THE BUILDER FEBRUARY 1916

MASONRY AND RELIGION

BY BRO. CHARLES C. SMITH, IOWA

I feel that, in discussing a subject of this kind, it is necessary
to define briefly what we understand by the term religion. There is
perhaps no social force among men that is quite so ubiquitous as
the religious force. Like the law of gravitation, it is found in
all the realms of human experience. There is no human sphere in
which its voice and language are not heard. Travel back into the
dim dawn of the past and you find the evidence of its presence
there. Plutarch, the Roman sage and traveler, on returning from his
journeys, declared that he had seen cities without walls, that he
had seen cities without libraries, that he had seen cities without
the public bath, but that nowhere had he seen a city without its
temples of worship. It might seem from this that a definition is
unnecessary. Yet in spite of its universality, in spite of the
voluminous literature written on it, there is really no subject of
human importance about which people are so unreasonable, so
fanatical and so ignorant as this subject of religion.

The poet, looking into the future, has mentioned "a far off divine
event toward which all nature moves." But what is it that compels
man to take his place in the procession of these events? Matthew
Arnold, a pessimist and almost a skeptic, after studying the entire
field of human history, was forced to declare that "there was a
power, outside ourselves, which makes for righteousness." Now this
power may not be a part of ourselves, yet it becomes of human
importance only as it comes to expression in and through man. Now,
it does not matter especially what you call that force, or what you
call its source. I hold that, at least so far as man is concerned,
the activity of this force within man is religion. Religion then
must be a participal something provoked by a fundamental influence.
Thus I would offer as my definition; Religion is the searchings of
finite beings for the Infinite Being with the view of becoming like
the Infinite One in ethical character.

You will see at once that I do not confine religion to the
churches. I am a hearty and thorough believer in the churches. No
institution has had, or is having, so large a part in moulding
ideals and shaping the destiny of man as the churches.
Nevertheless, with all our various denominations, and with the
various organizations within our denominations, religion is not
circumscribed by our churches. Religion is as broad as humanity.
The churches have no corner on it. I suppose many good people will
look at me with eyes askance when I give religion such a broad
interpretation. Nevertheless, I am convinced, that religion must
take this view of herself before she can realize her own ideals.
And the quicker our churches recognize it the better.

There is a tendency for many to us to mistake the overt expression
of a force for the force itself. When we speak of thunder we think
only of a loud noise. We speak of lightning and we see only a
zigzag streak of light or perhaps a barn burning. Likewise when we
speak of religion many of us think only of the churches, as if the
two terms were synonomous. And this applies also to Masons and
Masonry. Too often we mistake the organized Lodge for the spirit
and teaching of Masonry. There are many Masons who have been made
such "in a just and lawfully constituted lodge of Masons," but who
have never been "duly and truly prepared" in their hearts. They
fail to discriminate between the organized Lodge and the aim and
ideal of Masonry; between the "white leather apron" and that for
which it is emblematic.

It has been said that Masonry is not a religion. This is without
doubt correct, especially in the popular understanding of religion.
It has no creed that must be believed. It offers no dogmas about
either God or man or the universe that must be accepted. In fact,
when Free Masonry is "duly tiled," religious creed and dogma can
gain no admittance. Nevertheless, Masonry does have some of the
religious ear-marks. In whom does she put her trust but in God ?
Are not the virtues which she fosters and demands in her members
the same virtues that religion emphasizes? Was not Free Masonry
born of the feeling of Ought? It is unfair if not criminal to
accuse her of sordid and selfish motives when she talks about, and
strives for, the brotherhood of man. Nothing but the feeling of
Ought is responsible for her existance. There may be individual
Masons, and even whole lodges, whose motives are sordid, but if so
they are positively out of harmony with Free Masonry as such.

If our above definition of religion be true, is not the development
of virtue, upon which Masonry insists, a religious work as much as,
of not even more than, the believing of certain creeds? It appears,
therefore, having cleared our minds of the misconceptions of both
religion and Masonry, that while Masonry is not a religion she is
vitally connected, in fundamentals, with religion. It is a branch
upon the tree of religion. There are many other branches, of
course. Masonry, like the churches, lives, moves and has its being
in the broad principle of religion. Masonry without religion is
like a branch severed from the vine. The particular lodge that is
not permeated with the religious spirit is not true to Masonry as
such. The individual Mason whose ideal of manhood does not possess
a mind and heart like unto the mind and heart of the barefoot
Carpenter of Galilee, has not incorporated into his life the
fundamental aim and spirit of Free Masonry.

Not only is Masonry religious in her foundation. She also appears
religious in her ideals. This is clear in comparing her ideals with
the ideals of our churches. We look for the designs upon the
trestle board of both Masonry and the churches, and, perhaps to our
surprise, find plans and specifications regarding the same
building. Each is clearly endeavoring to build a structure of
brotherhood. The plans may not be executed by the same methods, but
the finished product is the same. They are laboring on different
sides of the building, perhaps.

But even the methods are becoming more and more the same as we
understand one another better. Already is the church beginning to
insist that her members square their lives by the Square of Virtue,
that they "walk uprightly in their several stations before God and
man," and that they meet all mankind upon the common level of
brotherhood. Likewise, Masonry is about to see that before she can
reach her own highest ideals she must have the enthusiasm of
religious zeal, and the driving power of the conviction of
religious duty.

Now, if Masonry ever feels that the churches have often failed, I
would call her attention to the material with which the churches
are compelled to build. They must deal with "the old man in his
dotage," with the "young man in his nonage," with the libertine,
the intemperate and all vulgar classes which Masonry refuses to
admit into her fold. Not that Masonry wishes such to perish, but
that she has no place for them. In this is found the answer to that
old question; Is the Lodge good enough without the church ? Most
emphatically it is not. That Mason who is not in hearty sympathy
with the church, even with all her faults, and who does not lend
her his support, both spiritual and material, is not as good a
Mason as he ought to be.

On the other hand, if our churches feel that Masonry is exclusive
and secular, I would call their attention to the fact that for her
to be otherwise would be to weaken her social force and to lower
her high standards. The advanced guard must not be held back by too
much dead weight. There is needed just such an exclusive social
force as Masonry. The stronger will be that force the more it is
supported by the church. To oppose her is like the hand opposing
the foot, for we are only members of the same body.

Masonry and religion must not grow suspicious of one another,
therefore. Society needs both, and in this need they are closely
related. They should toil on, in harmony and peace, side by side.
They should march up life's incline arm in arm, ever ascending
until they reach that temple above, not made with hands, eternal in
the heavens, into whose inner chamber each may enter where each
shall receive, from the Supreme Architect of the Universe, a
Master's wages.

THE CLASP OF A VETERAN'S HAND

There's a warmth in the clasp of a Veteran's hand 
Which the world can never feel; 
And a depth in the tone of a Veteran's voice 
Which his words do not reveal. 
There's a friendly beam in a Veteran's eye, 
And a cheer in his pleasant smile, 
Which enlivens the heart and makes one feel 
That the old world is worth while.

He is taught by the test of experienced years 
What the nature of men requires; 
And has learned by the use of the Veteran's Gauge 
To measure the hearts desires. 
He is loved by his brothers in Masonry, 
For his heart is ever true; 
And he reaches the souls of his fellow men 
As no other one can do.

Then here's to the health of our Veterans all, 
And the hope that many years 
May be granted them ere Life's shadows fall 
And the light of heaven appears. 
There is ever a spark in a Veteran's heart 
Which keeps Love's embers aglow, 
And a warmth in the clasp of a Veteran's hand 
Which the world will never know.
--Nelson Williams, P. G. M., Ohio.

THE ONLY LIGHT

There's only one great light
That can bring the dawn of day;
All others show the night
Where the sombre shadows play.
So the brightest moral light
That shines for the greatest good,
And that makes the old world bright
Is the light of brotherhood.

There's only one great light
That reflects its warmth and cheer,
All others leave but blight
Where flowers might appear.
So the sweet, soul warming rays
In their gleams from heart to heart
Give Deity the highest praise
And man his noblest art.

There's only one great light
That never, never fails,
Its dawning greets the sight
Of the salt 'neath rended sails.
So the dangers we may scan
As we sail the sea of time,
And the best way blazed for man
In a brotherhood Divine.

--L.B.M.
