UNDER THE EYE OF POWER: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy, by Colin DickeyThe Memorial Day pancake breakfast in Blue Hill, Maine, is hosted by the Oddfellows, an 18th-century craftsmen’s guild turned community service organization, related to the Freemasons.
While there this spring, I pondered the elderly members pouring coffee and selling raffle tickets to fund college scholarships.
How bizarre, even funny, that this group was once perceived as a threat to America.
History bristles with examples of citizens and their elected leaders hijacking public discourse by tarring — sometimes literally — perceived enemies of the American project.
Unfortunately, we have willfully forgotten most of this warped history, rendering us constantly surprised by the next imagined peril.
Persons:
Colin Dickey The, ” Colin Dickey, Ben Franklin, —, ” Dickey, tarring —, McCarthy, zealotry
Organizations:
American, Freemasons
Locations:
Blue Hill , Maine, America