What Freemasonry is not

Freemasonry has no god of its own, no scripture, no sacraments and no promise of salvation. It does not ask anyone to believe, and in the liberal current it does not ask anyone to disbelieve either.

Its rituals and symbols borrow from many sources, including religious ones, but they are offered as material for reflection, not as articles of faith. Believers of every tradition and people of no religion sit side by side, and none of them has to give anything up to do so.

Freemasonry puts no one up for election, has no party line and gives no voting instructions. Party politics stays outside the temple, and the people inside it hold the full range of political opinions.

It does hold to principles: freedom of conscience, equal dignity, the separation of public life from any church, respect for human rights. These belong to no party, and the point of discussing them is to think more clearly, not to agree on a manifesto.

Anyone who expects contacts, favours or a quiet word in the right ear will be disappointed. Using Freemasonry for personal advantage is contrary to its spirit, and Masonic rules commonly forbid it outright.

What it offers is harder to put a price on: time to think, people who listen, and the chance to see one’s own convictions from the outside.

There is no guru, no leader whose word settles a question, no doctrine to absorb and no secret teaching that explains everything. Offices rotate, decisions are taken together, and doubt is encouraged rather than punished.

No one is cut off from family, friends or the rest of life, and anyone is free to step away at any time, without having to explain why. A sect narrows the mind. Freemasonry, at its best, tries to do the opposite.

Masonic groups are lawful, their existence is public, their principles are published and their history is studied openly. This site is an example.

Freemasonry is discreet rather than secret. What it keeps to itself is the experience of initiation, which would mean little if described in advance, and the privacy of the people who take part: each Freemason decides whether to say so in public.