# What's a Free Mason? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445 "2017-07-03T16:25:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/61 "2017-07-05T12:36:59Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Just what nature of “secrets” do you think the high level Freemasonry is hiding? > [@Trinopus](#): > > The handshake, the passwords, certain odd doctrinal ideas regarding the names of the masons who built Solomon’s temple, etc. Fiddly little stuff, of little real interest, and, in any case, by now almost entirely leaked. > > Also, they keep the metric system down… …And, the doctor’s a plumber. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/62 "2017-07-05T14:15:44Z")
If you’ve ever tried to build an eight foot tall brick wall of any decent length, then you’ve got to know that you have to ask The Devil Himself to keep the fool thing level … I’ll be hiding in the woods for a few days until \*\*\* _they_ \*\*\* stop looking for me … ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/63 "2017-07-05T14:33:17Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Just what nature of “secrets” do you think the high level Freemasonry is hiding? That’s a pretty open-ended question, but I’ll pivot back to any organization that lets you in on information as you level up is doing it for a reason. Why is the question? Speculation is all I can offer. I’m not judging, but I can offer some speculation so spare the eggs and tomatoes. 1 ) Perhaps in a way, it’s a pyramid-like organization with the upper-level people benefiting the most financially and socially speaking. This would not make them much different from the other religions. I suspect this is true. 2 ) Perhaps they are a cult-like group who at the upper level believes Aliens or the Supernatural has had some soft of hand in guiding humanity. Some of the founding fathers like Ben Franklin and Geroge Washington saw ghosts and believed in beings from other worlds were Freemasons. 3 ) There is a chance is a stealth like a group that is actually anti-god, and reveals its version of the truth at the higher levels, filling those who level up with misinformation, then pulling the rug out from underneath them once they have acquired enough prestige and power in the group. There is some information on the web on the topic. 4 ) Like Scientology, perhaps the Freemason’s who according to some posters accept pretty much anyone could be abusing people. Sort of like a pledge in a fraternity who does favors and deeds for individuals in the group or for the group…for free. I suspect this is true. Insert your own. It’s a secret society. We just don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/64 "2017-07-06T01:40:26Z")
**Silver lining** –are you in the process of, or do you intend to, write a Conspiracy Theory book, about the Masons? Are you using us as researchers? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/65 "2017-07-06T01:45:33Z")
Oh, we could wish. I can give all sorts of “information.” ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/66 "2017-07-06T07:40:22Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > That’s a pretty open-ended question, but I’ll pivot back to any organization that lets you in on information as you level up is doing it for a reason. Why is the question? > > Speculation is all I can offer. I’m not judging, but I can offer some speculation so spare the eggs and tomatoes. > > 1 ) Perhaps in a way, it’s a pyramid-like organization with the upper-level people benefiting the most financially and socially speaking. This would not make them much different from the other religions. I suspect this is true. > > 2 ) Perhaps they are a cult-like group who at the upper level believes Aliens or the Supernatural has had some soft of hand in guiding humanity. Some of the founding fathers like Ben Franklin and Geroge Washington saw ghosts and believed in beings from other worlds were Freemasons. > > 3 ) There is a chance is a stealth like a group that is actually anti-god, and reveals its version of the truth at the higher levels, filling those who level up with misinformation, then pulling the rug out from underneath them once they have acquired enough prestige and power in the group. There is some information on the web on the topic. > > 4 ) Like Scientology, perhaps the Freemason’s who according to some posters accept pretty much anyone could be abusing people. Sort of like a pledge in a fraternity who does favors and deeds for individuals in the group or for the group…for free. I suspect this is true. > > Insert your own. It’s a secret society. We just don’t know. Some of us do know. If you actually believe any of the points you make in this post, you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/67 "2017-07-06T08:05:58Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > IIRC, the designation of “free” mason originated when the trade guilds distinguished among different categories of stone masons. > > “Free” masons were the highest skilled, working with detailed carving and finishing, as opposed to the lower-skilled masons who worked with the larger foundation stones. > > I’m not sure of the connection between the trade guild designation and the fraternal order. I thought that free masons actually had no historical connections with real stone masons guild. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/68 "2017-07-06T08:21:23Z")
Message deleted when I realized it wasn’t absurd enough. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/69 "2017-07-06T08:35:06Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > I knew the Catholic Church didn’t approve of them, but why? I don’t know in modern times, but historically, the Catholic Church opposed secret societies in general. For instance, somewhat related, the French “compagnons” (brotherhoods of actual craftsmen, this time, but separate from the traditional guilds) were condemned repeatedly by the church for having secrets rituals and initiation ceremonies despite not being involved in religious or philosophical issues. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/70 "2017-07-06T10:56:25Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > That’s a pretty open-ended question, but I’ll pivot back to any organization that lets you in on information as you level up is doing it for a reason. Why is the question? As already explained to you, it’s just a club. There is no “secret soul-saving” involved. The bit about degrees is just a gimmick. > [@](#): > > Speculation is all I can offer. I’m not judging, but I can offer some speculation so spare the eggs and tomatoes. Nope. Your speculation is all that you accept. People with actual knowledge have already explained the facts to you. You dismiss the facts. There is no question as to why you do that. > [@](#): > > 1 ) Perhaps in a way, it’s a pyramid-like organization with the upper-level people benefiting the most financially and socially speaking. This would not make them much different from the other religions. I suspect this is true. Not pyramid-like any more than any other organization. And, AIUI freemasonry’s rules prohibit abusing members financially in the way you suggest. And, again, freemasonry is not a religion. Quit beating that tired old drum. > [@](#): > > 2 ) Perhaps they are a cult-like group who at the upper level believes Aliens or the Supernatural has had some soft of hand in guiding humanity. Some of the founding fathers like Ben Franklin and Geroge Washington saw ghosts and believed in beings from other worlds were Freemasons. Regardless of what Jack Chick preaches, freemasonry is not a religion and is not a cult. You continue to insinuate, in a very Jack Chick manner, that freemasonry has an inner circle where “the real teachings are taught”. That is not the case. > [@](#): > > 3 ) There is a chance is a stealth like a group that is actually anti-god, and reveals its version of the truth at the higher levels, filling those who level up with misinformation, then pulling the rug out from underneath them once they have acquired enough prestige and power in the group. There is some information on the web on the topic. There is no way freemasonry is anti-God when it requires faith in a supreme being for one to join the club. There’s a lot of bs on the Internet, too. I suggest you quit accepting the bs about freemasonry. > [@](#): > > 4 ) Like Scientology, perhaps the Freemason’s who according to some posters accept pretty much anyone could be abusing people. Sort of like a pledge in a fraternity who does favors and deeds for individuals in the group or for the group…for free. I suspect this is true. > > Insert your own. It’s a secret society. We just don’t know. None of your suspicions is true. You insinuate they are because you accept a set of false premises about the group. Jack Chick is a notorious liar. What you appear to believe about freemasonry is straight out of his nonsense. _The Murdoch Mysteries_, a Canadian police procedural, has freemasonry as a running plot point, and a major part of one episode, yet the show’s fictional portrayal of freemasonry is just that, fiction. Anofher fiction would be that you’re not JAQing off here. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/71 "2017-07-07T02:43:44Z")
There’s too much ignorance here to fight. Damn… it’s a group of men who agree to a moral code: not to defraud one another, not to have nefarious relations with family members of your Brothers, and to keep one another’s secrets (there are other things, but nothing creepy). “Friendship, Relief, and Brotherly Love.” Sounds like an attempt to take over the world, eh? If that intimidates you, then check out other large (but almost always smaller) groups’ mottos. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/72 "2017-07-07T02:56:47Z")
Ask not “What are they hiding”, but rather “Why do we want to know” … ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/73 "2017-07-07T03:29:06Z")
> [@GiantRat](#): > > There’s too much ignorance here to fight. Damn… it’s a group of men who agree to a moral code: not to defraud one another, not to have nefarious relations with family members of your Brothers, and to keep one another’s secrets (there are other things, but nothing creepy). > > “Friendship, Relief, and Brotherly Love.” Sounds like an attempt to take over the world, eh? If that intimidates you, then check out other large (but almost always smaller) groups’ mottos. If these are all good things then do members owe these duties only to each other or to everyone? ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/74 "2017-07-07T10:54:44Z")
Historically, Freemasons have held all kinds of different beliefs, some religious and some secular, depending on the time and place. In 18th century French Freemasonry, for example, one could find everything from rationalists to religious seekers, hoping for some kind of magical or mysterious revelation at the end of the line. As Roger Dachez puts it in _Martinist Orders and Freemasonry in France since the time of Papus_: > [@](#): > > In the French lodges of that time [i.e. the 18th century] one found not only men like Montesquieu, Condorcet and, later Benjamin Franklin and even Voltaire, but also men looking for spiritual, hermetic or mystical secrets. One after another, the early high degrees, the so-called ‘degrés écossais’ (‘Scots degrees’), held in such high esteem by French Brethren, promised to reveal to the candidate the ‘most interesting and last secret’. But within a matter of weeks or months, Brethren were advised that a new degree had made its appearance on the masonic stage: it was a never-ending story with very different kinds of actors. Most of them were honest and genuine, a few were outright swindlers and others fell somewhere between the two. But as time went by, the mystical factions - see Martinez De Pasqually, his disciple Willermoz, etc., etc. - were weakened and marginalised. Maria E. Di Pasquale, in writing about Joséphin Péladan, writes that by the middle of the 19th century, French Freemasonry had “officially adopted a completely secularized positivism as its guiding philosophy.” Her source here is Tom Steele’s _The role of scientific positivism in European popular educational movements: The case of France_, which I admit I have not read. So, at least in the mainstream of French Freemasonry, there has been very little magic hocus-pocus from the 1850’s and on. Meanwhile, over in England, sure - you’ll find a few examples of 18th century Freemasons being interested in Swedenborgian thought when it first broke unto the scene. But as Swedenborgianism failed to really take hold in English society at large, and lost its shine, so too it did in English Freemasonry. And so on and so forth. Long story short: From the very beginning, Masonic lodges have been places where new ideas circulate and are discussed and debated. So for all their talk of being rooted in - and clinging on to - supposedly “ancient” traditions, Freemasons have historically followed much the same ideological shifts and trends as has society at large. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445/75 "2017-07-07T21:52:15Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I’m not sure of the connection between the trade guild designation and the fraternal order. There isn’t one. It’s just a sort of fun thing to make up stories about. Other secret societies claim descent from ancient groups like the Templars which are equally unfounded. > [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Why did the Catholic Church ban it? Other than requiring a generalized belief in a higher power, Freemasonry is open to all faiths. It also has a historic tradition of open-mindedness and the free exchange of ideas. I won’t say those concepts are antithetical to the Catholic Church, but they’re certainly incompatible with doctrines that the Church once held. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-free-mason/790445.md?page=3)