It was never intended that Freemasonry should be a religion, nor a substitute for a religion or creed. It has, for ages, taught its members to use the Holy Bible as a Great Light to show them the way which leads to life eternal.
Freemasonry adopts no particular creed but welcomes those who believe in God as well as in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body. The Bible is recognized as the inestimable gift of God to man and as a rule and of his faith. From its very inception, Masonic Lodges have displayed the Holy Bible open upon the altar in the center of the Lodge Room. No Masonic meeting is opened or closed unless a prayer is offered.
From time immemorial there have been cults, sects and religions which have barred Freemasonry because of its free thinking. This has only served to add to the glory and permanence of the Institution's solidarity and strength and convince the curious of its good works. Freemasonry does not pretend to offer salvation. But it does encourage its members to affiliate and be a part of a church of his choice.
But we as Freemasons and citizens of a free country must be aware and alert to the fact that one of the first edicts of a dictator or communist nation is to forbid Masonic membership.
Neither are you to suffer your zeal for the Institution to lead you into argument with those who, through ignorance, may ridicule it.