Masonry and Mormonism

Dear kids - Everything you ever wanted to know about Masons and more:

Last month during a phone call to an employee of the Temple Department in Salt Lake I mentioned that one of the candidates I was considering for counselor and registrar of the temple was a Mason. The Church employee immediately expressed concern and said he would have to run it by the Temple Committee. I had to wait three weeks and call back three times before I received their answer: The Committee was reluctant to recommend a Mason to the First Presidency but they wanted more information about the candidate's involvement with the Masons before they gave me a final answer. I knew the Church has not encouraged Church members to join the Masons in the past, but I was a little surprised by their reaction because the newly elected Grand Master of the Masonic lodge in Salt Lake City is an active Mormon. You would have thought the candidate I was considering was a member of the Klu Klux Klan or maybe even a left wing Democrat(Just kidding Charlie). They asked me to check out the facts for them and report back.

What I found out was very interesting: The Masons are a benevolent fraternal society that was established 500 years ago in England and Scotland to provide protection and assistance to victims of religious and political persecution. The society is not a religion but its members must believe in God and try to live in accordance with the ethical tenets of the society. They use rituals, signs and other symbols, some of which are similar to those used in Mormon temples, although they have very different meanings and purposes. This is not too surprising because, according to the Masons, their rites and symbols were derived from Solomon's temple. Some prominent Masons include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Winston churchill, Benito Juarez (Mexico's most revered president) and many other prominent Mexicans. Most Mexican Masons fear the power and influence of the Catholic Church in Mexico but they have a high regard for the LDS Church. Many of them have been instrumental in helping the Church since it first came to Mexico.

Many early Mormons became Masons in Nauvoo, including the first five presidents of the Church, probably because they hoped it would help them avoid the persecution that had plagued them in New York, Ohio and Missouri. But some Masons were jealous and suspicious of the Nauvoo lodge, which was then the largest in the United States with several thousand Mormon members. It is likely that some members of the mob that assassinated Joseph and Hyrum were Masons. A Masonic lodge was organized in Salt Lake by non-Mormons after Utah was settled, but active members of the Church were not welcomed in Utah until the local lodge changed its by-laws 30 years ago.

Mom and I just finished reading "Mormons & Masons," a small book written by Gilbert W. Scharffs, a University of Utah Institute teacher whose son is one of Rick's high school friends. He shows that prayer circles, tokens, signs and many other elements of the temple ceremony existed in some form among the Israelites, Egyptians, Coptic Christians and other ancient civilizations long before the Masonic movement was founded, and that many of the temple rituals were already in place in the Kirtland temple long before Joseph Smith became a Mason. So it is not surprising that there would be some similarities. What most people do not appreciate are the significant differences. According to numerous Mormons who are also Masons, the differences in the meanings and purposes are far greater than the similarities. Those who have a first-hand familiarity with both rituals say that they have never been bothered by the similarities, which they view as superficial. They also feel that the Church should not be concerned if a Mormon wants to be Mason, or vice-versa. The values of the Masons and the Mormons are very similar and are mutually supportive.

I hope this information was as interesting to you as it has been to me. Abrazos,

Don Antonio Benitez, el Presidente