Religion and the Craft

Most Freemasons around the world accept the idea of a supreme being and that each of us have our own ideas of the right way to worship or celebrate this entity. So it's safe to say that on the whole, Freemasons should be religious or at least aware of the vastness of the supreme being.

Or at least I thought it would. Over the holidays I organized an opinion poll asking Freemasons from all over the world how they view religion. This is of course, a wide open and difficult question. Even the word religion means different things to different people.

Most people answering the poll felt comfortable with the use of the word "religion". But for some this word proved a struggle. Some felt that the term was too restrictive or didn't adequately describe their personal spiritual beliefs. To others, the word "religion" meant rigid and unwavering fealty to a dogma which they feel Freemasonry rises above. There was a similar reaction to the word "God." Again, some felt the term was too restrictive.

However, I had to create a list of questions using words commonly understood by the majority of respondents. Since the rituals of most Grand Lodges specifically (at least at some point) use the words "God" and "religion", I chose to use those terms to describe the ineffable.

The purpose of this poll is not to just discuss religion. We are Masons, but we are also Christians, Jews, Buddhists and members of various faiths and beliefs. As complete individuals, how do we balance our lives? Do we as a group pay more attention to one side of our life than the other? If our ritual teaches us to study the book of our faith, do we?

The poll consisted of two sections of questions and a place for general comments. The comments section was very popular. The two sections with questions asked essentially the same question from the perspective of the respondent's religious and Masonic viewpoints. The idea was to compare the answers between the two sections.

Once the poll questions were developed, I emailed the link for the poll to approximately 150 people directly and then advertised it through various Masonic mailing lists and discussion forums.

I received 269 responses from Masons from 71 Grand Lodges from 30 different countries. Most of the respondents (43%) were from North America with the rest coming from Europe (22%), Asia (12%), Australia/New Zealand (10%), Africa (5%), South America (2%) and the rest declining to answer. Two of the respondents were not Masons.

What follows is the first review of the poll results. A more detailed review of this data will follow at a later date.

Religion Q1. Understanding the definition of a "supreme being" in Masonry is a loose one, the question still needs to be asked. Do you believe in God?
Yes	86%
No	5%
I don't know	6%
No Answer	3%

This is an interesting response for me. In the rituals of most Grand Lodges, the requirement to believe in a supreme being is a condition for becoming a Mason. Also in many rituals, the words "God" and "religion" are explicitly used at some point.

However there are some for whom the words triggered a negative response. In some cases this was because the respondent believed more in a guiding principle than in a specific, organized religion. In other cases, they felt that the use of "God" was Judeo-Christian and thus ignored the possibility of a supreme being from another religion.

Breaking down the responses from the various continents also proved interesting.

This data seems to imply that European Masons are much more uncertain about God than others. Since two thirds of the European replies came from the Netherlands and the U.K. we can boil this down a bit further. Looking at these responses shows the great difference between attitudes in "Anglo-Saxon" and Continental Masonry.

Whereas the U.K. responses pretty much fall in line with the global average, the Dutch responses were much lower. However this seems to fall in line with the percentage of people in the Netherlands who believe in God.^[1]So, in this case it seems Masonry is merely a reflection of the larger society.

Religion Q4. How often do you read or study the book of your faith
Frequently	26%
Occasionally	32%
Rarely	25%
Never	10%
No Answer	7%

Freemasonry Q1. How often do you read or study books written about Masonry
Frequently	70%
Occasionally	25%
Rarely	4%
Never	0%
No Answer	1%

It seems pretty clear from this question as well as the follow-up on books about faith indicate that the respondents are generally curious about their chosen religion and are seeking to learn more. More than half of the respondents frequently or occasionally read the book of their faith. Of course, some respondents pointed out that some religions have no specific book of faith, which probably explains the 7% who chose not to answer.

The Europeans again lowered the average on studying the VSL. But this time the responses were evenly distributed with 55% of the respondents never or rarely ever reading the book of their faith.

On the other hand, our respondents were voracious readers of Masonic books. 94% of respondents frequently or occasionally read about Masonry. Does this mean that we treat Masonry more seriously than our faith or is it just that Masonry is more intellectually stimulating?

Religion Q3. How often do you attend your place of worship?
Multiple times per week	8%
Once a week	18%
Once a month	5%
Every few weeks	12%
Only on major holidays	9%
Rarely	32%
Never	12%
No Answer	5%

Freemasonry Q2. How often do you attend lodge?
Regularly	77%
Usually	8%
Occasionally	7%
Rarely	3%
Never	3%
No Answer	4%

With more than half of respondents rarely (or only on major holidays or never) attending their place of worship, but 85% regularly (or usually) attending lodge, it seems like most Masons would prefer to put on the dinner jacket and go to lodge than church, temple or mosque.

If this shows a lax attitude about formal worship, a follow-up question revealed that most respondents have a very active, personal relationship with their God. When asked how often they pray or meditate, 82% indicated they did so frequently or occasionally.

Religion Q7. How well do you feel that you understand your religion?
Absolutely	19%
Fairly well	60%
Not very well	9%
Not at all	0%
I have no religion	4%
No Answer	7%

Freemasonry Q2. How well do you feel you understand Freemasonry?
Absolutely	22%
Fairly well	68%
Not very well	6%
Not at all	0%
I am not a Freemason	1%
No Answer	3%

This section is interesting in how similar the responses to both religion and Freemasonry were. A large majority of respondents felt they understood Freemasonry and their chosen belief absolutely or at least fairly well.

This is despite the fact that most respondents do not regularly attend their place of worship. It might imply that although Masons are not physically present in the church, temple or mosque, they are actively participating in their faith through prayer, study and reflection.

Some of the comments from this section implied that becoming a Mason had actually helped them learn more about their religion. This could be due to the fact that Masonry bases much of its ritual and mythology on biblical scenes which may in turn stoke interest in learning more about the faith built from them.

Religion Q8. Do you discuss your religion with others?
Frequently with everyone	9%
Frequently, but only with close friends	19%
Occasionally	40%
Rarely	17%
Never	11%
No Answer	3%

Freemasonry Q4. Do you discuss Freemasonry with others?
Frequently with everyone	33%
Frequently, but only with close friends	31%
Occasionally	29%
Rarely	3%
Never	1%
No Answer	2%

Again we see that most respondents are more open about their Masonic membership than their religious beliefs. These numbers are remarkably consistent across the different countries so we can conclude that this is a Masonic trait.

The fact that most respondents rarely ("occasionally", "rarely" or "never") discuss religion is probably tied to the concept of keeping religion and politics out of the lodge. A few respondents actually questioned why this poll even dared to discuss religion in the first place. It seems clear that most Masons try to act the same outside the lodge as in.

Freemasonry Q6. What do you feel is the relationship between Freemasonry and religion?
Freemasonry is a religion	1%
Freemasonry is a substitute for established religions	4%
Freemasonry enhances the religious experience	68%
Freemasonry has no relation to religion	22%
I don't know	2%
No Answer	3%

This was the final question of the survey and by far the most controversial. A large number of the comments posted were either explaining why the possible responses to this question was insufficient or in the words of one respondent "your questions are not right."

That's actually a good thing. To me, it means that people believe the issue is important and needs to be seriously addressed. Hopefully this poll will result in further serious discussion on the issue.

The initial goal behind this poll was to better understand the attitudes of Freemasons toward religion. This information is destined for a paper I'm researching regarding the attitudes of Christian Church denominations toward Freemasonry. One important part of that discussion is to understand how the rank and file Masons felt about religion.

From this poll, I discovered that though our views may differ, the vast majority of Masons do believe in and have a direct, personal relationship with their Supreme Being. We may not be that diligent about our attendance at religious venues, but we pray, meditate and study about our faith. Even if some of us don't subscribe to traditional religious beliefs, we take them very seriously.

The poll also indicates that the respondents are serious about Masonry. We read, study and are generally happy to discuss the Craft with those close to us.

What I see in the results of this poll is a group of men who have well balanced spiritual and fraternal views. This is a message that needs to be told.