What do the Freemasons do?

The Freemasons are a controversial group because they shroud themselves in secrecy. So naturally, since they are secretive, all kinds of conspiracy theories have grown around them. In reality, they’re harmless. I work with several Freemasons. Unlike many religious groups, they don’t actively convert people nor do they flaunt their beliefs in your face. But if you ask about them and their beliefs, they will gladly tell you.

They’ve got a really interesting history. They started out as actual masons who built cathedrals. They got rich because in the Middle Ages, their services were needed a lot. Over time they became a philosophical group more interested in building ideas than cathedrals. It also changed to more of a gentleman’s group and by the time America was fighting for independence, it was popular among the educated elite.

Today, the Freemasons hold meetings, and while I’ve never been to one, I understand it’s a very ritualistic with all kinds of symbol talk. The symbols add to the mystery of the Masons, but all they symbols are for is to express their concepts and ideas. They’ve had to use symbolism because at times they were persecuted.

Anyway, the goal at these meetings is to find ways to be a more moral person in society, speculate on life’s purpose and meaning, and other philosophically enriching activities. Freemasons believe in a supreme being, not necessarily the Christian God. But they believe in a greater understanding of moral and ethical concepts, and also discussing the greater enlightenment of members. You can think of the Freemason as a kind of humanist, or deist, although they don’t discourage their members from belonging to another religion since they aren’t a religious group. They also have no unifying doctrine or code of beliefs, and they welcome their members to speculate on anything they’d like.

I also know they are organized into lodges, with members attaining various degrees of stature within the lodge. But no lodge answers to any other lodge.

I hope that gives you some answers. I myself am not a Mason but like I say I have worked with several over the years so I got curious about the organization. Don’t believe what you hear from religious and political groups about how the Masons are hellbent on controlling the world…they’re actually a pretty cool group of people.