the empire. Freemasonry evolved from
the guilds of stonemasons and cathedral builders of the Middle
Ages. With the decline of cathedral building, some lodges of operative
(working) masons began to accept honorary members to bolster their declining
membership. From a few of these lodges developed modern symbolic or speculative
Freemasonry, which particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, adopted the
rites and trappings of ancient religious orders and of chivalric brotherhoods.
In 1717 the first Grand Lodge, an association of lodges, was founded in England. Freemasonry has, almost
from its inception, encountered considerable opposition from organized
religion, especially from the Roman Catholic Church, and from various states. Though often mistaken
for such, Freemasonry is not a Christian institution. Freemasonry contains many
of the elements of a religion; its teachings enjoin morality, charity, and
obedience to the law of the land. For admission the applicant is required to be
an adult male believing in the existence of a Supreme Being and in the
immortality of the soul. In practice, some lodges have been charged with
prejudice against Jews, Catholics, and nonwhites. Generally, Freemasonry in
Latin countries has attracted freethinkers and anticlericals,
whereas in the Anglo-Saxon countries, the membership is drawn largely from
among white Protestants. In most lodges in most
countries, Freemasons are divided into three major degrees--entered apprentice,
fellow of the craft, and master mason. In many lodges there are numerous
degrees--sometimes as many as a thousand--superimposed on the three major
divisions; these organizational features are not uniform from country to
country. In
addition to the main body of Freemasonry derived from the British tradition,
there are now a number of appendant groups that are
primarily social or fun organizations, which have no official standing in
Freemasonry but which draw their membership from the higher degrees of
Freemasonry. They are especially prevalent in the United States. Among those known for
their charitable work are the
Ancient Arabic Order of
the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (the "Shriners").
Female relatives of Master Masons may join the Order of the Eastern Star; boys,
the Order of DeMolay and the Order of Builders; and girls, the Order of Job's
Daughters and the Order of Rainbow. English Masons are forbidden to affiliate
with any of the fun organizations or quasi-Masonic societies, on pain of
suspension. "Freemasonry" Encyclopędia Britannica Online. |