Masons Are Involved In A Cult
There are scores of books and web sites that portray Freemasonry as a cult or an occultic organization. If so many "experts" are making this charge against Masonry they think there surely must be some truth to it. This is once again, just another fabrication to discredit the organization. When many people think of a cult they think of black magic, demons, and the supernatural. None of these would even come close to describing our Craft.
Mr. Jack Harris, an active Anti-Mason has written a book describing how Freemasonry is a cult. Here is what the forward of his book says:
Freemasonry: The Invisible cult In Our Midst is a straight-forward expose' of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, more popularly known as Freemasonry. Mr. Jack Harris, the author of this interesting book, is an expert witness to the teachings and practices of the worldwide organization. For a number of years he was a Master Mason, rising to the position of Worshipful Master, the highest elected office in Blue Lodge Masonry. He also passed through all the degrees of the York Rite, the so-called "Christian" branch of Freemasonry as one having authority.
While Jack Harris may have indeed been a Worshipful Master in his Lodge he seems to know very little about Freemasonry. On his web site he gives his personal story. Anyone who has been in the Masonic Order very long will instantly recognize that Mr. Harris was ignorant of what Masonry is all about.
David Breese in his book, The Marks of a Cult, gives a description of what a cult is:
From the theological viewpoint, any group or religious system, whether it calls itself ‘Christian’ or not, that offers other criteria as equal to or superior to the Bible, including but not limited to erroneous and/or exclusive interpretations of Scripture, should be considered a cult. (11)
What is a cult? The term can mean different things to different people. We have to define our terms. A popular web site gives this definition of a cult:
That depends on what is meant by "cult." By some definitions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are cults. By another definition, golfing, bowling, and surfing the Internet are cults. But in the usual use of the term, referring to a group that separates itself from society and its members from their non-member friends, demands slavish obedience from its adherents, engages in brainwashing techniques, confiscates their resources, and sees itself in opposition to established society, absolutely not! Quite the opposite, in fact: Masonry does not recruit members, does not compel attendance at any of its meetings, charges modest dues and fees (some little changed from sixty years ago, when the dollar was worth a lot more), encourages community service and participation in civic and religious organizations, and allows any member to quit (demit) at any time (providing he has no outstanding financial obligations; otherwise, he is liable to be suspended, but in either case, he would no longer be a member). It is easier to get out of Masonry than it is to get into it!
It has never been and will never be a cult. Several reasons why Freemasonry is not a cult is listed below:
1. The person joining Freemasonry knows clearly what organization he is joining. He understands that he himself has asked to become a member.
2. He retains freedom of religion, politics, friends, family association, selection of spouse, and information access to television, radio, reading material, telephone, and mail.
3. The connection with Freemasonry is usually infrequent: once or twice a month.
4. A Mason can terminate his membership freely. In fact, if he fails to pay his annual dues, his membership is terminated. Should a Mason wish to leave the organization, he can request a 'demit', a certificate which states that he has unaffiliated with the organization under good terms. No Mason is forced to remain a member should he wish otherwise.
5. No medical/dental care interference occurs or is even offered. This is not true in the many cults that discourage and sometimes even forbid medical care..
6. In Freemasonry, records are kept and are available to all members. Cult records, if they exist, are confidential, hidden from members, and not shared.
7. While membership lists are not posted publicly; this policy is no different than that of private golf clubs or lists of employees of privately held corporations. Members are free to disclose their membership to whomever they please.
8. A legal system exists within Freemasonry and a Mason can also utilize non-Masonic legal and law enforcement agencies and other representatives if needed. In cults, there is only the closed, internal system of justice, and no appeal, no recourse to outside support.
9. Families of Masons talk and deal directly with schools. Children of Masons may attend public or private schools. In cults, children, child rearing, and education are often controlled by the whims and idiosyncrasies of the cult leader.
10. Freemasonry is not a sovereign entity above the laws of the land. Cults consider themselves above the law, with their own brand of morality and justice, accountable to no one, not even their members.
11. A Mason gets to keep his pay, property owned and acquired presents from relatives, inheritances, and so forth. In many cults, members are expected to turn over to the cult all monies and worldly possessions.
12. Rational behavior is valued in Freemasonry. Cults stultify members' critical thinking abilities and capacity for rational, independent thinking; normal thought processes are stifled and broken (somewhat like the manner in which hose who make the charge that Freemasons are cultists act frequently).
13. Suggestions and criticism can be made to leadership through advocated, proper channels. There are no 'suggestion boxes' in cults. The cult is always right, and the members (and outsiders) are always wrong.
15. There is no single leader of Freemasonry. There are hundreds of Grand Lodges throughout the world, and each is sovereign unto itself. A Grand Lodge controls only its own subordinate lodges and no others. Rules made by a Grand Lodge apply only to its own members.
16. Masons may affiliate with more than one Grand Lodge. With rare exceptions, there is no bar to joining multiple lodges in multiple jurisdictions.
17. Freemasonry does not use its members for medical and psychological experiments - period! Cults essentially perform psychological experiments on their members through implementing thought-reform processes without members' knowledge or consent.
18. Masons become more and more a part of the community through various lodge-sponsored events. In a cult, members come to know less and less about the outside world; contact with or information about life outside the cult is sometimes openly frowned upon, if not forbidden.
19. In Freemasonry, instruction is based on symbolism but brainwashing, or thought reform, is not used. Cults influence members by means of a coordinated program of psychological and social influence techniques. Freemasonry allows each member to provide his own interpretation of the symbols involved and no one interpretation is deemed to be correct to the exclusion of all others.
CULTS
|
Baphomet. |
||||
The individual cults section is still under construction