In response to Rev, I'll try to split a split hair, and point out that the defintion does use the word or between union and fusion, I assume that means that it does not necessarily have to be a fusion. Both you and Amadeus have made it clear that the Freemasons does unite people, and (needfully so,) addresses the subjects of religion and ideology. I can say that all monotheistic religions believe in one god, and point out many simmularities among them. Then, I can either point out that inevitably there is still only one answer to the question "who is He?", or I can leave you to conclude that all religions are pointing to the same Parent. It sounds like there isn't a difference, but there is.
No need to split hairs, I can see by this comment that you are well on the way in regard to understanding Masonry. Albert Mackey, in refusing a definition of Masonry as "a" religion, still did not reject the idea that it is "an eminently religious institution," and added in a well-known and often-quoted analogy, that Masonry is "the porch of religion." Even so, it focuses only on the common elements upon which all religions agree. These are mostly summed up in what some Masons have described as the "royal law of God," which includes, of course, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you," "love God and neighbor," "help the helpless," "do good unto all," and similar maxims that resemble, more than anything else, the sermon on the mount.
And you have hit the nail square on the head with your summary notation that "Who is He?" is the ultimate question. But that is not a question Masonry tries to answer for any man. Masonry is content to bring the man to the porch, and then allow him to enter the house by the door of his choice. In that regard, I find Masonry to be very much like an analogy of a house offered by C.S. Lewis in his preface to Mere Christianity. He described belief in God as a house, with a great hall in which many people are gathered. Some people are still in the hall, some have chosen a door off the hallway through which they enter. And there are rules that apply to the whole house, that one cannot be critical of others in their choice of which doors to enter.
Masonry provides for me a great boost and an encouragement to my faith, but it is not my faith, nor does it try to be. It chooses no man's path for him, and yet it still points out the fact that there is a path, that there is a Creator who designed that path, and that we have an ultimate duty to seek the Creator, and walk the path with Him as our guide. I have no doubt that even if I were ever to stray from the path of Christian faith--which I do not see happening--and yet remained in the lodge, I would not get very far away from the "house," because Masonry would continue serving that function of bringing me back to the porch.
EXPLANATION OF G.A.O.T.U.
This is an extraordinarily simple phrase which has been extraordinarily and unnecessarily complicated by accusers of Masonry. The best way I've found to try to understand it is simply to think of generic terms for deity. In English, that's quite simple, the term "God" is itself a generic, although in the Christian faith it sometimes tend to function more like a proper name. But even though we capitalize it to speak of "God," we also lower-case it to speak of other "gods." In that lower-case usage we may find it functioning in much the same way as Freemasonry intends by its phrase "G.A.O.T.U." The phrase was Christian long before it was Masonic. It was first found in
Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. It was first adopted by Masons in medieval times through their associations with the trade guilds. Each guild put on its own "morality play," with its members serving as the actors in the play. The purpose of the plays was to point to one or more moral truths, founded on biblical principle. The common practice was for each guild to illustrate these themes by the use of terms familiar to them from their particular trade. For the Masons, those terms were drawn from the builder's art, and it was no coincidence that references to God our Creator took the form of "Architect of the Universe."
Nor was it a coincidence that they would be familiar with John Calvin. The Catholic church frowned on involvement in the morality plays, and issued an edict forbidding their priests to participate in any way. They also took a strong anti-Masonry stance. With that rejection, and with Masonry's dependence upon the Bible, it is easy to see why any association they have had with Christianity would likely be Protestantism.
I can either point out that inevitably there is still only one answer to the question "who is He?", or I can leave you to conclude that all religions are pointing to the same Parent. It sounds like there isn't a difference, but there is.
I have only one answer to that question myself, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. I made that choice long ago, and it has not changed. What Masonry affirms is that there is one God who created all things, and that He is sovereign. From a Christian viewpoint, I cannot deny either of those tenets, so there is no conflict with what I believe.
I am a minimum wage father of three children three and under, I try to use what free time I get the best I can.
God bless you, sir, and as one who has "been there, done that," I will take that as a prayer request. Do what you can to be there for your wife, she needs you more critically than you can imagine for the next few years until they get a bit more manageable. I failed at that point and it nearly cost me the unimaginable.