In the United States, the issue is two fold. First, Masonry teaches that all religions are equal. Deism is the just as valid as Islam which is just as Valid as Pantheism or Catholicism.
Well lets now think about where masonry started and why it started. It started in Europe after the protestand reformation. This was when Martin Luther departed from the Catholic Church and many protestant faiths were born. Now during this era there were many wars between denominations. People getting hanged because one denomination says their denomination has the right interpetation of God. A lot of unncessary hated toward fellow christians.
So you see masonry was a way initially for many christian faiths to bond together to worship God. There were no hindus, buddists, or muslims in Europe at those days. The founders of masonry never intended for them to join. They were disturbed about the hatred being committed against fellow christians and they wanted to bind them. Thats why a belief in God was thats all required.
It has only been recently that masonry has been allowing non-christians to join and taken on this “any belief in any God” is allowed nonesense. 99% of masons I know are christians and would try there best to prevent a non-christian from joining, even though that these days is not considered masonic. Many old time masons are very devout christians who could not fathom the idea of letting these other non-christian religons into their lodge.
If the founders meant for non-christians to join they wouldn’t have so many references to the old and new testament in their rituals. Just about every word in the masonic ritual can be found in the bible. I know because I read the entire bible from start to finish and I was amazed what I found.
Second, there is the swearing of oaths invoking God and severe punishments if they reveal the ceremony or the membership’s role. Both of these are trivial matters and thus the oath is a serious sin.
What is interesting about this is even these oaths can be found in the bible. Isreal made oaths to isreal and repeatedly broke them. You will find references of these penalties happening in many instances throughout the bible when characters in the bible betray God.
For example in the fellow craft the penalty for violating the obligation is to be fed to the beasts of the field and birds of the air as a prey. Lets look at the book of Ezekiel and God’s penalty for Isreal breaking his covenant.
Ezekiel 29:5" I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air"
Isaiah 56:9 " God’s Accusation Against the Wicked ] Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest! "
Ezekiel 32:4 “I will throw you on the land and hurl you on the open field. I will let all the birds of the air settle on you and all the beasts of the earth gorge themselves on you.”
So this is just symbolic for masons breaking a covenant with God. Departing from him and falling into sin.
