What do Masons of the Masonic Order believe and what are their secrets they don't want others to know about?

Question

I'm just curious and I couldn't find much information online about it.

Answer 1

I am a Freemason and am happy to answer any questions you have (some other freemasons will also respons, Eric and JR most likely)...

First, there are no secrets in freemasonry, this is a myth started by anti-masons. When we were purely operative guilds there were secret methods of recognition, but that was to protect trade secrets (i.e. how to build things). There are no secrets, and its hard to believe you couldnt' find much online there are a ton of sites:

Masonic sites:

phoenixmasonry.org (go to their library section and you can read a lot of stuff online)

ugle.co.uk

pagrandlodge.org

freemason.org

Antimason sites:

freemasonwatch.org (there is some very sick stuff on this site, none of it is true)

response to antimasons:

masonicinfo.com

freemasons believe in faith, hope and charity; they provide more charity than any other group on the planet.

freemasonry is not a religion, nor a cult, nor is it involved in any new world order conspiracy or satanic worship

Answer 2

so your really believe that members of a secret society that is hundreds of years old is going to tell their secrets to YOU, a complete stranger? rrriiiiiiiiiiggghhhhttttttt.

Answer 3

Freemasonry is the art and science of morality and civility applied towards "building" a better man. In other words Freemasonry supports the individual in his efforts to be an honest, loyal, trustworthy, and principled man who cares and actively participates in the betterment of his own life and that of others without the expectation of material rewards.- What the world would recognize as a "Good Man".

The secrets of Masonry are really not secrets at all, everything is available in print at most public libraries and has been for centuries. As a matter of principle and tradition however a Mason will usually not discuss or reveal these things to a non-Mason. Most of these "secrets" involve how we recognize each other and relies on the shared experiences between Masons to even be noticed, recognized or understood.

Answer 4

The Freemasonry articles on Wikipedia are pretty good, not many big errors in them. You should check them out.

There aren't really all that many secrets- just the passwords and the hand grips used for identification, and they are just kept secret for tradition. We do a lot of rituals, most of them inspired by the bible- they teach moral lessons.