Anti-Mason Conspiracy?

I had been considering joining the Masons for some time. I had talked to many Masons about this, and it seemed to be something that I really wanted to become involved in. I was talking to a friend about this and he said that he had thought about it as well.

Two days later, this friend and I were talking and the Masons came up in conversation. He said that he decided he did not want anything to do with the Masons and suggested that I shouldn't either. I was really suprised and asked him why his feelings had changed so much in such a short period of time.

He said that he had talked with his Preacher about wanting to become a Mason. Apparently his Preacher said that Masons are a "very bad" organization, that 'Secret Societies' are un-Christian. He then went on to explain to my friend how the Masons are trying to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem in the name of the Anti-Christ. Obviously he was encouraged not to join, with the consequence of eternal hell placed in his mind.

I could hardly believe that his Preacher was saying all of this to him. I just shook my head and said "If that is what you want to believe..."

Of course, this is nothing new. Although I was very suprised to hear this from a preacher. Everyone is always talking about Masonic conspiracies and such... I think there is more of an Anti-Mason conspiracy happening.

Unfortunately, if your friend is telling the truth, his preacher has fallen prey to ignorance.
There is no masonic conspiracy to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem. Freemasons are not operative builders. The building that freemasons partake in is the building of themselves into better men. The Temple is an allegory for this and is used to symbolise the fact that our bodies, minds and souls are places of worship for our gods and need perfecting so that we can carry out this task to the best of our ability.

Unfortunately some in the Church don't like the fact that there are free men who can build their own temples to God without relying on an institution that has failed so many over the course of history.