What are fraternities core values

The principal tenets of Masonic teaching are traditionalized as Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth 123. Relief obliges Masons to soothe the unhappy, sympathize with misfortune, and restore peace, while Truth is treated as the foundation of all virtue, expressed through sincerity and plain dealing 1. Craft lectures further emphasize the four cardinal virtues: Temperance (restraint of passions), Fortitude (serenity and strength of mind), Prudence (sound judgment of ends and means), and Justice 1.

Underpinning these moral duties is a belief in God and adherence to the moral law 35. This framework establishes a universal brotherhood designed to unite men of differing religious persuasions by focusing on the universal fatherhood of God and the duty to be "good men and true" 35.

In the Scottish Rite, Albert Pike frames the primary moral forces as Faith, Hope, and Charity, associating them symbolically with Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty 4. He maintains that an association driven by these forces exercises immense moral influence in the world by fostering righteousness, heroism, and peace 4.

Masonic writers differ on whether these moral values constitute the ultimate aim of the institution. Traditional Craft lectures stress honor, probity, fidelity, and the practice of virtue to cultivate true friendship, hospitality, and good government 3. Conversely, W. L. Wilmshurst contends that teaching elementary virtues like temperance and relief is merely secondary, arguing that the true end of the Craft is an esoteric "science" of soul-building derived from ancient Mysteries 2. Albert C. Mackey synthesizes these perspectives by dividing Masonic doctrine into moral doctrines aimed at social progress, religious doctrines aimed at eternal progress, and philosophical doctrines—expressed through symbolism—aimed at intellectual progress 5.