QUAESTIO - Social Sciences Division - UCLA

Quaestio
fraternal practices which illuminated a basic equality among
brothers in Masonic society. Republicanism was engrained into
Masonic virtues because every brother’s opinion was required be
heard with “tenderness and attention,” which gave each
individual Mason an incentive for social participation, and thus
created a republican society. 33 This encouraged fundamental
political equality among brothers, as every brother had a political
opportunity to participate in the lodge. Furthermore, brothers
were also to avoid slander at all times. 34 Instead, the “foundation
and cape-stone” of Masonry involved speaking well of each
other, not hiding each other’s virtues, and doing good deeds to
each other. 35 If a brother was in trouble, he was to be helped and
saved. 36 The idea that every brother should treat his fellows with
the highest regard is an idea that is rooted in fraternalism.
Therefore, Masonic society encouraged social equality because
every brother had an equal right to be treated with respect and
kindness.
As the power of the Christian orthodoxy eroded,
eighteenth-century deism and Masonic Christianity constructed
the notion that religion should be liberal. Supporters of
naturalism and materialism, though against to the church’s
33 Hutchinson, 127.
34 Anderson, 56.
35 Anderson, 56.
Hutchinson, 124.
36 Hutchinson, 102.
58