My mother is a Jehovah's Witness, which is a cult tied to the Masons. I have a friend who is a low-level Mason. There are people of good character I know who are Catholics. While I have a problem with secret societies and oaths that split loyalty, for me to disassociate myself with everyone who might be "tainted" in some way is self-sabotage.
The principle of staying clean and pure has to be squared with the consequences in our dirty yet real social environment. The reality of the terrain is that it has Satanic elements to navigate around. Staring at the heavens and wishing you were not bound to the land doesn't solve that.
We have ubiquitously infiltrated institutions, so guilt by association is going to get us nowhere. I have plenty of my own struggles with sin and mortal desire to confront before I go around passing judgment on others. Inevitable events will take care of the institutional corruption.
This Catholic thanks you. Funny the most hurt I get is being attacked by other Christians. I guess it’s appropriate that this morning’s gospel was about removing the beam from your own eye before addressing the splinter in your neighbor’s eye. You are tuned in sir.
