MASONIC HUMANISM: THE WORSHIP OF HUMANITY

The internal publications of the Masons describe in detail the humanist philosophy of the organization and their hostility to monotheism. There are countless explanations, interpretations, quotations and allegories offered on this subject in Masonic publications. 

As we said at the beginning, humanism has turned its face from the Creator of humanity and makes the mistake of regarding man as "the highest form of being in the universe." In fact, this implies the worship of humanity. This belief, that began with the Kabbalist humanists in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, continues so irrationally today in modern Masonry.

One of the fourteenth century's most famous humanists was Pico della Mirandola. His work entitled Conclusiones philosophicae, cabalisticae, et theologicae was condemned by Pope Innocent VIII in 1489 as containing heretical ideas. Mirandola wrote that there is nothing in the world higher than the glory of mankind. The Church saw this as a heretical idea that was nothing less than the worship of humanity. Indeed, this was a heretical idea because there is no other being to be glorified except Allah. Humanity is merely His creation.

Today, Masons proclaim Mirandola's heretical idea of the worship of humanity much more openly. For example, in a local Masonic booklet, it says:

Primitive societies were weak and, because of this weakness, they divinized the power and phenomena around them. But Masonry divinizes only humanity.45

In The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Manly P. Hall explains that this Masonic humanist doctrine goes back to Ancient Egypt:

Man is a god in the making, and as in the mystic myths of Egypt, on the potter's wheel, he is being molded. When his light shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives the triple crown of godhood, and joins that throng of Master Masons, who in their robe of Blue and Gold, are seeking to dispel the darkness of night with the triple light of the Masonic Lodge.46

According to the false belief of Masonry, human beings are gods, but only a grand master reaches the fullness of this divinity (Surely Allah is beyond that). The way to become a grand master is to fully reject the belief in Allah and the fact that human beings are His servants. Another writer, J.D. Buck, touches on this in his book Mystic Masonry:

The only personal God Freemasonry accepts is humanity in toto . . . Humanity therefore is the only personal god that there is.47

 Evidently, Masonry is a kind of religion. But, it is not a monotheistic religion; it is a humanist religion and, therefore, a false religion. It is a perversion that enjoins the worship of humanity, not of Allah. Masonic writings insist on this point. In an article in the magazine Turk Mason (The Turkish Mason), it says, "We always acknowledge that the high ideal of Masonry lies in 'Humanism' doctrine."48

Another Turkish publication explains that humanism is a religion:

Far from dry sermons on religious dogmas, but a genuine religion. And our humanism in which the meaning of life takes root, will satisfy the longings that youth are not aware of.49

How do the Masons serve this false religion they believe in? To see this, we must look a little more closely at the messages that they disseminate to society.

HUMANIST MORAL THEORY

Today, Masons in many countries are engaged in an effort to introduce themselves to the rest of society. Using press conferences, Internet sites, newspaper advertisements and statements, they describe themselves as an organization solely dedicated to the good of society. In some countries there are even charitable organizations supported by Masons.

The same thing is said by the Rotary and Lion's Club organizations, which are "light" versions of Masonry. All of these organizations insist that they are working for the good of society.

Certainly, to work for the good of society is not an undertaking to be discouraged, and we have no objection to it. But, behind their claim there is a deceptive message. Masons claim that there can be morality without religion, and that a moral world can be established without religion. And, the intention behind all their charitable work is to spread this message in society.

HUMANIST MORAL THEORY

Today, Masons in many countries are engaged in an effort to introduce themselves to the rest of society. Using press conferences, Internet sites, newspaper advertisements and statements, they describe themselves as an organization solely dedicated to the good of society. In some countries there are even charitable organizations supported by Masons.

The same thing is said by the Rotary and Lion's Club organizations, which are "light" versions of Masonry. All of these organizations insist that they are working for the good of society.

Certainly, to work for the good of society is not an undertaking to be discouraged, and we have no objection to it. But, behind their claim there is a deceptive message. Masons claim that there can be morality without religion, and that a moral world can be established without religion. And, the intention behind all their charitable work is to spread this message in society.

We will see shortly why this claim is so deceitful. But, before that, it will be useful to consider the views of Masons on this subject. On the Masons' Internet site, the possibility of "morality without religion" is described in this way:

What is human? Where does he come from and where is he going?... How does a person live? How does he have to live? Religions try to answer these questions with the help of moral principles that they have set. However they relate their principles with metaphysical concepts like God, heaven, hell, worship. And people have to find their principles of life without being involved in metaphysical problems, which they need to believe in without comprehending. Freemasonry has been declaring these principles for centuries as freedom, equality, brotherhood, the love of working and peace, democracy, etc. These release a person totally from the religious creeds but still give a principle of life. They search their bases not in metaphysical concepts but inside a mature person living on this earth.50

Masons who think in this way are totally opposed to a person believing in Allah and performing acts of charity to gain His approval. For them, everything must be done only for the sake of humanity. We can clearly discern this way of thinking in a book published by the Turkish lodges:

Masonic morality is based on love for humanity. It totally rejects being good through hope for the future, a benefit, a reward, and paradise, out of fear of another person, a religious or political institution, unknown supernatural powers… It only espouses and exalts being good in relation to the love for family, country, human beings and humanity. This is one of the most significant aims of Freemasonic evolution. To love people and to be good without expecting something in return and to reach this level are the great evolution.51

The claims in the above quotation are highly misleading. Without the moral discipline of religion there can be no sense of self-sacrifice for the rest of society. And, where this would appear to be accomplished, relationships are merely superficial. Those who have no sense of religious morality have no fear of Allah or respect for Him, and in those places where there is no fear of Allah, human beings are concerned only for their own gain. When people think that their personal interests are at stake, they cannot express true love, loyalty or affection. They show love and respect only to those who may be of benefit to them. This is because, according to this misconception of theirs, they are in this world only once and, therefore, will take as much from it as they can. Moreover, according to this false belief, there is no retribution for any dishonesty or evil they commit in the world.

Masonic literature is full of moral sermons which try to obfuscate this fact. But, actually, this morality without religion is nothing but sham rhetoric. History is full of examples to show that, without the self-discipline that religion confers upon the human spirit, and without Divine law, true morality cannot in any way be established.

A striking example of this was the great French Revolution of 1789. The Masons, who fomented the revolution, came forth with slogans shouting the moral ideals of "liberty, equality and fraternity." Yet, tens of thousands of innocent people were sent to the guillotine, and the country soaked in blood. Even the leaders of the revolution themselves could not escape this savagery, but were sent to the guillotine, one after the other.

In the nineteenth century, communism was born from the error of the possibility of morality without religion, and with even more disastrous results. Communism supposedly demanded a just, equal society in which there was no exploitation and, to this end, proposed the abolition of religion. However, in the twentieth century, in places such as the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc, China, Indo-China, several countries in Africa and Central America, it subjected people to dreadful misery. Communist regimes murdered an incredible number of people; the total number nears about 120 million.52 Moreover, contrary to what has been claimed, justice and equality have never been established in any communist regime; the communist leaders in charge of the state comprised a class of elites. (In his classic book entitled The New Class, the Yugoslavian thinker Milovan Djilas, explains that the communist leaders, known as "nomenklatura," formed a "privileged class" contrary to the claims of communism.)  

Also today, when we look within Masonry itself, which is constantly pronouncing its ideas of "service to society" and "sacrifice for humanity," we do not find a very clean record. In many countries, Masonry has been the focus of relationships for ill-gotten material gain. In the P2 Masonic Lodge scandal of Italy in the 1980's, it came to light that the Masons maintained a close relationship with the mafia, and that the directors of the lodge were engaged in activities such as arms-smuggling, the drug trade or money laundering. It was also revealed that they arranged assaults on their rivals and on those who had betrayed them. In the "Great Eastern Lodge Scandal" of France in 1992, and in the "Clean Hands" operation in England, reported in the English press in 1995, the activities of Masonic lodges in the interests of illegal profit became clear. The Masons' idea of "humanist morality" is only a sham.

That such a thing should happen is inevitable, because, as we said at the beginning, morality is only established in society by the moral discipline of religion. At the basis of morality lies the absence of arrogance and selfishness, and the only ones who can achieve this state are those who realize their responsibility to Allah. In the Qur'an, after Allah tells of believers' self-sacrifice, He commands "…It is the people who are safe-guarded from the avarice of their own selves who are successful." (Surat al-Hashr: 9). This is the true basis of morality.

In the Sura Furqan of the Qur'an, the nature of the morality of true believers is described in this way:

The servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk lightly on the earth and, who, when the ignorant speak to them, say, "Peace";

those who pass the night prostrating and standing before their Lord...

those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor mean, but take a stance mid way between the two;

those who do not call on any other god together with Allah and do not kill anyone Allah has made inviolate, except with the right to do so, and do not fornicate...

those who do not bear false witness and who, when they pass by worthless talk, pass by with dignity;

those who, when they are reminded of the Signs of their Lord, do not turn their backs, deaf and blind to them. (Surat al-Furqan: 63-73)

That is, the basic duty of believers is to submit to Allah in humility, "not to turn their backs, as if they were deaf and blind when they are reminded of His signs." Because of this duty, a person is saved from the selfishness of the ego, worldly passions, ambitions, and the concern to make himself liked by others. The kind of morality mentioned in the verses above is attained by these means alone. For this reason, in a society lacking in love and fear of Allah and faith in Him, there is no morality. Since nothing can be determined absolutely, each determines what is right and wrong according to his own desires.

Actually, the primary aim of Masonry's secular-humanist moral philosophy is, not to establish a moral world, but to establish a secular world. In other words, Masons do not espouse the philosophy of humanism because they grant a high importance to morality, but only to transmit to society their notion that religion is not necessary.

THE MASONIC GOAL:

TO ESTABLISH A HUMANIST WORLD

As we have already seen, Masons are tied to humanist philosophy. That is why they reject faith in Allah, and the worship of human beings, or the veneration of "humanity" in His place (Surely Allah is beyond that). But, this raises an important question: do Masons reserve this belief for themselves only, or do they wish it to be adopted by others as well?

When we look at Masonic writings, we can clearly see the answer to this question: the goal of this organization is to spread the humanist philosophy throughout the world, and to eradicate the monotheistic religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism).

For example, in an article published in the Masonic magazine Mimar Sinan, it says, "Masons do not search for the origin of the ideas of evil, justice and honesty beyond the physical world, they believe that these things arise from a person's social conditions, social relationships and what he strives for in his life." and adds, "Masonry is trying to spread this idea throughout the whole world."53

Selami Isindag, a senior Turkish Mason, writes:

According to Masonry, in order to rescue humanity from a morality of the supernatural based on religious sources, it is necessary to establish a morality that is based on love for humanity which is not relative. In its traditional moral principles, Masonry has taken into account the tendencies of the human organism, its needs and their satisfaction, the rules of social life and their organization, conscience, freedom of thought and speech and, finally, all the things that go into the formation of natural life. Because of this, its goal is to establish and foster human morality in all societies.54

What Master Mason Isindag means by "rescuing human beings from a morality based on religious sources" is the alienation of all people from religion. In the same book, Isindag explains this goal and its supposed "principles for the establishment of an advanced civilization":

Masonry's positive principles are necessary and sufficient for the establishment of an advanced civilization. They are:

-The acceptance that the impersonal God (the Great Architect of the Universe) is evolution itself.

-The rejection of the belief in revelation, mysticism and empty beliefs.

-The superiority of rational humanism and labor.

The first of the three articles above entails the rejection of the existence of Allah. (Masons do not believe in Allah, but in the Great Architect of the Universe, and the above quotation shows that with this term, they mean evolution.) The second article rejects revelation from Allah and religious knowledge based on it. (Isindag himself defines this as "empty beliefs.") And the third article ignorantly exalts humanism and the humanist concept of "labor" (as in Communism).

If we consider how entrenched these perverted ideas have become in the world today, we can appreciate the influence of Masonry in it.

There is another important thing to take note of here: how has Masonry put into motion its mission against religion? When we look at Masonic writings, we see that they imagine they can destroy religion, especially on the societal level, by means of mass "propaganda." Master Mason Selami Isindag throws a lot of light on this matter in this passage from his book:

…Even overly repressive regimes have not been successful in their attempts to destroy the institution of religion. Indeed, the harsh excesses of political methods, in their attempt to enlighten society by rescuing people from empty religious faith and dogmas produced an adverse reaction: the places of worship they wanted close are today fuller than ever, and the faith and dogmas that that they outlawed have even more adherents. In another lecture we pointed out that in such a matter that touches heart and emotion, prohibition and force have no effect. The only way to bring people from darkness to enlightenment is positive science and the principles of logic and wisdom. If people are educated according to this way, they will respect the humanist and positive sides of religion but save themselves from its vain beliefs and dogmas.55

In order to understand what is meant here, we have to analyze it carefully. Isindag says that repression of religion will make religious people more highly motivated and will strengthen religion. Therefore, in order to prevent religion from being strengthened, Isindag thinks Masons should destroy religion on the intellectual level. What he means by "positive science and principles of logic and wisdom" is not really science, logic or wisdom. What he means is merely a humanist, materialist philosophy that uses these catch-phrases as camouflage, as in the case of Darwinism. Isindag asserts that, when these ideas are disseminated in society, "only the humanist elements in religion will gain respect," that is, what will be left of religion will be only those elements approved by the humanist philosophy. In other words, they want to reject the basic truths that lie at the foundation of monotheistic religion (Isindag call

them vain beliefs and dogmas). These truths are the ultimate realities such as that man is created by Allah and is responsible to Him.

It is clear that Isindag and the Masons who share his ideas are in a state of serious error.

In short, Masons aim at destroying the elements of faith that constitute the essence of religion. They want to reduce the role of religion as merely a cultural element that in their view should express its ideas on a number of general moral questions. The way to accomplish this, according to the Masons, is to impose atheism on the society in the guise of supposed positive science and reason. Ultimately though, their goal is to remove religion from its position as even a cultural element, and establish a totally atheist world.

In an article by Isindag, in the magazine Mason, entitled "Positive Science–The Obstacles of Mind and Masonry," he says:

As a result of all this, I want to say that the most important humanistic and Masonic duty of us all is not to turn away from science and reason, to acknowledge that this is the best and only way according to evolution, to spread this faith of ours among people and to educate the people in positive science. The words of Ernest Renan are very important: "If the people are educated and enlightened by positive science and reason, the vain beliefs of religion will collapse by themselves." Lessing's words support this view: "If human beings are educated and enlightened by positive science and reason, one day there will be no need for religion."56

This is Masonry's ultimate goal. They want to destroy religion completely, and establish a humanist world based on the "sacredness" of humanity. That is, they want to establish a new order of ignorance, in which people reject Allah Who created them, and consider themselves Divine… This goal is the purpose for the existence of Masonry. In the Masonic magazine called Ayna (Mirror), this is called a "Temple of Ideas":

Modern Masons have changed the goal of the old Masons to build a physical temple into the idea of building a "Temple of Ideas." The construction of a Temple of Ideas will be possible when Masonic principles and virtues are established and such wise people increase on the earth.57

To further this goal, Masons work tirelessly in many countries of the world. The Masonic organization is influential in universities, other educational institutions, in the media, in the world of art and ideas. It never ceases in its efforts to disseminate its humanist philosophy in society and to discredit the truths of the faith that is the basis of religion. We will see later that the theory of evolution is one of Masons' principal means of propaganda. Moreover, they aim to build a society that does not mention even the name of Allah or religion, but caters only to human pleasure, desires and worldly ambition. This will be a society formed by people who have "made (Allah) into something to cast disdainfully behind their backs" (Surah Hud: 92), similar to the people of Madyan mentioned in the Qur'an. In this culture of ignorance there is no room for the fear or love of Allah, doing His will, performing acts of worship, nor is there any thought for the hereafter. In fact, these ideas are thought to be old-fashioned and characteristic of uneducated people. This deceptive message is being constantly used for indoctrination in films, comic strips and novels.

In this great enterprise of deception, the Masons continually play a leadership role. But, there are also many other groups and individuals engaged in the same work. Masons accept them as "honorary Masons," and count them as their allies because they are all one in their shared humanist philosophy. Selami Isindag writes:

Masonry also accepts this fact: In the outside world there are wise people who, although they are not Masons, espouse Masonic ideology. This is because this ideology is wholly an ideology of human beings and of humanity.58

This persistent battle against religion relies on two basic arguments or justifications: the materialist philosophy and Darwin's theory of evolution.

In the following chapters we will examine these two justifications, their origin and their relationship to Masonry. Then, we will be able to understand more clearly the behind-the-scenes of these lies that have influenced the world since the nineteenth century.