A Brother Asks: Why “A Belief in God”?

 

A Brother Asks: Why is “A Belief in God” the only religious requirement to be considered when a pre-mason petitions to join the Free & Accepted Masons associated with UGLE, GLS & GLI?

Coach: It fits perfectly with the target market the organization desires to serve without placing too many condition on that requirement.

Brother: Target Market?

Coach: Yes.

Brother: What do you mean by “Target Market”?

Coach: The organization only looks for those individuals who meet specific requirements. “Belief in God” is one of them.

Brother: Why is it the only religious requirement?
Coach: It is stated this way to stress upon the petitioner that no matter what his faith, the only requirement is belief in God, not his religion itself*. 
Brother: Does this mean he must have a religion?
Coach: No. He doesn't have to be any specific religion at all.  Just a belief in God.

Brother: So, the target market consists only of those who believe in God.
Coach: Yep. That is, exclusively within any UGLE recognized organization.

Brother: Why?

Leverage

Coach: Affect.

Brother: As in influence?

Coach: Yes. 

Brother: Please explain this.

Coach: What Freemasons offer to their target market is “affect”. 

Brother: The organization is offering influence?

Coach: Yes.  But not the influence one might expect.

Brother: Such as? 

Coach: Remember that slogan…

Brother: …the “Masonry makes good men better” slogan?

Coach: Yes. You cannot better men without influencing them to do just that.

Brother: So you’re implying one of the ways of influencing members toward betterment is using their collective belief in God as leverage?

Coach: Yes. I am.

Brother: And if they don’t really believe in God, then the intended influence these ceremonies have will not be there?

Coach: Yes. It will not be as intended.

Intentions

Brother: Intended?

Coach: Yes.  The organization calls what they offer to their candidates “ceremonies” and “rituals”.

Brother: Yes.

Coach: But in reality, these are all morality plays.

Brother: Morality plays?

Coach:  Yes, every last one of them.

Brother: What's a morality play?

Coach:  A morality play, also called "morality", is an allegorical drama popular in Europe.

Brother: You mean popularized during the 15th and 16th centuries?  

Coach: Yes, the characters in these plays personify moral qualities (such as Vices or Virtues) or abstractions (as Death, Wisdom or Beauty) and in which moral lessons are taught, or at least conveyed.

Brother: Wow! That describes Ritual perfectly.

Coach: Yes, without a doubt.

Brother: Hey!  Is that what is meant by "A peculiar system of morality"?

Coach: Yes. And it also alludes to the usual definition of "morality" as well since these moralities are all about morals.

Brother: Are you saying the organization puts on these plays to affect the morality of those who participate?

Coach: Yes. I am.

Brother: That’s the intent?

Coach: Yes. Let's go back to the slogan...

Brother: ...okay, to make a good man better... 

Coach: Yes.

Brother: WOW! To do is, a man would have to fundamentally change his moral nature for the better.

Coach: Indeed!

Brother: And the leveraging to do this is his belief in God.

Coach: Yes. These morality plays all point him toward his morality, put a spot light upon it and let him know what he can do to improve it, should he commit to specific actions.

Lights, Camera, Actions

Brother: And the scripts and choreography used within these plays are all designed to have that impact on a specific target audience.

Coach: Yes.  And to have the impact these scripts were intended to have, an impact upon believers in God, the audience must believe in God regardless of the specifics of their beliefs.

Brother: Otherwise the words and actions would not be experienced the same way.

Coach: Yes. To invoke deity through prayer and not believe in God would be a ludicrous act.

Brother: It would not be experienced as sacred.

Coach: Not by anyone who didn’t believe in what they were saying or doing.

Strong Foundations

Brother: So the target audience wants something rock solid (pun intended) that they can believe in.

Coach: Yes.  And if the foundation of the play was experienced as a farce due to a lack of belief, the experience would be pointless or at least have an entirely different meaning assigned to it that was never intended by the playwrights.

Brother: I see better now how this all fits together.

Coach: How so?

Brother: The obligations that each candidate takes.

Coach: What about them?  

Brother:  Each must have a lead into it and an anchor at the end for those going through them to appear to have any validity to a believer in God.

Coach: Meaning without being surrounded by a belief in God, they lose their significance?

Brother: Yes. I mean, sure a person who didn’t believe in God can glean some benefits from it…

Coach: ...but?

Brother: The obligations are intended for those who actually do believe in God; believers not non-believers.

Coach: Back to the target market?

Brother: Yes.  This makes so much sense!

Coach: Yes, especially when one thinks through all the necessary connections.

Brother: I can see why prayer and other references to deity are necessary supports for the obligation to have a lasting affect upon those who do believe in God.

Coach: For not to have such things within the play would lessen the intended experience?

Brother: For Sure!  When everything is put into place, those going through it will commit to improvement and follow through upon that commitment.

Coach: Why?

Brother: Because it's no longer about them. 

Coach: What is it then?
Brother: It's about them and their relationship with God!  

Coach: And?

Brother: They are influenced by their belief in God so much so that the importance they place on their commitment makes it a top priority in their life.

Non-Believers

Coach: Agreed! But does that mean non-believers can’t benefit?

Brother: Not really. It just means the motivations would be different and so would the affect these plays have upon them.

Coach: Agreed!  Non-believers would also have an undesirable impact upon others within the ranks who do believe in God.

Brother: How so?

Coach: They would not have belief in God as a motivation behind their actions. 

Brother: And not having this motivation would require believing members to question the very core of a non-believer's involvement.

Coach: Yes. And requirement in the belief in God also does something politically to the organization as well. 

Brother: What's that?  

Coach: It prevents governments, institutions and organization from falsely accuse the membership of harboring heretics and atheists. 

Brother: Ah!  Things that early on in Freemasonry's creation would have closed its doors very quickly.

Coach: Indeed.  When you have every member of the organization believing in God, even before they are even considered for membership, such accusations become quickly impotent.

Wrap Up

Brother: Thank you brother!  You put Masonry into perspective for me.

Coach:  You're most welcome. Thanks for taking it positively.  Many would take these words as an affront on the Craft. 

Brother: How so?

Coach: They don’t understand the Morality Play basis of these rituals and ceremonies.

Brother: You mean they want the romanticized version of the Craft?

Coach: Yes.  Not the reality…

Brother: … but the fantasy.

Coach:  Yes. I view it as a realistic way to present the Craft that places great importance upon staying in character.

Brother: And when you don’t rightfully understand the art of Masonry, you are likely going to have a very difficult time playing your part.

Coach: Indeed!

* There is only one recognized Grand Lodge that requires a specific religion. This will not be addressed here.