Why do some religious groups believe that Freemasonry is a Satanic cult?

Technically, 'groups' - other than the goofball conspiracy theory whack-a-moles - generally don't consider Freemasonry a satanic cult; they consider it evil. Their members - who don't understand the difference between evil, satan or a cult (they're often in one, but call it a religion rather than the more appropriate word, 'cult') - tend to be the ones that transform 'evil' into 'satanic cult.' If they can misinterpret that, it kind of makes ya wonder what message they're actually GETTING from their religion, doesn't it?

The reason Freemasonry is considered 'evil' is because we practice tolerance, and we don't talk about religion (or politics) in the Lodge. Apparently "hey, let's make the world a better place by working together" is still a concept that is not accepted by any religion even 2000 years after a guy from Galilee got stapled to a tree for saying the same thing.

Tolerance, by extrapolation, is evil. Who knew?

Ultimately, though, there's no actual 'proof.' None of the people who claim this nonsense are members of the fraternity, have been to any of the public events, or even know that they KNOW Freemasons (we're not secretive about our membership, we just don't necessarily feel that we need to announce that we're Freemasons. You're first made a Mason in your heart, after all). So what do they base this on? Stupidity.

It's important, also, to understand that virtually ALL religions make claims that other religions are wrong; Christianity is famous for it's absolute craziness - you've got Catholics that think Protestants are nuts, and the hundreds of factions of Protestants that think other Protestants are nuts, Protestants that think Catholics need to be blown up, and so forth. It's amazing to me that they can all come to these wacky conclusions based on everyone reading the same book.

Now, the Catholics do have a legitimate issue with Freemasonry. Or, at least they think they do. Catholics tend to believe (more fervently than the Protestants) that they're the only Church, and that theirs is the only way. Because Freemasonry accepts members from all monotheistic faiths, it's not following the strict doctrine of the Catholic "We're Number One" Church. That's why we got the ol' "In Eminenti" Papal Bull back in 1738 and why - until 1983 when Canon 1374 came out - being a Catholic and being a Freemason would get you an excommunication. Since that time, the Catholic Church has backed off - issuing no more canons or Papal Bulls, just a nasty letter from the "Office of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" which holds no weigh when it comes to anything.

So, to sum up: only an idiot would believe that Freemasonry is a satanic cult. And there are plenty of idiots out there that belong to religious groups.

Absolutely NOT!!! Masons DO NOT worship the devil, do NOT combine religions, and DO NOT have a desire to rule the world. No matter what the FICTION of Dan Brown, or the LIES of Albert Pike tell you. To begin with, masonry is a fraternity, like most others. The members swear an oath TO GOD, not to reveal the inner workings of the lodge, and since a man has pledged his word not to do it, he lives by that. It's a thing of honor. The best way to find out about freemasonry is to ask a mason.

He probably thinks it's hilarious because so much of our rituals quote some scripture from the Bible :)

Most of it (the so-called "proof") dates back to a book claiming to expose Masonry by Leo Taxil. Taxil had a grudge and was trying to make Freemasonry look bad and claimed all sorts of ridiculous things, including the Satanic crap (making money in the process of selling his book). Taxil was discredited and even admitted it was a lie at one point, but the people that wanted to believe it still do.

They also misquote Albert Pike, taking a few quotes out of context from his book, even though throughout the book, if taken in its entirety and in context, it is obvious he was not claiming the things the "antis" say he was. They just cut and paste the same tidbits from websites stating what they want to believe instead of actually reading it in context to see what he was talking about. I should also point out that Pike does not speak for Masonry...he was a single man and not some sort of official spokesman. His opinions were simply that....HIS opinions. That's hard for a lot of people to get.

With regards to what Amalthea said; I don't know anything about her father's situation and what he went through, but I do know that in our lodge, if a man is having financial trouble and actually goes to the lodge (or calls someone) and talks to them about it, they/we are happy to make arrangements or even cover it for them for a while (dues do not typically cost that much). I know in our group, its more the idea that it is an obligation you know you have. If you can't meet it, talk to someone.

Ignorance, and because lies are often more colorful than the truth. Also because some people feel the need to believe that they are right and everyone else is wrong- you may notice that some of the people who campaign against Freemasonry do not hesitate to criticize their own church as well, to the point of breaking away and forming their own.

ignorance.

they don't know what freemasonry really is, and so they believe anything some friend or some website tells them.

ignorance should not be confused with stupidity. ignorance can be cured with knowledge/education, stupidity cannot it is the equivalent of irrationality, when you believe something false.

cutting edge is worthless anti-mason nonsense.... david bay, the author, lies and can offer no proof. he holds dear one quote by manly hall (who wrote his stuff 30 years before he became a mason) and a quote from his death notice by the scottish rite to claim that he was the greatest philosopher of all time and masonry loved him... which is not true at all... ugh, bay is a joke, who makes money off the ignorant and stupid.

Ignorance, basically. When you take a group of people who refuse to learn and study anything having to do with groups outside of what they find "normal" or "acceptable" you end up with some interesting (and quite sad) misperceptions. Especially if they only get their information from people who have a vested interest in them NOT learning or being friendly with other groups. I honestly don't even think this is an intentional bit of misinformation anymore though I think it started out that way. I think they actually believe it now. You know, the lie you've told so often you think it's the truth yourself. I've heard of that kind of thing before.

Some people do that to everyone, btw. I've had people try to tell me what I believe, how I practice and who/what I worship. Which is rather funny as in my path of Nordic Heathenism I don't "worship" anything or anyone. I tell them this and they STILL argue with me and try to tell me what I believe and who/what I worship. So now I just roll my eyes and snicker.

Tell your Father not to take it too hard. Sounds like he didn't though. I would have laughed, too. I know I do when people try to tell me my patron deity is the "Norse devil". (pssst - we don't have a "devil")

My dad was a Mason too. Since you grew up around it, did you ever read any of their books of rituals and rules? I mean the ones written BY the Masons, for their members to use and recite from. There's some pretty kinky stuff in there. They have to vow to torture and dismember anyone who gives away their secrets. I especially liked the part about burying their tongues in the sand at low tide. For a long time, I merely considered them ridiculous. Claiming to be descended from the masons who worked on Solomon's Temple, and being buried in those silly little aprons. But hey, if it makes them happy, right?

Dad loved it. He raved about how they were his "brothers". But when he became too disabled to work and couldn't pay his dues, all of a sudden they weren't brothers anymore. I found a letter in his apartment saying he would be restored to "brotherhood" as soon as he caught up his back dues. None of his "brothers" ever visited or contacted him in the hospitals he stayed in, or the nursing home. Not even a card.

Over time, not only because of that personal experience, but because of the things I had read in THEIR OWN books, yes, I began to consider them a satanic organization. The day Dad died, I got rid of every trace of them. And he certainly was not buried in a silly little apron. Late in his life, he became a Christian. He had no further need of the trappings of a ridiculous fraternity.

Because people are ignorant. That and the masons are supposedly descended from the knights templar, who were accused of worshiping baphomet by the catholic church.

I think it's because if you really understand the Old Testament you know that the Serpent and Lucifer represent the same thing as Jesus, not Satan as Christians have ignorantly perpetuated throughout the centuries, and then they see freemasons like Albert Pike praising Lucifer in their Christian propaganda and they're conditioned to assume that this is satanic.

Because people don't know much about them,so they assume ridiculous things.