I will have to read this one again...
My great-great grandfather was a freemason. I don't know much about him - but his wife eventually left him (in Minnesota) and went all the way to Oregon to raise her three children - by herself! A crazy thing to do in the early 1900s! I have to wonder if his affiliation had anything to do with it. (Mostly because I believe - at least at the time - they were prone to drinking excessively.)

Having read the article again, it's still very good. I do believe that Freemasonry at its most public is safe and good for society, but most of the conspiracy theories have to do with a secret society within the not-so-secret society... i.e. at the top levels. But, as you said, "secret societies are secret" so the full truth is likely to never be fully discovered.