And...?

This past weekend was the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts' official 275th anniversary blowout, with Grand Lodge tours, a black tie dinner, a ball, guided Masonic tours of Boston, and other goings on. If I weren't still working away at my house (The end of June is alarmingly close, and I really can't spare any weekend days for at least the next couple of months) I would have volunteered to lead some tours of the Grand Lodge (which I have yet to visit, myself)... but oh, well... I figure by the time the tricentennial rolls around I should be in a much better position to participate in all the festivities.

So with all that was going on this weekend, you'd think an accompanying article in the Boston Globe might have gone into a little bit of history, touched on Prince Hall, or generally departed from the same fluff written about the Masons in pretty much any newspaper... but no, you get the usual:

• Mention the conspiracy theories right away
• Mention the Freemasons in in the American Revolution
• Mention the presidents who were Masons, throw in Ben Franklin and John Hancock for good measure
• "We don't have any secrets" quote from a prominent Mason
• "Resurgence in popularity thanks to the Da Vinci Code and National Treasure" seems to be the new bullet point replacing "aging members dying off and lodges struggling for survival"

Of course, shallow articles about the Masons are just part of our secret plot to lull the public into a false sense of disinterest.

(Clippy graphic purloined from a post by Bro. Christopher Hodapp a while back.)