The Fraserburgh Lodge of Freemasons #1055

The answer to this is quite simply no.

There are about six or so million Freemasons under more than 100 regular Grand Lodges worldwide. Membership of the Craft is open to any respectable man who believes in his personal Supreme Being.

Regularity is a constitutional mechanism whereby Grand Lodges give one another mutual recognition.

SUPREME BEING - because Freemasonry does not dictate a man's religion views, the term Supreme Being is used as this can be impartially interpretated by the individual to refer to (the Christian) God, Allah, Buddha, Krishna, and so on..

A Freemason places great importance on his Supreme Being in the order of things in Life, and names such as the Great Architect of the Universe, Grand Geometrician of the Universe, Most High, and Glorious Overseer of the Universe are used to emphasise this point.

As I stated above a man's religion is precious and personal to him, and him alone. Discussion on matters of religion can all to often cause arguments and many wars have been fought over the years to impose or defend one religion against another. As the Freemason is taught tolerance, understanding and acceptance, religion is a topic which the Freemason, in his capacity as a Mason, is just not allowed to discuss, and the penalty for such discussion can be severe, and could result in suspension or even expulsion.

Freemasonry is not a Religion. There is no Masonic God, or particular deity to which we all pray. When Freemasons pray together, as they do in their Lodges, each man is addressing his own personal Supreme Being, and it is for this reason Freemasons of many creeds can meet and pray together.

While Freemasonry does require that a man has a belief in a Supreme Being, it does not interfere in how he practices it.

There is no Masonic Bible. The Holy Book (known as the Volume of the Sacred Law) of each religion represented in the Lodge is open during meetings. In most English-speaking countries, this is usually the King James Version of the Bible. In Lodges with a membership of mixed religions it is common to find more than one sacred text displayed, and it is possible for five or six different Volumes to lie open during Lodge meetings. An initiate into Freemasonry is given a choice of religious text according to his beliefs.

To those who claim that Freemasonry is a religion, I must say that either you do not understand our tenets, are confused as to what constitutes a religion, or have simply made an error of judgement without basis of fact.