No. But of course we'd say that, wouldn't we?
Stephen Knight’s The Brotherhood and Martin Short’s Inside the Brotherhood: Explosive Secrets of the Freemasons, among others, will claim that Freemasonry is corrupt. This belief is most often held by people unwilling to accept that Freemasonry, as a body, has no control over individual members in their private and work life. While the possibility exists that individual Freemasons may be corrupt, Freemasonry, in its teachings, beliefs and practices, is not. Freemasonry does not tolerate criminal or immoral acts on the part of its members.
Without entering into a case-by-case analysis, by far the greater majority of accusations of corruption have come from individuals who have been unsuccessful in their legal or official pursuits and are looking for somewhere to place the blame. Neither Knight’s nor Short’s accusations actually involve more than a handful of freemasons and the accusations are levelled by an even smaller handful of people with no substantial proof of their assertions. And assertions, no matter how loudly repeated, are not proof.
While it is popularly believed by non-masons that freemasons all take an oath to protect each other and keep each other’s secrets, in fact they have taken a solemn obligation to uphold the laws of the country in which they reside and have promised to keep each other’s lawful secrets. Treason, felony and criminal acts are specifically noted as being excluded from the obligation of secrecy. A newly made freemason is clearly told that his obligations to his country, his religion and his family take precedent over his obligations to Freemasonry. Masonic critics who claim that this is a lie will generally quote The Charges of a Free-Mason, a 280 year old text that made sense in the political climate of the time but has little application today.
Downloadable books (free):
Aleister Crowley - Freemason Letter On Crowley StatusArthur Edward Waite - The Templar Orders In Freemasonry
Charles Webster Leadbeater - The Hidden Life In Freemasonry
Albert Mackey - History Of Freemasonry Vol I Prehistoric Masonry
Captain William Morgan - The Mysteries Of Freemasonry
