374: What's up with Freemasonry?

The boys drink and review Anderson Valley Brewing Company's Winter Solstice Ale, then discuss Freemasonry. How do you learn about a secret society without becoming a member? It's hard to know what to believe about them. Still, P&C did their best to find the essential details. Stone mason guilds started to have outsized political power and started to admit people who weren't stone masons. The organization grew in numbers and power, and was very influential in the founding of the United States. They became closely associated with Englightenment thinking and promoted the ideas of rationality and science. One of their mottos is to "make good men better." But what does it mean to be a mason? What about all their spooky rituals? And why is the Catholic Church against them? The boys discuss.