Differing Masonic Traditions
Most American Freemasons belong to Grand Lodges that follow the Anglo-American Masonic tradition, which insists on new candidates having a belief in Deity, meaning that atheists in particular are not allowed to join. In 1877 the Grand Orient de France (GOdF) dropped this requirement and the United Grand Lodge of England. (UGLE) withdrew its recognition. Many masons believe that this caused the American Grand lodges to follow UGLE and withdraw recognition. However, the historical facts are more complicated. Several American Grand Lodges had withdrawn their recognition of GOdF as early as the 1860s, as the result of a jurisdictional dispute that had nothing to do with the change in the GOdF's stance on religion or the bible in lodge. Furthermore, during the First World War a half-century later, several American Grand Lodges briefly reinstated their recognition of the GOdF; this was "long after the GOF had changed its policy on religion, and the American grand lodges made detailed studies and were fully aware of the policies of the French bodies they were recognizing." The use of God as a tool for Masonic politics has a long history. Currently, none of the mainstream US Grand Lodges recognize GOdF.
Read more about this topic: Continental Freemasonry In North America, History
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