I actually always knew about this stuff. I just had no idea it was so pervasive because there was just a mental block that kept me from making the connections. I figured it was just a little social club, not the people who literally own basically everything in the world. I’m sure everyone here had to break those walls down.

My mother taught me about the Freemasons when I was a kid, her dad was one and she was in the Job’s Daughters – basically the youth group for Freemason kids. She told me about some of the ritual swearing in and the threats of death and dismemberment for breaking ranks, and she explicitly told me many times that they were evil and I should have nothing to do with them even if I was ever offered. My grandfather passed before I was born and I never met him, but we still have a little jewelry box with his various rings and regalia as a teaching tool for our family to stay away. Because my grandfather was in the club, my spot was always open, and she taught me to be vigilant, keep my eyes on Jesus and never relent.