Yes — but “special treatment” is not what the world imagines.
Masons are respected members of society, and respect manifests in tangible ways. A Brother in need will find a hand extended. A Brother in distress will find aid offered. A Brother seeking honest counsel will find it given freely. This is not favoritism in the corrupt sense; it is the natural consequence of a shared obligation to help, aid, and assist.
However — and this is critical — the Masonic obligation does not permit dishonesty, unfair advantage, or the betrayal of non-Masonic colleagues. The charge to every Mason is clear: be faithful to your convictions, be loyal to your employer, and render every man his just due. A Mason who gives a Brother a job he has not earned violates the spirit of the Craft as surely as a man who refuses a worthy Brother his due.
In 1877, when the Grand Lodge of France faced a schism over this very question, the conservative lodges reaffirmed what had always been true: Masonic relief is for the worthy, the distressed, and the deserving — not for the cunning or the connected. The Brother who expects unearned privilege has misunderstood the lesson of the Ashlars. We are all rough stones when we enter; the labor of making ourselves perfect is our own.
aling, and the plumb line of moral rectitude.