In 1800 B.C.E, a man named Abraham left his home to start a long journey to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, known today as Israel. He did so at the behest of God. Thus monotheism was born. A few hundred years later Moses, carrying the Ten Commandments, led the Israelites to their Promised Land. 

More than a millennium passed until Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem. Through his preaching in Galilee and in Jerusalem, he gave Christianity to the world. 

Islam followed, and was introduced to the world in the early 7th century, when the prophet Mohammed received his first prophecy, on Mt Hira, Northwest of Mecca. 

Thus in the vast spaces between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers in Mesopotamia, the Nile in Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea, the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, were born. 

The men of each are happily accepted into Freemasonry. Opinions and experiences are expressed to the enlightenment of all.  

That Freemasonry is composed of men of various beliefs and opinions is well known. What is not known well, is the experience of Freemasonry and the struggles of these same people. Let us examine each. 

The experiences of the Christian world are well known to you, so I will not bore you with that great detail. I will focus on Zionism and the Islamic Revolution. 

Zionism and Israel 

The origin of the word "Zionism" is the biblical word "Zion," often used as a synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. Zionism is an ideology that expresses the yearning of Jews the world over for their historical homeland - Zion, the Land of Israel. 

The hope of returning to their homeland was first held by Jews exiled to Babylon some 2,500 years ago - a hope which subsequently became a reality. Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people - an expression of their legitimate aspiration to self-determination and national independence. The Zionist movement was founded to provide an ancient people with a sovereign state of its own in its ancestral homeland. Israel is the modern political embodiment of this age-old dream. 

The idea of Zionism is based on the long connection between the Jewish people and its land, a link that began almost 4,000 years ago when Abraham settled in Canaan, later known as the Land of Israel. 

Down through the centuries, the desire for the restoration of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel has been a thread binding the Jewish people together. Jews everywhere accept Zionism as a fundamental tenet of Judaism, support the State of Israel as the basic realization of Zionism and are enriched culturally, socially and spiritually by the fact of Israel - a member of the family of nations and a vibrant, creative accomplishment of the Jewish spirit. 

Islam and Iran 

In Iran we have witnessed the fall of various regimes and their replacement by new ones. The difference between the transfer of power from the Imperial Iranian government to the Islamic Republic and other changes of regimes is quite fundamental. The difference is that Iran did not overcome the Imperial government with the force of arms, nor through military action. It brought down that military regime, with international support, merely through power of words, and by the presence of a people on the scene who took to the streets and stated their demands.

This revolution granted the people the right of self-determination immediately after its victory. What revolution can you cite that has adopted a constitution through popular vote in less than a year after its victory and has devised a clearly defined legal foundation for its social order? In all stages of the revolution, the public was involved through elections and the people's votes. 

Christians and Freemasonry 

Freemasonry owes its origin to those of a Christian belief. It was not until Anderson’s Constitutions that it was spelled out that Freemasonry had assumed a different role in the lives of men. That, from its existence of a Christian doctrine, to a system of acceptance of all men of a monotheistic belief. A society that allows all men to enjoin, regardless of the paths they travel. An order with strict rules of conduct, lessons and lectures of morality, symbolism and allegory to direct your lives in the path of universal brotherhood. 

So, now you are asking, David, what are you going with this. 

Parallels.

The struggles of the Jew, the Muslim, the Christian and the Freemason are parallel. Each seek to have a dignified, stable and well founded society in which to live and prosper. Our beliefs are the pillars of each society. You may be thinking that this is a broad jump, a comparison of religious belief and society with a system of morality and brotherly love. Bear in mind, being religious is not the same as making certain pretences in response to certain exigencies while being different in appearance and in the heart. Of course all religious beliefs will have their manifestations in daily life, this is true of all that we have examined.

What is further true, and the tie that binds all of these peoples together, is that each realise and teach that man's right of self-determination derives from his freedom of choice, his free will, and, consequently, his social responsibility. Since man is endowed with free will, he is also deemed responsible for his own actions. He has to pay a penalty when he makes the wrong choice. In any of these societies, man is endowed with freedom and free will because this is dictated by the prevalence of justice in the realm of man's existence. This is a fundamental right of the Jew, the Christian, the Muslim and the Freemason. Each recognise and teach that this is a right not given by man, but endowed by the Creator.

Today, it is rightly said that the most prominent feature of the modern world in the field of human relations is that it acknowledges and emphasises man's natural rights and not, as it was customary in the past, only his obligations to the state. Each of these societies speaks to that end.  

My aim this evening, Brethren, was to demonstrate the parallel paths each of these societies have travelled and will travel. To demonstrate to you how closely each society is aligned in their struggle, that you would have a better understanding of their trials, that you may be the better informed to teach those less informed.  

Freemasons and Freemasonry has always been an educator for society, it is because the experiences of the Freemason, is the experiences of all societies.

Thank you Brethren.

W. Bro. Wm. David Maddin,

District Masonic Education,

Beaverhills District,

Grand Registry of Alberta