(This section provided by Brother Bob Dixon; the use of the first person is his)

"Joseph Smith was a mason, as were the following four presidents of the LDS church.

From about 1839 to about 1846 most of the members of the church gathered to Nauvoo, Illinois, and there were at least four lodges in operation there. Joseph Smith was a very flamboyant individual and had a disagreement with the Grand Lodge of Illinois over the way the Nauvoo lodges were operated. Accordingly, their charters were revoked by the Grand Lodge.

He was murdered by a mob in 1844, and Brigham Young felt it was as a result of a masonic conspiracy. He prohibited Mormons from being Masons, which remained in effect until the last ten years or so. The ill feelings went both ways, as the Grand Lodge of Utah refused to accept Mormons as members until about 1984.

There are no particular restrictions on Mormons being Masons. We are continually counseled to put our families and Christ first, which many interpret as counsel to avoid most activities outside family and church. This is a personal choice, though, and not a matter of strict doctrine.

We perform certain ordinances such as baptisms for the dead and eternal marriages in our temples, and minor portions of those ordinances bear very surface similarity to parts of the Masonic degrees. The whole scope and character is much different, though. Where (I feel, anyway) that the masonic degree work revolves around our place in God's kingdom here on the earth, our temple rituals deal with creation and our place in the eternities."

(A minor historical note: Smith was made a Mason at Sight by the Grand Master of Illinois)