From time to time the Grand Lodge of Scotland has
deemed it desirable to set forth in precise form the aims of Freemasonry
as consistently practised under its jurisdiction since it came into
being as an organised body in 1736, and also to define the principles
governing its relations with those other Grand Lodges with which it is
in fraternal accord.
In view of representations which have been
received, and of statements recently issued which have distorted or
obscured the true objects of Freemasonry, it is once again considered
necessary to emphasise certain fundamental principles of the Order.
The
first condition of admission into, and membership of, the Order is a
belief in the Supreme Being. This is essential and admits of no
compromise.
The Bible, referred to by Freemasons as the Volume
of the Sacred Law, is always open in the Lodges. Every candidate is
required to take his obligation on that Book, or on the Volume which is
held by his particular Creed to impart sanctity to an oath or promise
taken upon it.
Everyone who enters Freemasonry is, at the
outset, strictly forbidden to countenance any act which may have a
tendency to subvert the peace and good order of society, he must pay due
obedience to the law of any state in which he resides or which may
afford him protection, and he must never be remiss in the allegiance due
to the Sovereign of his native land.
While Scottish Freemasonry
inculcates in each of its members the duties of loyalty and
citizenship, it reserves to the individual the right to hold his own
opinion with regard to public affairs. But neither in any Lodge nor at
any time in his capacity as a Freemason is he permitted to discuss or to
advance his views on theological or political questions.
The
Grand Lodge has always consistently refused to express any opinion on
questions of foreign or domestic state policy either at home or abroad,
and it will not allow its name to be associated with an action however
humanitarian it may appear to be, which infringes its unalterable policy
of standing aloof from every question affecting the relations between
one Government and another, or between political parties, or questions
as to rival theories of Government.
The Grand Lodge is aware
that there do exist bodies styling themselves Freemasons, which do not
adhere to these principles, and while that attitude exists the Grand
Lodge of Scotland refuses absolutely to have any relations with such
bodies or to regard them as Freemasons.
The Grand Lodge of
Scotland is a sovereign and independent body practising Freemasonry only
within the three Degrees and only within the limits defined in its
Constitution. It does not recognise or admit the existence of any
superior Masonic authority however styled.
On more than one
occasion the Grand Lodge has refused, and it will continue to refuse, to
participate in conferences with so-called International Associations
claiming to represent Freemasonry, which admit to membership bodies
failing to conform strictly to the principles upon which the Grand Lodge
of Scotland is founded. The Grand Lodge does not admit any such claim,
nor can its views be represented by any such Association.
There
is no secret with regard to any of the basic principles of Freemasonry,
some of which have been stated above. The Grand Lodge will always
consider the recognition of those Grand Lodges which profess and
practise and can show that they have consistently professed and
practised, those established and unaltered principles, but in no
circumstances will it enter into discussion with a view to any new or
varied interpretation of them. They must be accepted and practised
wholeheartedly and in their entirety by those who desire to be
recognised as Freemasons by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.