The Lost Symbol -- Freemasons

After a lot of publicity as well as numerous recommendations to read Dan Brown's latest book, "The Lost Symbol", I finally gave in and last week bought the book.  The previous book I have read from Dan Brown was over 6 years ago (The Da Vinci Code).  Dan Brown has an amazing ability to weave fact and fiction together into an exciting novel where one does not really know what is true or false.

The latest book involves deeply the Freemasons and paints them in a very favorable light.  There has been many questions on why Dan chose the Freemasons as the centerpiece of his book and it is explained as part of the letter here:

"as you might imagine, I have been repeatedly asked what attracted me to the Masons so strongly as to make it a central point of my book. My reply is always the same: “In a world where men do battle over whose definition of God is most accurate, I cannot adequately express the deep respect and admiration I feel toward an organization in which men of differing faiths are able to ‘break bread together’ in a bond of brotherhood, friendship, and camaraderie."

In essence,  a lot of the teachings of Freemasonry is deeply ingrained in the society we live in today, including the separation of Church and State.  One of the oldest examples of religious tolerance.