Chateau Lloyd

In the comments to a post last week on the Methodist schism, reader CN linked to a site that purportedly outlined the goals of Freemasonry.

For most of my life I assumed Freemasons were mostly a social network with some mutual aid thrown in.  Such organizations used to be quite common, but the growth of state welfare programs combined with population mobility pretty much wiped them out.  The few that remain do so in rural areas and are more overtly life-insurance based.  (The Knights of Columbus - of which I am a member - seem to be the exception.)

American Freemasonry has at times been controversial, particularly when the social networking aspect began to take on the appearance of a influence-peddling cartel, as happened in the mid-19th Century.

In Europe, by contrast, Freemasonry was explicitly anti-Catholic and associated itself with revolutionary movements.  Almost every Spanish anarchist, communist or socialist leader during the 1930s was a high-ranking Freemason, and they have long been considered to be committed to overthrowing the existing order.

This is actually what happened in North America.  Most of the Founding Fathers were Freemasons, and their iconography features strongly in our symbols and our currency to this day. 

The U.S. Constitution itself is influenced by Freemasonry, particularly in its guarantee of free speech and the free exercise of religion.  These features were subsequently used to suppress public expressions of faith and prohibit any government funds from assisting religious charities or faith-based schools. 

The result has been an increasingly secular society harboring a latent hostility to God. 

Whether this was the part of a cunning plan developed over centuries of conspiratorial plotting or merely the opportunistic assaults of the Enemy is something of a moot point. 

Freemasonry is an entirely spent force in American society.  If they haven't already been torn down, just about every town as an abandoned Masonic lodge or temple that has been converted into another use (the one here is now owned by the Catholic Church).  I doubt this was part of the grand plan for world conquest.

That doesn't stop a certain subset of Catholics from declaring every deviation from their interpretation of doctrine, dogma and canon law is the result of Freemasons infiltrating the Church or from denouncing everyone who questions them as Freemasons. 

Indeed, the presence of these people is an important reminder that the Catholics are just as prone to error as everyone else, which is why we must approach our faith with great humility and frequently examine our consciences.