Obligation

The defining moment of each degree is the Obligation. Upon concluding one's obligation, one is no longer a candidate, but a Brother; bound to his Brethren by solemn ties of the heart rather than confining ties of the cable-tow (dictionary entry needed for cable-tow). The obligation is the part of a degree wherein the candidate solemnly swears to a number of important statements pertaining to the degree being conferred. In the Entered Apprentice Degree the focus is on secrecy; in the Fellowcraft, on service to one's fellow man; and in the Master Mason degree, on fidelity to one's brethren.

The obligation is always taken while kneeling at the altar and can only be taken upon a positive statement by the candidate affirming that he understands that his duties are to God, his Country, his neighbor, and himself, and that should he ever find conflict between his above duties and the content of the obligation, then the obligation will be null and void.

Some have argued that the obligations are not oaths because of the way they are taken. Whether this is true or not is up to the interpreter and belongs in the domain of lawyers and semanticists.

These obligations contain allusions to the pain that any honest man should feel at the thought of violating his word. The strong language used therein is to signify the wretched state of such a man as would break his solemn oaths. If these penalties were taken literally, they would be too terrible to wish upon anyone. But we can be thankful that they are far from literal. Like many things in Masonry, they are merely allegory and allusion. Not a single person has ever suffered any worse a fate than being chastised, suspended, or expelled from the Fraternity for such a violation. Many Anti-masons have argued that these penalties are evil and should be abolished. The bottom line is that these penalties are symbolic and everyone involved, including the candidate, understands this important fact.