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FREEMASONRY AND RELIGION
submitted by Ellis Mills

The reason is because atheists are barred from joining and therefore it is a mandatory requirement that a prospective brother should have a particular religion; but what it is, is no longer the concern of the Fraternity.

The implied prohibition therefore, is that discussion of a particular religion is taboo, like the ones always hotly being debated upon by Eli Soriano of Ang Dating Daan and Pete Buluran (probably of the Iglesia ni Cristo) at the airwaves. But religion, per se, is not at all prohibited. If you doubt it, then take a refresher of the 18th degree lecture assuming you are already a Scottish Rite Mason, or if not better enlist at Quezon City Bodies (how’s that for advertisement?!) or the other Bodies in the Philippine jurisdiction and there you will learn that Right, Truth, and Religion, are one and the same. But a word of warning: Don’t doze off into slumber while the lecture is going on.

So now, let the lion take the bull by the horns.

Are you aware that no less than ninety percent of the world’s population trace their religious roots to two ancient civilizations, namely the Semites of ancient Mesopotamia and the Hindus of the Indian continent? How’s that again? Does it mean that about 5.4 billion of the world’s population trace their religious roots to the Hebrews and the Indians? Oh, no! not the American Indians, but the Hindus of India!

Let us take both one after the other.

The Semitic religion of the patriarch Abraham (remember the Christmas song Father Abraham?!) spawned three of the world’s great religions, namely, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Judaism had its roots from Abraham then to Moses, filtering down to David, then to Solomon and down the line to the time Jesus Christ. But after the death of the world’s greatest teacher, a tender branch sprouted and in less than three centuries grew to a size that relegated the adherents of Judaism to mediocrity. Until finally, during the council of Nicea in AD 325, the congregation voted on the divinity of Jesus Christ. Thus would Christianity blossom mightier than an oak in the woodlands and from there it spread all through Europe and the entire world, namely, the Americas and up to the Far East in the eastern hemisphere that include the Philippines.

In AD 570 Mohammed was born and during his lifetime propagated Islam, the religion that claims to have started its roots also from Abraham. Curiously, its prophets include Ismael- Abraham’s first-born son, Moses, Jesus Christ, and finally Mohammed at the end of the line. These three religions, meaning Judaism, Christianity and Islam when combined, easily accounts for about 45 percent of the world’s population that now is estimated at about 6.1 billion.

For the moment, let the lion digress from the Semites or the Hebrews and let him focus his sight on the Hindus or the real Indians.

Said to be once ruled by the Aryans, ancient India, which previously include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Ceylon to the south and up to the Himalayas and Afghanistan in the north, accounts for about the same percentage as that of the combined religions of the Semites. Initially it comprise the Vedas or Brahmmins and the Jain religions at the forefront. In 563 BC however, Siddarta Gautama was born and to him was credited the birth of Buddhism. This religion leapt later to China, Korea, Japan, Ceylon, Burma and Thailand to the extent that it is now said to comprise about 40 percent of the total world population. In addition, the Sikhs also trace their roots to the Indian sub-continent although they have a distinct Volume of the Sacred Law they of their own..

There are of course other religions that planted their roots somewhere else; like those of the American Indians and the aborigins of Australia, the voodoo religions of the South Americas; and for those who would not want to be excluded, even Apo Kahoy of the Malakas and Maganda mythology if there indeed is any. But these religions no longer account for a sizable percentage of the total religions of the world.

In sum therefore, religion is like a tree that sprouts a stem that subsequently turns into a trunk and rising upwards grows new branches. Take the case of the religion of Abraham. Judaism was its main trunk and after several centuries, a new twig grew in the form of Christianity sprouted. This branch thereafter produced several twigs of its own, like Eastern Orthodoxy, Pauline Christianity from where the Roman Church later stood, and even Nestorian Christianity that is obviously unknown to the outside world. Eastern Orthodoxy thrived in the Baltic states of Europe that include Russia, while Pauline Christianity whose base was in Rome propagated the faith simultaneous with the conquests of the Southern Americas and ultimately to the Philippines.

But the growth of Christianity was not without misgivings. The German Martin Luther established Protestantism in Europe and the monarchs of England and Scotland as heads of state (and religion) formed their own so that when at last they made the conquest of North America and Canada, they brought with them their Protestant faith which is, in many respects, different from the faith nurtured by Saint Paul and the Roman Church. In the Philippines, Isabelo de los Reyes formed Iglesia Filipina Independiente and cajoled Gregorio Aglipay to be its first Obispo Maximo. Felix Manalo organized his Iglesia ni Cristo and lately even Eli Soriano joined the fray by establishing his Dating Daan Movement, such that nowadays, religious analysts remark that Christianity, with about a third of the world’s total population, is the most fragmented religion on the face of the earth.

Other religions experience the same fate. Buddhists have Shinto, Zen and other similar variants that undoubtedly were influenced by their respective philosophies, customs and traditions. The same holds true to Islam, what with the Sunnis, the Shiites and even the Zufis, it would be irrational to say these religions strictly adhere to exactly the same beliefs.

And what have these divergent religions of the world have in common with Freemasonry?! (Now, the lion got you there!!!)

Well, all religions (almost all, anyway because the lion’s readings say that there are variants of religions in India that do not believe in a particular God, like the Jains who do not have the concept of a creator, or the Hindus who believe in the multiplicity of deities the most prominent of whom are Brahma, Visnu and Ziva), believe in the Almighty, in the immortality of the soul, and in the brotherhood of man. These three are the among the principal tenets of Freemasonry that are shared commonly with almost all religions. But how these are practiced, is an entirely different story. Freemasonry, it should be remembered, offers not definite name nor form of God and offers no avenue for salvation. Conversely then, how do these three tenets agree or disagree, with both religion and Freemasonry? Let’s take the three one by one.

I.. BELIEF IN GOD

The respective names of God, even in a particular religion, vary. In Christianity for example, the names Adonai, El Shaddai, Yahweh, Jehovah, Lord, and what have you are recorded. They have Allah in Islam, Brahma and his cohorts in Hindu and Buddha in Buddhism, although strictly speaking, Buddha is not literally considered a God, but one who has achieved that status. It goes to show therefore that if there are modifications in calling the Almighty as God, how much more variable is attuning ones’ belief to Him?! And Freemasonry also would not want to meddle into the details of a brother’s particular manner of belief in his own God!

II. THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL

The basic deviation of an atheist over a religious devotee is not only non-belief in the Almighty but also in the non-belief in a soul and that when one dies, only his memory remains.. Agnostics wonder if there is a God and a soul, while atheists believe there is none. But let’s leave the atheists and agnostics to their respective thinking.
Sometimes called kruwah by the religious, it is also alternately called spirit or soul of man. Belief in the soul is also divergent- Christians, Catholics especially believe that a soul either goes to heaven or hell after death. Buddhists and Hindus think of reincarnation, that is, getting back to another body after a series of deaths and rebirths until it is fully cleansed of imperfections. Somewhere in the 18th degree conferral, it talks of the soul as a unit and that like all matter it experience breaking up into components only to regroup again with another matter at a later time but is never extinguished on the face of the universe unless willed by the Almighty.
Despite the variants however, it is evident the soul, as created by his Maker, is immortal and will remain so to the ends of the earth.. The 18th degree also mentioned the acronym INRI which stands not for the acronym that was placed atop the cross where Jesus was crucified which meant IESUS NAZARENUS, REX IUDAREUM but as INFINITY (of God), NATURE, REASON and IMMORTALITY (of the soul). But you have to attend the Scottish Rite conferral of degrees as the explanation for the explanation of that acronym will not be made in this short, albeit perplexing article.

III. THE BROTHERHOOD OF MEN

The 30· conferral of the Scottish Rite degree eloquently expounded the doctrine on love of neighbor when it said: Love God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and with all thy strength; and thy Neighbor as thyself. This do and thou shalt live. And added: Humanity is our Neighbor. We are all one kindred, as God breathed unto man the breath of life.
The question now is: From where did this creed came from?
The answer, fortunately, is not hard to find for in Matthew 22: 37-40 it says:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Not only that; in Mark 12: 28-31, it also said the same message although with a slight variation in phraseology.

The question now that is at hand is: Is this creed peculiar to, or the teaching attributable solely to the world’s Greatest Teacher? If not, who are the other sages who did?, Fortunately, Albert Pike in his Morals and Dogma narrated the following complementary verses and sentences on the subject:

CONFUCIOUS- the Chinese
The doctrine consist solely in being upright of heart and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves

SOCRATES- the Grecian
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

ZOROASTER- the Persian
Hold it not meet to do unto others what thou wouldst not desire unto thyself; do that unto the people, which, when done to thyself, is not disagreeable unto thee.

HILEL- the Pharisee
That which thou liketh not done to thyself, do it not unto thy neighbor.

Which all but sums up that believers of the faiths where these immortal sages belong, and not knowing that the others have said it may be constrained to think that the doctrine is peculiarly theirs. But Masonry, a patient recorder of dogmas and doctrines enunciated by these ancient philosophers simply adapted the lesson as its own and propagated the unwritten thoughts of God through several mediums.

SYNOPSIS

With but a single example on love of neighbor this short article can now be ended with the following closing words:

Religion can be compared to a tree whose seed germinated and grew into a trunk, and thereafter creating branches as it rises upwards, and then twigs and leaves, becoming different both in appearance and substance as it soars above. Freemasonry, on the other hand, is like a brook, initially solitary, and in fine attracting the waters of other brooks along the way, until it becomes a mighty river until its waters finally merge with the crystal-clear pristine sea.