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Article ZOROASTRIANISM AND FREEMASONRY. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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Zoroastrianism And Freemasonry.
and felt so delighted to learn therefrom that there existed an earnest advocate of our Order in the Zoroastrian community more than fifty years ago , that I caused the old controversies to be printed in a collected form in a pamphlet in the year 1862 . I have no doubt you will feel
much interested in its perusal . It seems , then , that when English education was so little appreciated as to necessitate it to be gratuitously offered to , and coaxingly thrusted on , the native community , there were only a very few who cared or were
able to draw a distinction of meaning between the two English words Masonry and Missionary ; apparently both sounded alike to their uneducated ears . The latter word was familiar to them long before ; and the former , when it came to be first introduced among them , was naturally , from the similarity of sound , confounded with the latter . Owins- to this
miscomprehension of terms . Freemasonry was proclaimed and denounced to be at once and associated with , and derived from the Christian religion ; and , indeed , an outward colour and semblance was , in their minds , given to that clamour , by it having come to be known that Freemasons of
different castes and creeds were generally expected , disregarding their sectarian prejudices , to dine together on the same board . There was an extraordinary prejudice then against Parsees dining with men of other beliefs ; a man proved to be
guilty of it , was , in fact , socially ostracised . A desire to dine with aliens in religion was seriously taken to amount to a desire to forsake one ' s own religion , and to give preference to a strange one . Happily , howeverwith the spread of education
, , and a better comprehension of the Zoroastrian religion , these prejudices are not now met with , in the intensity of foregone days . Yet one must be very bold to say that they are entirely removed and are now extinct totally . Even at the present
day there are not a few among us who , though they fully appreciate and acknowledge the good to be derived from Freemasonry , and express themselves inclined favourably to it , and who , indeed , from their worth and position , would shed lustre on our Order were they to beloug to it , yet persistently refrain from joining us , on the plea of conscientious scruples which
they say they feel for dining with men of other races and religion . Another objection raised against Freemasonry in the olden days was based upon a misinformation that its votaries , when dead , were subjected to the Masonic funeral rites
services , at the deprivation of their own sectarian ones—an acquiescence in which custom was felt to be fatal to a Zoroastrian entering a Masonic Lodge . But , in truth , leaving aside all the vague denunciations hurled against Freemasonry , let us examine
in earnestness if there is anything in the principles and constitution of that institution which would reasonably prove to be an obstacle to a Zoroastrian fromhelonging to it . The main test of union between
Freemasons of different colours , creeds , and climes , is their common belief in only one true and living God . Belief in one God implies disbelief in many gods . Belief in the true God implies disbelief in the false gods . Belief in the living God implies disbelief in the inert godsin
, idolatry , & c . Believing in only one true and living God , a man of any religion is admissible to be made a Freemason , and , from the moment he is initiated in its
mysteries he is a brother to that extent for all the purposes . of Freemasonry , although he may not be a brother by consanguinity , nationality , or religious profession . No one , however otherwise qualified by his moral worth , can be
accepted in Freemasonry who believes in more than one God or in false gods , or in unliving gods , or in idolatry , & c . But the principal condition above referred to being satisfied , Freemasonry does not care to bind its votaries to any other particular
dogma . Every one of its members is free to worship his only one true and living God , aftei the manner of his people and the injunctions of his religion , and is equally free to believe in any amount of dogmas provided they are not inconsistent
, derogatory , or revolting to a profession of belief in one God . Hence a wider union is attained in Freemasonry , extending to professors of all monotheistic religions on the face of the earth , than is possible to he acquired if restricted exclusively among
members of any one single religion only . Freemasonry on this principle is of the widest extent , exerting its benign influences over the four quarters of the globe .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Zoroastrianism And Freemasonry.
and felt so delighted to learn therefrom that there existed an earnest advocate of our Order in the Zoroastrian community more than fifty years ago , that I caused the old controversies to be printed in a collected form in a pamphlet in the year 1862 . I have no doubt you will feel
much interested in its perusal . It seems , then , that when English education was so little appreciated as to necessitate it to be gratuitously offered to , and coaxingly thrusted on , the native community , there were only a very few who cared or were
able to draw a distinction of meaning between the two English words Masonry and Missionary ; apparently both sounded alike to their uneducated ears . The latter word was familiar to them long before ; and the former , when it came to be first introduced among them , was naturally , from the similarity of sound , confounded with the latter . Owins- to this
miscomprehension of terms . Freemasonry was proclaimed and denounced to be at once and associated with , and derived from the Christian religion ; and , indeed , an outward colour and semblance was , in their minds , given to that clamour , by it having come to be known that Freemasons of
different castes and creeds were generally expected , disregarding their sectarian prejudices , to dine together on the same board . There was an extraordinary prejudice then against Parsees dining with men of other beliefs ; a man proved to be
guilty of it , was , in fact , socially ostracised . A desire to dine with aliens in religion was seriously taken to amount to a desire to forsake one ' s own religion , and to give preference to a strange one . Happily , howeverwith the spread of education
, , and a better comprehension of the Zoroastrian religion , these prejudices are not now met with , in the intensity of foregone days . Yet one must be very bold to say that they are entirely removed and are now extinct totally . Even at the present
day there are not a few among us who , though they fully appreciate and acknowledge the good to be derived from Freemasonry , and express themselves inclined favourably to it , and who , indeed , from their worth and position , would shed lustre on our Order were they to beloug to it , yet persistently refrain from joining us , on the plea of conscientious scruples which
they say they feel for dining with men of other races and religion . Another objection raised against Freemasonry in the olden days was based upon a misinformation that its votaries , when dead , were subjected to the Masonic funeral rites
services , at the deprivation of their own sectarian ones—an acquiescence in which custom was felt to be fatal to a Zoroastrian entering a Masonic Lodge . But , in truth , leaving aside all the vague denunciations hurled against Freemasonry , let us examine
in earnestness if there is anything in the principles and constitution of that institution which would reasonably prove to be an obstacle to a Zoroastrian fromhelonging to it . The main test of union between
Freemasons of different colours , creeds , and climes , is their common belief in only one true and living God . Belief in one God implies disbelief in many gods . Belief in the true God implies disbelief in the false gods . Belief in the living God implies disbelief in the inert godsin
, idolatry , & c . Believing in only one true and living God , a man of any religion is admissible to be made a Freemason , and , from the moment he is initiated in its
mysteries he is a brother to that extent for all the purposes . of Freemasonry , although he may not be a brother by consanguinity , nationality , or religious profession . No one , however otherwise qualified by his moral worth , can be
accepted in Freemasonry who believes in more than one God or in false gods , or in unliving gods , or in idolatry , & c . But the principal condition above referred to being satisfied , Freemasonry does not care to bind its votaries to any other particular
dogma . Every one of its members is free to worship his only one true and living God , aftei the manner of his people and the injunctions of his religion , and is equally free to believe in any amount of dogmas provided they are not inconsistent
, derogatory , or revolting to a profession of belief in one God . Hence a wider union is attained in Freemasonry , extending to professors of all monotheistic religions on the face of the earth , than is possible to he acquired if restricted exclusively among
members of any one single religion only . Freemasonry on this principle is of the widest extent , exerting its benign influences over the four quarters of the globe .