The brochure argues that Freemasons are infiltrating Christian congregations. According to my dictionary, "infiltration" means "a slow penetration of alien elements into an organization". In other words, EMFJ believe in a conspiracy theory: Freemasons are becoming members of Christian congregations, not because they believe in Christ but in order to intentionally attack the church from within. "They work behind the scenes to subvert the Gospel, and in fact, meet in secret to teach salvation on the basis of another savior."
This surprising allegation rests on a peculiar interpretation of some details in Masonic rituals. This interpretation is further described in EMFJ's document "Death, Burial and Resurrection in the Masonic Lodge", and I have commented on it under that headline. (Here it will suffice to mention that I consider it far-fetched and mistaken.)
The most popular method of hate propaganda is to appeal to paranoia. Somewhere, says the propaganda, there is a group of nasty people who are secretly plotting and causing many of the problems which afflict us. This group is hiding their sinister purposes, but we know the truth -- and in order to protect you, we will tell you, and expose them! Conspiracy theories
Emperor Nero used this method against the Christians. Hitler used it against the Jews. McCarthy used it against the political left. Occultists today are using it against the Catholic church. Militant activists are using it against the US government. And EMFJ are using it against Freemasonry. Unfortunately, it has often proved effective.
But if one examines conspiracy theories, they usually fail to provide the explanations which they pretend to give. Most importantly, they fail to provide
In the case of Freemasonry, the alleged purpose of the conspiracy is to subvert the Gospel, and teach salvation on the basis of another savior, i.e. the fictuous character Hiram Abiff who is part of the Masonic 3rd degree legend.
Motivation: WHY would anybody want to do this? Common sense says that Hiram Abiff, whose only remarkable act (according to the legend) was to let himself be killed rather than reveal a secret word, is not a very likely Messiah in any religion. Neither Masonic ritual nor any other source contain even a single quote from anything he said. Look at existing religions (and cults too), look at their prophets and saviours. Does Hiram fit into the pattern? No way. Sure, there are some truly weird cults out there. But only a total nut case would believe in what EMFJ call "the Masonic religion".
But for the sake of argument, let us suppose that there really are Masons who believe that Hiram is the Savior. WHY, then, would they keep this faith a secret, while at the same time deviously acting to attract more Masons (believers)? Why would they encourage their members to join, pretend to believe in, and openly preach OTHER religions? It makes no sense; the method is clearly counter productive.
Damage: Christian congregations are often damaged by doctrinal controversies, but EVEN IF Masons really did secretly believe in Hiram Abiff rather than Jesus, they would cause no such splits since this belief would be a secret. Only Masons would be affected, and clearly, Masons are not attempting to make everyone a Freemason. There is even a rule in Freemasonry that they never ask or invite anyone to join; you must ask them. EMFJ talks about splits, but in truth the only church controversies with any connection to Freemasonry are those that occur when anti-masons bring forth their paranoid propaganda and demand that Freemasons either "repent" or be excluded from their congregation.
It is conceivable that Masonry could cause a split on the basis of (perceived or real) "old boys club" corruption. If e.g. all the Elders of a parish are Masons, and some other parish member who is a Mason is given favorable treatment, suspicion of unfairness could arise. Masons are acutely aware of this risk, because accusations of "insider deals" have always plagued the movement. They have many rules in order to make sure that such things never happen. The same suspicions face Odd Fellows, Rotarians, Christians of any particular denomination, and basically any minority group. And always, popular paranoia fills in the gaps...
Progress: If the aim of Freemasonry is to subvert the Gospel and teach salvation through Hiram Abiff, where is the evidence that any Gospel has been subverted, that any significant number of Freemasons have lost their Christian faith, or that anyone really believes in Hiram instead of Jesus? It would seem that in spite of more than 280 years of activity, Freemasonry has failed utterly to acheive those goals.
From page 2, I quote: "A significant number became Freemasons before they became church members".
If a significant number of people who have joined The Acme Club later come to embrace the Gospel and join a church, I would tend to think well of The Acme Club. It obviously helps people find Christ. But EMFJ have a different interpretation.
There are cults which encourage their followers to remain in their "native" or chosen religions, e.g. some Hindu gurus like Bhagvan and Sai-Baba. They do this because they consider all religions to be equally valid ways to salvation. What EMFJ allege about Freemasonry could thus be said to be true about parts of Hinduism. I have myself met active church members who, on closer examination, have turned out to actually be Hindus. Often they do not understand the discrepancy themselves. It is the pastor's duty to confront such people with the incompatibilities and contradictions contained in such a position. For example, belief in reincarnation is not compatible with Christianity. Neither is belief in Christ as an "Avatar". When this is explained, the crypto-hindu will usually understand, and make the necessary choice. If a pastor meets a Freemason in his congregation, and feels that there is any doubt about the Mason's faith, he should talk to him. Ask him what he believes about God, salvation and other central Christian things. It does not have to be more complicated than that.
In my experience from Scandinavian Freemasonry (which is exclusively Christian), many people who join have a very vague faith, but are inspired by Freemasonry to read the Bible, become more active in church, and deepen their faith. In British-American Freemasonry (which is not exclusively Christian but where most members are Christians), I have met many who share this experience.