Given the current wave of anti-Masonic press coverage in England so far this year, it's refreshing when a news outlet there actually publishes a rational, fairly even-handed examination of the fraternity. Check out this summary article from The Economist on Tuesday, The Economist Explains: 'What Is Freemasonry?' by K.W.
Misinformation and conspiracy abound. Is it a benign organisation or one bent on subverting government?
THE literature on freemasonry does not offer straightforward explanations. Is it benign or bent on subverting government? Is it a community of knowledge or of the occult? Such questions are not new. Since its development in the 18th century, freemasonry has drawn the ire of the Catholic church, right-wing politicians and, more recently, Britain’s Home Office. (Fearing that masons in the police and judiciary were giving preferential treatment to other masons, the Home Office between 1998 and 2009 required judicial appointees to disclose their membership.) Freemasonry can appear incomprehensible because it contains no coherent ideology or doctrine, and is defined instead by a commitment to universal brotherhood and self-improvement. Nor does a single governing body exist. It is made up of a loose network of groups, known as lodges, that fall under regional and national grand lodges. What, then, is freemasonry all about?Read the rest HERE.
Perhaps the UGLE's new recent public responses have borne more positive fruit.
