NON-DENOMINATIONAL MASONS
Neither atheist or agnostics
men who have a personal
definition or concept of "supreme being"
by Bro. C. B. McFayden
BA Psychology, Philosophy
27 September 2009
What does it mean to be a non-denominational
Mason?
Harmony is two sided and involves
everyone’s support and understanding.
The intent of this article is to shed some light and understanding in the
problems with definitions and the pressures this can put on the harmony of a
lodge. For this article the term
non-denominational is not intended to be used in the “Christian
non-denominational” sense, but a wider and general application.
A non-denominational Mason can be considered a person who does not
subscribe to a mainstream or organized religion, yet has a deeply personal
definition of their own individual concept of belief, faith and the nature of
the universe. A non-denominational
Mason can be misinterpreted by those Masons belonging to established religions
as an atheist or agnostic. It is
with caution that we must tread these waters, lest we find ourselves in the trap
of questioning candidates, or Mason’s beliefs as they compare to our own
understanding of religion. In
Masonry we do not tolerate other beliefs, we accept them.
Freemasonry is at times considered a religion or if in the western
hemisphere a Christian organization, which is not correct.
So how is the question regarding religious affiliation generally handled?
The Grand Lodge
of Canada simply clarifies on their website:
“Freemasonry is
the oldest and largest worldwide fraternity dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man
under the Fatherhood of a Supreme Being. Although of a religious nature,
Freemasonry is not a religion. It urges its members, however, to be faithful and
devoted to their own religious beliefs”
It is here where we enter
shades of grey open for interpretation.
What constitutes a “religious belief” and who is the judge as to the
relevance of a belief? What is a
“supreme being” and how can a Mason answer the three questions if they do not
belong to an organized religion? That answer is simple in my opinion,
“The non-denominational belief is just as relevant and as true as any of
the mainstream religions to the individual.”
We recognize a trend that there are more men interested in Masonry that have an
in depth understanding of their own beliefs but do not adhere to any organized
or traditional regions. These men no less believe in a Supreme Being and
if anything optimize the important facets of Freemasonry in ever striving to
quest for their light.
Still, there is an overall decline in membership in not just Freemasonry, but
Religious institutions as well. It
is important to understand the path that faith takes in many men so that we may
recognize it when we see it and not consider it subversive. The message
that we are accepting, not just tolerant is at times lost within ourselves and
this acceptance is important to all those who are brothers, or may one day be.
When talking definitions it is hard to place words to the faith of a man, and
words like atheist or agnostic at times are applied mistakenly and do a
disservice to the man and Freemasonry. The "supreme being" can be a lot of
things to a lot of people, pending their exposure and knowledge of religion and
philosophy.
There is an acceptable procedure within the constitution and intent of
Freemasonry to allow for a non-denominational mason to take the obligation on a
Volume of Sacred Law that is sacred to the individual, if other than the bible.
Education on these procedures and the options of using different Volume of
Sacred Law's for obligations is important in ensuring harmony and openly
accepting brothers of a different faith system. It is just as important
that brothers of a non-traditional faith understand the limits of education and
exposure some brothers may have regarding other faiths and the art of discretion
is just as important as understanding.
Answering the three questions and being a Mason
When a new candidate or established mason is asked to answer the three
questions, take an obligation, or wishes to see their beliefs reflected in the
lodge along with those of the mainstream practitioners how do they do this?
We first need to understand that there is not a universal “definition” of
Supreme Being.
Can a person define belief or Supreme Being and who really needs convincing?
To be a Mason is many
things, and depending on which sources you discover and as the nature of society
evolves this can be ever changing.
That is in and of itself one of the expectations of being a Mason,
self-exploration. Learning and
nurturing your spirituality (where ever that may lay), refining this further
through a knowledge and study of the liberal arts and the recognition of what
must come to fully understand where you are going.
There are many hurdles to the new Mason, whose life, circumstance and
background are different from that of previous generations in regards to
belonging to organized religions.
Many young men have not been brought up in a life of religious belonging, nor
experienced the religious teachings that define one concept to answer the quest
for light engrained in human kind.
There are those that have lived a life in these religious structures and
following their own quest for light come to personal conclusions.
These are the non-denominational Masons.
According to the Canadian Government Policy Research Department, in
Canada
there are 4.8 million people who fall in the category of non-denominational in
regards to religion. This does not
mean that these people are not spiritual or that they do not have a belief of
their own. Just that their belief
has no openly interpreted structure.
The non-denominational belief is just as relevant and as true as any of
the mainstream religion to the individual.
Younger Masons, myself
included, have been brought up in a time where philosophy, psychology and a
general spirituality have been the focus of much of our “religious” experiences
(already ahead for the second degree).
In the changing nuclear family with two working parents our weekends are
often devoted to family activities and we network/socialize with our neighbors
outside of communal gatherings such as churches.
This has lessened many of the “external” reasons aside from “belief” that
people use to gather for organized worship. The
feeling of belonging and community is found elsewhere for some people.
With little exposure to an organized religion this often leaves it to the
family or individual to pass on their personal systems of belief or faith.
Much like the early stages of Christianity or Buddhism these
non-denominational men have an idea through some from of enlightenment and often
discuss these in classroom settings.
The access to higher learning is much more available now than it was 20
or 200 years ago. The experience
and education of young men often leads to them searching out their own answers
to the riddles of spirituality.
Some call themselves atheists, some agnostic, and some use these “definitions”
inappropriately as they have their own personal belief system and just cannot
find the terminology to explain it.
When first researching
Masonry one of the most attractive elements I found was that Freemasons are
universal and accepting of all religion or beliefs, so long as you can answer
the “three” questions truthfully.
Furthermore, Freemasons cannot pass judgment or value on how a candidate answers
those questions, as the answer need only be relevant to the candidate.
This is where things may
become difficult for non-denominational new Masons.
In many areas there is a predominate religion.
Many men from those religions are drawn to Freemasonry for the support of
their beliefs and the comfort that comes in rituals (among many other reasons).
These are the same reasons that non-denominational men seek to join.
These men all wish to explore their search for the light; for a Christian
it is God, for a Buddhist enlightenment and for some it may be that “indefinable
experience” that only the person can answer for themselves.
The latter are the
non-denominational men who cannot easily define their supreme being but no-less
have just as strong a belief in their own interpretation.
It is in here where the line between
what Freemasonry “is”, and what it is to the “individual” gets blurred.
Some men may feel that if you cannot give a definition of your supreme
being you cannot be a Mason and this is a fallacy.
In fact, a Freemason cannot judge another’s belief against what they see
as relevant.
The very definition of
“supreme being” and “religion” is not debatable. Not because there is a
universally accepted definition, it is because there is no right answer.
Actually, there at times there is no agreed answer between any two
people, even amongst groups that have formed together under a banner of an
organized religion. The internal
interpretation is that of the man, not the masses.
There are too many variables that come into play.
The social consciousness of a community and their place in time causes
difficulty in defining the term “religion” or “supreme being”.
What does that mean?
Depending where you are and when you were born, you were exposed to a society
that in part has an “idea” of what religion is.
For example, in a western society religion may simply be described as the ritual
worship of an omnipotent personification of a deity or entity and a
set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and
purpose of the universe, often containing a moral code. (Granted this is not a
universal definition) While this definition may satisfy many in a western
society, there are still many areas open for debate.
Does a deity have a “personality” or act along human constructs of
thought? How can a finite human
mind begin to understand the workings of the infinite?
If you move to another region and ask the followers of a moral or faith
system if they have a “religion” the answer in the western perspective may be
“no”. Of course to them, the
western definition does not apply and if this question was asked in reverse the
western definition would not equate to their idea of a belief or faith system.
What do I mean?
Using the above noted western definition of a religion Confucianism,
Buddhism and other eastern religions may not fit the text book definition of a
western concept of religion. This
of course is simply a matter of perspective and understanding of cultures.
For example if, a religion is defined as a system of faith/belief that
includes a moral code, concept of the nature and our place in the universe then
many other “religions” such as Confucianism or Buddhism now meet that
“definition”. Now we can take this
further into linguistics and interpretation of communications.
Can an English word such as “religion” describe the intricacies of faith
in another culture?
In the lifetime (551 B.C.E) and region of Confucius there was no concept of
heaven, or afterlife in the Christian terms. Elsewhere, the philosophy and ideas
of man were evolving as experiences progressed.
The
Scandinavians
and Greeks believed in many gods.
In that time period and social structure this was the definition of religion “of
that time” and it was relevant for them. As
we evolve in our ideas the definition changes to what we now are familiar with
today. Of course as Freemasons can
we judge someone who claims to have a deep spiritual belief in an old-world
religion compared to our own personal limited understanding?
There are no-less than 37 mainstream religions that I was able to quickly
identify, from the family of Christian religions to the traditional beliefs of
the Indigenous peoples of the world.
So how may someone define a
“supreme being”? In a far left
example to some the Supreme Being could be the very indescribable fabric and
nature of the perceived universe.
It is bigger than a man and he may be a direct result in the forces at play
within it. He may not attribute a personality “as such” to this Supreme Being.
In a case such as this a man may have personal knowledge that the work or
nature of this Supreme Being is made known to man.
This is eloquently stated by
mathematician Leopold Kronecker, who once wrote that "God made the integers; all
else is the work of man.” Steven
Hawking has edited the book “ God Created the Integers: The Mathematical
Breakthroughs That Changed History” which is an anthology of the history of math
that has changed our understanding of the universe, including Euclid (Masons should know him).
The theories contained in this collection lead the way to the theory of
relativity and quantum physics as well as other newer main stream beliefs such
as “intelligent design”. If a
candidate believes in their “supreme being” and this is described through works
such as those stated, that should resolve the answer for any brother.
To a believer in a supreme
being with a persona, this may be difficult to understand.
The limits of one persons understanding should not influence the
perceived relevance of a brother’s definition of a supreme being. I do not
understand many world religions; although I would never seek to question their
intricacies and we should not do the same to our brothers.
Morality and the non-denominational Mason
To those who have studied
philosophy and world religions, many items in Freemasonry seem to be influenced
or run parallel to other doctrines.
For example, one of the three beliefs one must have to be a Mason is “that the
supreme being punishes vice and reward virtue.”
In the Hindu religion this is described as Karma, the effects of a
person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation. One must
seek to rid them selves of bad karma (vice) and then good karma (virtue) will
follow and in the next life your station will be higher, thus rewarded.
The Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama’s life was circa 563, one of his
teachings was that of Anatta, the idea of “no self”.
Essentially one explanation is that through spiritual enlightenment,
obtained in part by moral living (virtue) one could attain a oneness with the
universe shedding the individual and receiving the infinite (reward).
The infinite is a “Supreme Being” or only being for that matter, which we
are a part of. Confucius is often
sited as authoring the “golden rule” which is present in most religions today.
Translated from the Analects XV.24, Adept Kung asked "Is there any one word that
could guide a person throughout life?" The Master replied: "How about 'shu'
[reciprocity]: never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself?".
In other words, don’t do to others what you would not have done to you.
For some men moral
teachings and code may come from a “belief” in the natural laws of physics as
vice is punished and virtue rewarded may be demonstrated through these natural
laws. Cause and effect, matter/anti-matter, negative and positive reactions are
examples of this. Take this into
social studies and human interactions and the relationships also seem clear, if
one acts within the bounds of society (virtue), one will be accepted within that
society (reward).
I was once asked a question
from a man investigating Masonry, and he said “ how can I say equivocally that
“YES” the supreme being rewards virtue and punishes vice when a baby that is
innocent is killed in the womb?” My
answer to this was, it is up to him to decide how he felt this takes place.
Perhaps the death was not a punishment; according to Buddha the baby is
reborn perhaps with a better station. According Christians the baby is in
heaven. Or perhaps the mother may
have died in child birth, and the stem cells may now save the life a person that
cures cancer. Is death even a
“punishment” or a fact of nature? The individual is responsible to believe
in their own definition and if they answer “yes” then that is the answer on the
subject. Perspectives on “vice” and
“virtue” are not black and white but often grey.
The Volume of Sacred Law
When a candidate is first
asked the “three questions” there is no further inquiry or debate if the answers
are “yes”. The investigation of
this man should have revealed any insincerity.
The greatest religious leaders, scientific minds and philosophers of the
world cannot agree on the definition of religion, Supreme Being or nature of the
universe and we cannot pretend to be knowledgeable or qualified to further
inquire into a candidate’s answer of “yes”.
The candidate should then
be initiated, and must take an obligation on “the Volume of the Sacred Law”.
The Volume of Sacred Law to many in the western hemisphere would be the
Christian Bible, old and new testament.
Care must be taken to understand that the Volume of Sacred Law is not
necessarily the same as the “Great Light” in Masonry.
The (or a) Volume of Sacred Law is also to bind the candidate to their
obligations in a means most solemn, and the Volume of Sacred Law should be the
sacred text for their specific religion, or the sacred writings that the
candidate derives their faith and moral guidance.
Some say that the Volume of
Sacred Law must be the “word of God”, but again without going into detail the
word of God is different between religions and one should not put the Christian
meaning of “word of god” onto all other beliefs.
By this I mean, the Buddha does not write the “word of God” but sets out
teaching on how to attain that “word” for yourself.
These texts are considered no-less holy to their followers. The
perspective of men and the nature of religion is entirely the discretion of the
believer.
So what of those non-denominational men who have no “official” Volume of
Sacred Law?
The answer is
simple to explain although it may cause hard feelings for those men who have a
belief that the Volume of Sacred Law “is”
the Bible.
Author Stephen Dafoe
wrote “To the geologist, the very
handwriting of God is in the rocks and earth. To the fundamentalist, the only
handwriting of God is in the Bible.” This is an extreme example of what
could happen in a debate of the religious worth of a man’s belief, and that is
in-part why we do not discuss religion in open lodge – harmony.
This example does illustrate the difficulty in giving hard and fast
definitions to belief systems, as these are truly in the eye of the beholder.
I approached the Custodian
of the Work at Grand Lodge of Canada in 2009 for further information regarding
candidates taking obligations, and the Volume of Sacred Law use in general.
The short answer provided is that there
is no list of approved Volume of Sacred Laws. The Custodian of the Work informed
me that a candidate may be obligated on the Volume of the Sacred Law of his
choice. The procedure to follow if a Volume of Sacred Law other than that of the
combined Old and New Testament is used in an obligation is that Volume of Sacred
Law is placed between the Square and Compasses and the combined Old and New
Testaments for the Obligation only. Once this is completed the candidate's
Volume of Sacred Law is closed and placed on the North West corner of the Altar where it
remains for the rest of the ceremony.
There was no “official list” of Volume of Sacred Laws that are
accepted by Grand Lodge for differing religions, nor is such a listing readily
available anywhere. When considering the Volume of Sacred Law we must only ask
whether or not if a belief points to the existence of a Supreme Being.
This leads back to what the definition of what the “Supreme Being” is for
the candidate and what Volume of Sacred Law is sacred to that belief.
If a candidate is Christian then the bible is Volume of Sacred Law, if
Jewish the Torah, and if the man’s belief is in their own individual faith, then
a book that is sacred to him and exemplifies his belief is what would be best
suited.
I further inquired with
Grand Lodge as to the process for having several Volume of Sacred Law’s out
during open lodge during regular meetings for multi-faith lodges. Although not
common, there is an accepted procedure within the traditions and constitution.
The combined Old and New Testaments is always placed centrally on the
altar and is properly opened in the various degrees.
Other Volume of Sacred Law’s belonging
to brothers may be out but unopened and placed on the NW area of the altar. This
maybe something each lodge may consider on their own, as prospective candidates
may wish to have a tour of the lodge and it may be difficult to express that all
forms of worship of a Supreme Being are accepted if other representations are
not shown or available.
We can see that there is
indeed a means that is accepted in Canadian Lodges for other Volume of Sacred
Law’s to be out in open lodge and used in obligations.
However, I should point out that this is a sensitive point.
Feelings tend to run high about this subject, especially when the Volume
of Sacred Law in question is unknown to the general members and this may lead to
hurt feelings, or worse a feeling that a new candidate or Mason is
disrespectful. Care and education
is essential to ensure that all brothers old and young understand differences in
faith and do not take it as a personal challenge to their own faith.
I wonder what operative Masons took their obligations on at the founding
of Freemasonry in the ancient past as the bible was not yet written in Egyptian
times. I also ponder where we have
all taken an obligation that includes upholding traditions what do we do when
some of our traditions go back further than the organization structure of
Freemasonry as we know it today.
Which traditions are more traditional?
What does a non-denominational Mason do to take an obligation?
There are several options
that would seem to me to be a fair and truthful in the intent of Freemasonry.
I have read that in some un-recognized
lodges candidates may take their initiation on a “blank” book.
I tend to agree with the stance that this is not appropriate as a blank
book cannot represent the true intent of the obligation, to make a solemn and
binding pledge on something that represents the depth of your belief.
A text devoted to science may explain a man’s version of the word of god,
and perhaps morality, but this will surely cause hard feelings in the lodge.
Is this a fair reason to not use a candidate’s chosen book?
If I was asked this personally my answer
would be no. It has been suggested that
a candidate should use the bible or other sacred text in substitution since
there is no “book” for their faith? This
has been done in the past I would imagine to a large degree.
For this I would suggest that substituting a sacred text for an
obligation may be inappropriate to some brothers, as the Bible or Torah etc,
represent another faith. I was
very convincingly told once by a brother “It is not what the bible represents,
it is what it doesn’t” i.e. his belief.
In addition to this he felt it would be disrespectful to that particular
religion to make an oath on their sacred text if it did not have the deeper
meaning to him.
So what can fall within the intent of Freemasonry and the non-denominational
candidate as a Volume of Sacred Law for obligation? I would suggest a using a
book where inside is collected what is the guiding light of the candidate’s
faith, morals, Supreme Being and word.
If there are matters of harmony then perhaps considering an outer cover
such as a leather binding will lessen the chances of causing disharmony within
the lodge. No one may need to open or question this tome of faith as it is
sacred to the one person it matters most, the candidate taking the obligation.
This can be orchestrated with the Master of the lodge prior to the
obligation to ensure the harmony of the lodge remains intact.
The candidate feels accepted, and Freemasons can rest assured the
obligation is taken with the full intent and importance that any man can make on
their faith and beliefs. Inside this
personal Volume of Sacred Law there may well be a Bible, or Torah, God is in the
Integers or the Dianetics of Scientology for that matter.
So long as the answers to all three
questions are represented to the candidate in a “Volume of Sacred Law” then they
are true to the intent of the obligation.
Harmony
Harmony is not always simple when matters of belief and faith are involved.
Although we may not be able to discuss religion, it is present and we
must do our best to see a brother’s belief as relevant to them as we see our
own. This way we have an avenue for
harmony and understanding. The world is
ever evolving, as is the concept of religions and faith.
Freemasonry is a constant in providing a place for good men to meet,
where social circumstances and divisions may otherwise hinder men’s brotherhood.
Let us be mindful to accept our brothers, not question the relevance of
their belief beyond the three questions and strive to continue our quest for
light.
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