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Freemasonry has attracted criticism from theocratic states and organised religions that believe it is in competition with religion or perceive the fraternity's views or practices as heterodox; it has also long been the target of conspiracy theories that assert Freemasonry to be an occult and evil power.
At present, the church recognizes Freemasons among its members. Some of its bishops and high-ranking church officials are active members of Masonic lodges. The church firmly stands that Freemasonry is not a religion, nor a substitute for religion, and is not in conflict with their doctrines and practices as Christians.
Starting in the late eighteenth century, and rapidly expanding in the nineteenth, Freemasonry became polarized over the issue of whether the discussion of religion and politics was appropriate in lodges. Those Grand Lodges that adhered to the Anglo-American form of Freemasonry maintained a strict rule that such discussion was banned.
The Vatican has confirmed a ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons, a centuries-old secretive society that the Catholic Church has long viewed with hostility and has an estimated global membership ...
a Freemason is prohibited from acting a witness to marriage in the Catholic Church, and prohibited from being a member of any associations of the faithful [109] The Masonic Information Center pointed out in 2006 that CDF 1983, which prohibits membership in Masonic associations, "remains in effect." [110]
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.
Joseph's brother, Hyrum, was a Freemason; their father, Joseph, Sr. is also believed to have been a Freemason: [The Joseph Smith family] was a Masonic family which lived by and practiced the estimable and admirable tenets of Freemasonry. The father, Joseph Smith, Sr., was a documented member in upstate New York.
In keeping with the geometrical and architectural theme of Freemasonry, the Supreme Being is referred to in Masonic ritual by the titles of the Great Architect of the Universe, Grand Geometrician or similar, to make clear that the reference is generic, and not tied to a particular religion's conception of God. [7]