Are you sure you’re not talking about the Hell’s Angels?

Because the Masons definitely aren’t organized crime. They’re a formal society with silly secret handshakes. They haven’t been relevant politically since the Enlightenment.

The organizations most-opposed to the Masons in the last century have been the Catholic Church, LDS church, and Nazi Germany (hundreds of thousands of Masons were killed in the Holocaust).

They do have a problematic history with race and gender, which is why I have decided not to join them (I do have Masonic friends and family), but overall they’re pretty much the most-innocuous “secret society” there is.

Yes, being a Mason can get you an inside scoop on a job opening. But that’s just how networking works. You can do the same thing with church connections, bowling leagues, alumni associations, professional organizations, and more.