Encyclopedia Americana (Grolier)
Voluntary associations of men using builders' tools as symbols to teach basic moral truths,
emphasizing the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of mankind. Under the rules of freemasonry
no one is invited to join, and each person seeking to enter must request a member to sponsor him.
Its chief aim is to create a universal fraternal association of people of goodwill.
It teaches its members to study and to improve their skills, to serve others and to be kind to everyone.
Although not a religion, it is religious in that its percepts incorporate the fundamentals of many religions.
Its meetings, moreover, are opened and closed with a prayer. It is not a secret society, as it sometimes alleged,
since it does not hide its existence, aims, or work. Thousands of books have been published about its history,
and philosophy. "vol.18 p.432"
The Lexicon Webster Dictionary
One of a class of skilled stoneworkers of the Middle Ages; a member of a society composed of such workers,
with honorary members known as "accepted masons" who where not connected with the building trades. Now,
a number of a widely distributed secret order, free and accepted masons developed from societies of this kind,
having for its objects mutual assistance and the promotion of brotherly love among its members.
Encyclopedia Americana
An oath-bound fraternal order of men, originally deriving from the medieval fraternity of operative stonemasons.
Generally conceded primacy among fraternal orders, it is disseminated over the civilized world.
It admits men of every nationality, religion, creed, and political persuasion. The qualifications for membership
are few, such believe in a Supreme Being, good moral character a fair degree of intelligence, and absence of injury
or defect in body which would prevent the candidate from performing his duties as a Mason.
Grolier Electronic Publishing
Freemasonry refers to the principles, institutions, and practices of the fraternal order of the free and
accepted masons. The largest worldwide society, freemasonry is an organization of men based on the
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, using builders' tools as symbols to teach basic moral
truths generally accepted by persons of good will.
It is religious in that a belief in God is the prime requirement for membership, but it is nonsectarian in that no religious test is used.
The purpose of freemasonry is to enable men to meet in harmony, to promote friendship and to be charitable.
Its basic ideals are that all persons are children of one God, that all persons are related to each other,
and that the best way to worship God is to be of service to people.
Freemasons hold that the organization is religious but not a religion, and that is not a secret organization
since it works openly in the community. Freemasonry has always been suppressed in totalitarian states.
