We are living in a golden age of conspiracy theories. Claims about elite pedophilic conspiracies and government knowledge of UFOs that once would have been dismissed as crankish can now be voiced in respectable company. It hasn’t been easy lately for delusional paranoids and dishonest grifters to distinguish themselves, though they have risen to the challenge with brio.
In this climate, a controversial British policy aimed against Freemasons in the Metropolitan police force seems downright quaint. The once formidable international fraternity has been in decline for at least a century. Its rituals, symbols and secrets inspired countless pseudo-historical potboilers, but outrage against supposed Masonic conspiracies seems almost as anachronistic as another witch craze. But the return of anti-Masonry is another sign that people have lost faith in authoritative institutions—in this case, the police.
“Anti-Masonry is another sign that people have lost faith in authoritative institutions.”