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Roberts believed Freemasonry was a "mystery" or "alternate" religion and encouraged his church not to support ministers who were Freemasons. Freedom from secret societies is one of the "frees" upon which the Free Methodist Church was founded. [189]
Freemasonry in the United States is the history of Freemasonry as it was introduced from Britain and continues as a major secret society to the present day. It is a fraternal order that brings men together (and women through its auxiliaries) to gain friendship and opportunity for advancement and community progress.
Freemasons often say that they "are not a secret society, but rather a society with secrets". The secrets of Freemasonry are the various modes of recognition – grips (handshakes), words (akin to modern passwords), and signs (hand gestures) that indicate one is a Freemason.
Historian Jasper Ridley says that Freemasonry is "the world's most powerful secret Society". [5] The organization "Opus Dei" (Latin for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society" [6] [7] [8] of the Catholic Church. Critics such as the Jesuit Wladimir Ledóchowski sometimes refer to Opus Dei as a Catholic (or Christian or "white") form of ...
Adolf Hitler believed that Freemasonry was a tool of Jewish influence, [12] and outlawed Freemasonry and persecuted Freemasons partially for this reason. [13] The covenant of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas claims that Freemasonry is a "secret society" founded as part of a Zionist plot to control the world. [14]
The Catholic Church first prohibited Catholics from membership in Masonic organizations and other secret societies in 1738. Since then, at least eleven popes have made pronouncements about the incompatibility of Catholic doctrines and Freemasonry.
The history of Freemasonry encompasses the origins, evolution and defining events of the fraternal organisation known as Freemasonry.It covers three phases. Firstly, the emergence of organised lodges of operative masons during the Middle Ages, then the admission of lay members as "accepted" (a term reflecting the ceremonial "acception" process that made non-stone masons members of an operative ...
Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society.Founded in 1872 in New York City, it is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and has over 200 chapters across nine countries, with a global membership of nearly 1.7 million "Shriners". [1]