Washington DC and its freemasons braced for new Dan Brown book

[babsbunny]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/13/the-lost-symbol-dan-brown

Freemasonry is at the heart of the foundation of America's capital, according to the author of The Da Vinci Code

Author Dan Brown's new book is expected to reveal the influence freemasonry had on Washington DC. Photograph: John Schults/Reuters

Washington DC is used to hordes of eager tourists, brandishing guidebooks and rushing around the sights, but it is bracing itself for a different influx this week – and a potentially hostile one.

From Tuesday, when Dan Brown unveils the long-awaited sequel to his blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code, fans are expected to descend on the US capital to gawk at the locations featured in it. They swarmed to places in Britain, France and Italy mentioned in Brown's previous works. The new book, The Lost Symbol, is set largely in Washington and will give the reader a picturesque tour of the seats of American power. But it is also expected to reveal a more mysterious side to the city by exposing the influence that freemasonry exerted not only on the design of Washington DC but on the founding fathers .

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Oh, joy -

this place - http://www.gwmemorial.org/ - right here in Alexandria is a magnet for those people, too.

Here we go again.......................

[LuvNewcastle]

2. Yeah, Washington was a big-time Mason.

My family and I stopped at Mt. Vernon years ago and there was all kinds of Masonic symbolism there. I think Freemasonry was actually Washington's religion.

[oligarhy]

3. I am a Freemason, and we are not bracing for this.

It is also not a religion, just like DU is not a religion.

Thankfully our membership does not include the Bushes, Rumsfield and all those others.

Our hospitals, The Shriner Hospital, are also helping our soldiers with their burn and prosthetic injuries. We are doing that for free, just like the kids we help with the same stuff.

I joined because of all of the rumors about the masons. This is hardly a group that is trying to take over the world.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

4. When I was a social worker in Chicago,

whenever I needed help of any kind, the Shriners were the ones who NEVER let me down.

If I needed to transport a bunch of senior citizens anywhere, the Shriners provided the buses.

When they hosted their famous circus events, not only did my clients get free tickets, they got free transportation and envelopes with cash, to buy whatever they wanted at the circus.

I love the Shriners, cannot say enough good about them. And kudos to you, oligarhy - along with a Welcome To DU! - for belonging to such a terrific organization.

Hell, everybody's trying to take over the world. The Freemasons might as well get in on it.................... :hi: