An Open Letter

R. Stephen Doan, 33, Grand Master Grand Lodge of California 
Free and Accepted Masons
1111 California Street, 
San Francisco, 
California  94108-2284

The following open letter from M\W\ R. Stephen Doan, Grand Master
of Masons in California, to the Director of the Interfaith Witness
Department, the office of the Southern Baptist Convention ordered
to investigate Freemasonry, uses personal experience to assert that
Christianity is compatible with Freemasonry.

I understand that you are gathering information as to whether
Freemasonry is compatible with Christianity. As Grand Master of
Masons in California and a licensed Lay Reader in the Episcopal
Church, I would like to share some thoughts on the subject.

        Masonry has been criticized over the centuries by various
religious groups. Some critics allege that Masonry is a religion.
These critics argue that Masonry offers a plan of salvation based
upon the good works of its members, They therefore claim that
members of their faith cannot be Masons because one cannot have two
religions. This criticism is often heard from those Christian
groups which emphasize that faith alone and not good works is
necessary for salvation.

        Masonry is not a religion. Religion deals with salvation,
the preparation of our spirit for its return to the God who gave
it. Masonry, on the other hand, is about ethics: right and wrong
conduct in the here and now. Confusion sometimes arises because
religion talks about ethics too, but its focus is different.
Salvation, not ethics, distinguishes religion. Masonry deals
exclusively with ethics.

        Nowhere in our Masonic Ritual is there a promise to  our
members that they will go to Heaven if they are good Masons.
Recognized Masonry in this country has never sought to be a means
for salvation. It is self-improvement in this world for which we
labor as Masons. We strive for admission to Heaven through our
religious preparation, not through Freemasonry.

        Some religious critics misconstrue that portion of the
Masonic funeral service when the Master declares that the lambskin
apron is representative of that purity of life and conduct so
essentially necessary, like faith and grace, to gaining admission
into the Celestial Lodge above. Does this mean that we get to
Heaven by good works as a Mason? No! It means that we hope to be
unblemished in our record of what our God wants us to be,
regardless of our individual religious belief, the nature of that
God at God's expectations of us. For a Christian, it means a life of
faith and righteousness.

        Some religious critics allege that Masons swear oaths on
the Bible with penalties which they do not intend to enforce and
therefore commit blasphemy. Any thoughtful Mason knows that these
penalties are symbolic only. Religions are rich with symbolism
also.

        Some religious groups criticize us because Masons who are
Christians allow Muslims, Buddhists, Jews and other non-Christians
to join and respect these members' right to believe in a divine
word other than the New and Old Testaments. We are criticized
because Masons who are Christians do not deny that non-Christian
Masons can be saved. Do Christians have a monopoly on ethical
behavior? Why should a consideration of ethics be limited to the
members of one religious group? Because Masonry does not deal
alvation, what is the relevance of its members' various views on
that subject?

        It is the beauty of Masonry that good people regardless of
religious beliefs may gather and share those timeless truths about
human nature that are common to all great religions. For me, one of
the enjoyments I derive from Masonry is the opportunity to share
with Jews, Muslims, and others those timeless truths regarding
ethical conduct and to deepen my own personal faith and
understanding of God with the help of the added perspectives of
others who believe with possibly differing interpretations.

        Masonry is important in this age, as it has been in those
before us and will be in those to come, because it unites; it does
not divide. It respects all people and does not seek to replace the
religions of any of them, nor claim that some are superior to
others. Our membership requirements are simple: we require only a
belief in God. Therefore men of any faith who have this one simple
belief may belong. 

        Masonry is unique because it is the only place where all
people of God may share in their search for the ethical approach to
all that they do. It is one place where people from different
religious backgrounds can share each other's perspective with
respect to ethical behavior. It is one place where a Christian, a
Jew, a Muslim, or any other believer in God may share his approach
to that same ethical conduct to which we all strive and which is
common to every major religion: doing to others as we wou them to
do to us.

        Is not this what the world needs today? We need unity more
than division. We need more places where like-minded people can
gather and share thoughts with respect to the improvement of the
human condition. Masonry is good because it allows good people of
all religious views to unite for the improvement of people in this
world. Such has been Masonry's greatness in the past and so may it
be in the future.     s    R. Stephen Doan,

is the youngest California Grand Master in seventy years. He is a
Thirty-third Degree Mason and Past Venerable Master of the Los
Angeles Scottish Rite. His Masonic career began in DeMolay where he
was the Master Councilor of the Southern California Jurisdiction.

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I have been a member of the Masonic Lodge since the early 1950s. In
1960 I was chosen as Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky,
and I served as Chairman of the Committee on Religious Interest.

        Freemasonry has been and still is a joyful and profitable
journey for me. I have found a fellowship of harmony, brotherly
love, concern for others, and a reverence for the Bible, God,
Church, and Country.

        As a minister of the Gospel in the Southern Baptist
Convention since September 1934, I have never witnessed the opening
of a Masonic Lodge without an open Bible and prayer to our Heavenly
Father. I have spoken to many Lodges and conducted many Masonic
services. I have used the same Bible and the same message from it
that I would in church. Never have I heard Masonry referred to as a
religion by any officer or member of a Lodge in session.

        To my knowledge, Lucifer has no place in Masonry where he
is not recognized except as the Old Devil, Father of Lies, and
Destroyer of Good.

Dr. Leon Larimore, Louisville, KY, First Baptist Church, Horse
Cave, KY

Bear Wallow Lodge No. 231, Horse Cave, KY, Scottish Rite Bodies of
Louisville, KY


