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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]
Prince Hall Freemasonry is a branch of North American Freemasonry created for African Americans founded by Prince Hall on September 29, 1784. Prince Hall Freemasonry is the oldest and largest (300,000+ initiated members) predominantly African-American fraternity in the United States.
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.
Thomas Jefferson "is frequently, yet falsely, linked to the Freemasons," yet there is no record of him being initiated into any lodge, nor are there any references to Masonic membership in his personal papers. [12] Joe Biden was declared a Master Mason at sight by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of South Carolina on January 19, 2025.
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.
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]
Freemasonry was an important catalyst in the founding of the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of Peter Claver in the United States [131] and the Knights of the Southern Cross in Australia, because one of the attractions of Freemasonry was that it provided a number of social services unavailable to non-members (e.g., devout Catholics).
The church also began discouraged its members from joining any "oath-bound" fraternities or "secret societies" without naming Freemasonry specifically, eventually codifying it in the Church Handbook of Instructions. In 1984, The Grand Lodge of Utah rescinded its ban on members of the church, after the proposal failed in 1983. [70]