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Membership
Freemasons are expected to exhibit the utmost tolerance both in "Lodge" (the meeting place of a group of Freemasons) and in their daily lives. Freemasonry will thus accept members from almost any religion, including all denominations of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and so forth. Exactly how far this goes depends on the particular branch or "jurisdiction" of Freemasonry one is dealing with. Deists have traditionally been accepted. In Lodges derived from the Grand Orient of France and in certain other groups of Lodges, atheists and agnostics are also accepted, without qualification. Most other branches currently require a belief in a Supreme Being. But even there, one finds a high degree of non-dogmatism, and the phrase "Supreme Being" is often given a very broad interpretation, usually allowing Deism and often even allowing naturalistic views of "God/Nature" in the tradition of Spinoza and Goethe (himself a Freemason), or non-theistic views of Ultimate Reality or Cosmic Oneness, such as found in some Eastern religions and in Western idealism (or for that matter, in modern cosmology). In some other (mostly English-speaking) jurisdictions, Freemasonry is not as tolerant of naturalism as it was in the 18th century, and specific religious requirements with more theistic and orthodox overtones have been added since the early 19th century, including (mostly in North America) belief in the immortality of the soul. The Freemasonry that predominates in Scandinavia, known as the Swedish Rite, accepts only Christians.
Originally posted by MrNECROS
I'm quite at odds with how a society that makes such the grandiose claims that it is tolerant of all religions etc... actually excludes the world�s largest religion from membership?
Anyone care to address this one?
My understanding of it is that its because Bhuddists are deemed atheists in that they don't believe in "the one true god."
Seems very shallow to me.
Originally posted by sanctum
MrNECROS, you are in my opinion totally correct.
I am yet to meet a Bhuddist Freemason.
Sanc'.
Originally posted by Apollyon
I am a Mason and a Bhuddist sorry to blow your theory
Originally posted by James the Lesser
Hell, I know of a Buddist Mason, and he is the only Mason I know. So, sorry Necros, buddists are Masons to. Well, can become one. But yes, they only ask if you believe in a higher bieng, not what kind, sex, type, faith, whatever.