D*oh! Read the jacket cover... first!

So, I picked up The Hiram Key, thinking it was... I don't remember, anymore. I think I thought it was something to do with the Knights Templar (though don't ask me why I thought that- those words do not appear anywhere on the cover!) Turns out to be a couple of Master Masons who hooked up, travelled the world, and have managed, using their razor sharp Hardy Boys detective skills, to piece together all manner of astounding connections that hundreds of scholars, over thousands of years, have been too dull-witted (or dirty, as implied in the book) to ever notice.

Ah, yes, the esoteric diamond of Truth shining in the bleak and filthy mire of...

Christianity.

Yep, folks, over a third of the way into the book and it's nothing but a poorly laid out attack on Christianity. That's. About. It. The logic flaws have had me literally laughing out loud (at one point, spewing coffee all over the couch). I will give The Hiram Key a nod in that, as fiction, it's a better read than The DaVinci Code. As non-fiction, though, it smacks of agendaagendaagenda.

All humor aside, it is sad to know we've sunk to such a poor grasp of logic. That some folks have read this book and have not noticed the blatant fictionalization of most of it, from white glossings-over, to allout "where'd you get that", makes me a titch uneasy. From the claim that "color, race, creed or politics have always been irrelevant to membership" in The Lodge (riiiiiight), to the lack of sources to back up comments, such as, "it's a proven fact that *insert bizarre connection here*" (this thing goes pages w/o a single footnote, particularly when they're revving up on the soapbox), it's clear that the authors have somewhere to go and they intend to drag the reader, kicking, screaming, and asking unanswered questions, with them. One of my personal favorites has been the oh-so critical eye for detail and deep understanding of the original entymology of every. single. word. in the Bible (and, naturally, being big on esoteric knowledge, nothing is what it seems, at least not in the Bible) that suddenly develops astigmatic symptoms when "delving" and "researching" the "facts" on... just about every other religious group known to the history of man. (Sure, a rough translation is perfectly useful and without need of examination. Apples to oranges will always give you fruit salad, and that goes down far easier than the facts.)

*sigh*

I know The Lodge is not a Christian organization. OK. Fine. It doesn't claim to be, and I knew that when I picked up the book. I'll admit it, I'm a huge KT fan, though. And there is a lot of history to be learned. (And this book does touch on the history of the KT, in so much as it's trying to make connections. Some actually exist, some, eh, I'm not ready to return to grad school just yet to figure out where the truth leaves off.) So far, this book has gone so deeply over the edge on so many specific occasions that it's blown any and all credibility it may have had at first.

And no, for the record, the photos of the sacred garments didn't convince me that the authors are necessarily bright, or honest, or above board. Please. Anyone who grew up in The Lodge has, at one point or another, witnessed a number of "secret" things when the grown ups have had just a few too many drinks. Plus, with the exception of the "secret work" of the Order, it's all on record with the Library of Congress. Way to break new ground, guys!

On the postivie side, The Hiram Key does provide a nifty timeline by which you can follow their journey, some lovely maps of the Sumerian region, and 16 pages of B&W photos. Some of the claims are truly interesting and feasible, but they're buried in leaps of faith of such huge proportion that nobody seems to have seen except the authors and, perhaps, their editorial team.

So, the moral of this story: read the jacket cover before you check out the book!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy