Freemasonry has been popular around the world - in fact, famous freemasons are presidents of countries, prime ministers, kings, supreme court justices, senators, military leaders, civic leaders, authors, businesspersons, sports heroes and even actors and celebrities.
The freemasonry is actually a fraternity of men that has been existing since the 16th and 17th centuries and has continued to exist in the modern times.
With members of the freemasonry 'secret society' spanning all over the world, it is also one of the largest and oldest fraternities of men. Right from the start, the organization has also been exclusive to men. Although this worldwide organization's basic principles are known to the public, many of their activities, rituals and meetings are held in secret, thus often labeled as a secret society.
Members of the organization however would argue about their being a 'secret society' they have however described the organization as an organization with secrets or an esoteric one.
Aside from the organization's secrecy, there are also a lot of controversies and talks about their existence. Even from the centuries ago, many speculations have aroused from the existence of such a freemasonry 'secret society'. From the architectural symbols that they use for their organization to their real mission, these have never escaped from people's curiosity.
With the requirement that a member should have a belief in a supreme being, in which the definition depends on the interpretation of the individual, the organization also never escaped of the allegations of being a cult. The Roman Catholic church has also been discouraging and prohibiting its members to be members of the freemasonry, in fact, the church in the 18th century has banned Roman Catholics to be members of freemasonry criticizing that the said secret society is advocating deism.
There are also a talks about some rituals of this alleged 'secret society' as against Catholicism, although this was not proven.
Another thing that made the organization on the watchful eye of the world is that many of its members holds high positions in the government, although it has been said that discussions political in nature are not allowed in their Masonic lodge. Aside from having freemasons that prime ministers, and top government officials, they also have Supreme Court justices, military officials, even celebrities and sports heroes. With this, the common goal of the organization has also been in the prying eyes of the public.
The issue of discrimination was also not left unnoticed. The freemasonry 'secret society' does not allow women membership and this has been criticized widely.
Despite the many controversies that has stalked them even in the earliest time of their existence, the fraternity has remained visible in humanitarian missions and in their civic activities. And even though some of their little secrets have been divulged by individuals, former members, political and religious groups and anti-freemasonry organizations and societies, their existence has always carried an air of mystery especially when it concerns their real mission and goals.
If you want to find out some deep secrets of the organization, a good read that you can find online is Masonic Secrets Revealed. Also check out eBook Secrets Exposed, another resource that uncovers some secrets of marketing digital products.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carolyn Anderson
