I was sitting here reading this thread and it struck me how different my views are on things than others, including here.
jamesthejust... I much of the time love your slant on things but sometimes you appear to say something interesting and then stop in mid sentence. I'm not sure why.
imo... the argument of whether Freemasonry can trace it's roots back hundreds (thousands?) of years or if it was all made up is distracting. The knowledge, or maybe "that which was lost" supersedes Freemasonry and absolutely can be traced back thousands of years. Freemasonry is (one of) the vehicle to... not the end.
And lastly, since I believe the Bible is literal (though our interpretation may be skewed), I do believe that Moses parted the red sea, that Astrology is more than pretty symbols (not judging), and that hidden knowledge and mysticism are real (though most are charlatans).