A Free Church in a Free State, a Masonic Heritage for All
James M. Dunn Executive Director Baptist Joint Committee 200
Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC  20002-5797

Summary: A prominent Baptist leader points out that Freemasons, as
defenders of all religions, have made Protestant missions,
including Baptist missions, possible in several countries with
traditions of religious intolerance.

        All of us, Masons and non-Masons, like myself, are deeply
in debt to Freemasonry.

        I know a bit about the history of the expansion of
Christianity, and I affirm the separation of church and state as
the only guarantee for true religious freedom.

        I despise heresy hunts, religious extremism, bigotry and,
as Thomas Jefferson phrased it, "every form of tyranny over the
mind of man."

        At Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the 1950s,
I took a course called "Missions" as taught by Cal Guy. We read all
seven fat volumes of Kenneth Scott Latourette's History of the
Expansion of Christianity. We were tested over our readings weekly. 

        Among other things, I learned this. Masons always have
stood tall for freedom of conscience, even to the point of
martyrdom. Ask anyone who knows about Baptist beginnings in Brazil.
The Gospel could not have been preached, the Bible not distributed,
and missionaries could not have stayed in many instances without
the courageous intervention of Masons who risked all for the free
expression of all religious ideas.

        One book, A Wandering Jew in Brazil, recounts in dramatic
detail the struggle for an unhindered Gospel by Solomon Ginsburg
just over a century ago. No mission-minded believer could read
these tales without pledging eternal appreciation to the Masonic
Order.

        Also, in Mexico church-state separation had a strong
anti-clerical bent after the revolution of 1910. There was an
ongoing struggle with religious intolerance and the persecution of
Protestants. Even until the 1960s champions of religious liberty,
pluralism, free expression, cultural diversity and spiritual
integrity often were simply seen as "the Masons."

        In 1959, my wife and I visited Saltillo and Torreon in
northern Mexico and met with Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist
professionals and government leaders who, for good reason,
identified themselves simply as Freemasons. Religious freedom moved
forward in Mexico and Brazil indebted to the Masons.

        Missionary stories could be multiplied, but those so
focused on the spread of their religion and so dedicated to
missions, ought to read a little history before opposing Freemasons
who have for so long worked so hard and sacrificed so much for the
freedom of all religions.

        Freemasonry is one of the staunchest allies of all real
believers in a free church in a free state.

        How then can any religious group ostensibly dedicated to
free and moral agency, personal faith, the priesthood of all
believers and basic American values challenge the right of the
church members to be active Masons and church leaders?

        Could it be that the assaults on Freemasonry are really a
smoke screen for those who denigrate the all-American doctrine of
church-state separation?

        Is it possible that some extremists are using the very
freedom of expression, the self-same opportunity to open debate,
the precise privilege of public challenge won for them in part by
Masonic heroes, to accuse and abuse those in that great tradition?

        Or, worse have we fallen upon a day in which a climate of
suspicion, distrust, and ignorance allows heresy hunts and thinly
veiled bigotry to hold sway?

        If "yes" is the answer to any of the four questions above,
it is time for all who love liberty to rise up and say, "Enough of
this silliness!"

        The Scottish Rite Creed reads, in part, "liberty of thought
our supreme wish, freedom of conscience our mission."

        I am not a Mason, yet, but I'm certainly glad Freemasons
are around!     s

James M. Dunn is Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee,
a religious liberty agency of ten national Baptist bodies with over
twenty million members. It  is the only church lobby that focuses
only on church-state relations.

