Freemasons

To clarify, I am not a mason but I have done quite a bit of research on the topic. I think I know Freemasonry about as well as you can from the outside. In large part it's just a fraternity-a private club for men that you have to be invited into. Freemasonry definitely has a charter, specific goals they are working towards. The exact wording is confidential but you can get a pretty good idea from examining its roots.

How far back proto-freemasonry goes back is unknown. There is evidence that some form of it existed in the Middle Ages among stone masons who eventually started including the nobles they worked for. Modern Freemasonry traces its origins to the 1600s when local lodges opened up and was officially founded in London in 1717 with the first Grand Lodge of England. I think that we want to understand Freemasonry today the best thing to do is understand the climate it was born in. The 1600s was one of the worst centuries in Europe due to the Wars of Religion. Catholics and Protestants did not freaking get along. Off the top of my head you had the 30 Years War, the 80 Years War, the English Civil War, the Bishops War, the Three Kingdoms War and the Commonwealth, (technically the bit between wars and not an actual war not because there wasn't heavy religious persecution, but because it was one sided) and the persecution of the Huguenots (there was some fighting but mostly it was a one way blood bath.) Somewhere around half the population of Europe was killed fighting over religion.

The Enlightenment was also getting going about this time and people began to realize that we needed to stop using religion to divide us and use it to bring us together for the betterment of mankind. Out of this came concepts of democracy and freedom of religion that is reflected in our own Constitution. Both of those concepts are also very important to Masonry and are things they want to see spread around the world.

I became close friends with a Mason while working in Kentucky on oil rigs. Brother Jim was the baptist minister for some of my coworkers and I began to attend his sermons after I had finished my own meetings. Baptist services were run very differently than the LDS ones I grew with and the teachings were also different. The differences between the two theologies are to numerous to list but there was clear common ground. In the morning when I went to the LDS branch are heard of Jesus Christ's love and was encouraged to love my fellow man. When I went to the Baptist sermon I heard of Jesus's love and was encouraged to share that love with my fellow man. I was timid at first about talking to the minister because I have been warned about the counter-productivity of "bible bashing" with other faiths whole life. As I started to talk to Brother Jim we began to discuss a variety of religious topics and recognized that although we differed on most of the particulars we were both good Christian men trying our best to follow Him. I was shocked at how well we got along considering we both held some views the other considered wrong.

My employment in Kentucky ended abruptly when I found myself in the local ICU. It was about 10pm when I called my Bishop to ask for a Priesthood blessing. In addition to the late hour there was a tornado warning that caused every part of the hospital except the ICU to be relocated to shelter. I was 2000 miles from home, lucky to be alive but alone so I called Brother Jim for words of comfort. His words of comfort to me were "I am 45 minutes away so I'll be there in an hour." It was interesting because we had talked about the different notions of Priesthood our two faiths held. Most Christians believe in the "Priesthood of all believers" that originated with Martin Luther and I, as a Mormon, believe in a direct line of power and authority from Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith. I believe that the (Mormon) Melchizedek Priesthood has actual power to preform miracles. When Brother Jim got to me he frankly admitted that the best he could do was pray for me and ask Jesus Christ to use his power to heal me. Though not the same as the Priesthood blessing I would later receive I was truly grateful for Brother Jim's prayer. The last night we were together he told me he was a Mason and everything about him made sense. His attitude about focusing on similarities rather than differences was part of what he believed as a Mason.

But the greatest example of Freemasonry comes out of Nazi Germany. At a time when all Germany praised Hitler as the new Messiah (even though he despised Christianity) the Masons opposed him because they recognized his evil from the beginning. They stood against the persecution of the Jews and for their troubles were rounded up and sent to concentration camps alongside the Jews. When a nation cast aside its principals Masons stood firm.

There is a lot about the inner workings of Masonry I don't know (as it should be) but how bad can an organization that stood alone against Hitler be?