New Religion
Freemasonry unambiguously states that it is not a religion, nor a substitute for religion. There is no separate "Masonic" God. Nor is there a separate proper name for a deity in any branch of Freemasonry. There is no general interpretation for any of the symbols. In keeping with the geometrical and architectural theme of Freemasonry, the Supreme Being is referred to in Masonic ritual by the attributes of Great Architect of the Universe (sometimes abbreviated as G.A.O.T.U.), Grand Geometer or something similar. Freemasons use these varied forms of address to make clear that the reference is generic, not about any one religion's particular identification of God.
Nevertheless, the same Freemasonry that is criticised as Deistic is also criticised for allegedly being a substitute for Christian belief. For example, the New Catholic Encyclopedia states the opinion that "Freemasonry displays all the elements of religion, and as such it becomes a rival to the religion of the Gospel. It includes temples and altars, prayers, a moral code, worship, vestments, feast days, the promise of reward or punishment in the afterlife, a hierarchy, and initiation and burial rites."
Read more about this topic: Opposition To Freemasonry Within Christianity
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“Not thou nor thy religion dost controule,
The amorousnesse of an harmonious Soule,
But thou would’st have that love thy selfe: As thou
Art jealous, Lord, so I am jealous now,
Thou lov’st not, till from loving more, thou free
My soule: Who ever gives, takes libertie:
O, if thou car’st not whom I love
Alas, thou lov’st not mee.”
—John Donne (1572–1631)
“Is there any religion but this, to know, that, wherever in the wide desert of being, the holy sentiment we cherish has opened into a flower, it blooms for me? If none sees it, I see it; I am aware, if I alone, of the greatness of the fact. Whilst it blooms, I will keep sabbath or holy time, and suspend my gloom, and my folly and jokes.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)