Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews Cloud of Prejudice: A Study in Anti-Masonry by Arturo de Hoyos (as Art deHoyos).

The Cloud of Prejudice focuses on one particular anti-Masonic document: the audio cassette Freemasonry and the Masonic Lodge by Ron Carlson, produced and distributed through Christian Ministries International in Minnesota. The general tone of deHoyos’s treatment is one of detailed, scholarly critique. He is at special pains to demonstrate how Carlson and other anti-Masonic authors have distorted Masonic writings, and he does a thorough job. The Cloud of Prejudice includes a thirty-seven page bibliography listing hundreds of the works consulted in this effort. But the fact that deHoyos has the upper hand in scholarship sometimes leads him to an unseemly sarcasm, for instance when he puts scare quotes around the title of “‘Pastor’ Ron Carlson.” Derision of his antagonist does not help deHoyos represent Masonic rationality and uprightness. The level of textual detail makes this book well-suited to Masons who want a more thorough understanding of the falsity of charges leveled against the fraternity. But other readers will probably lack the motivation to follow deHoyos’s arguments. In essence, deHoyos is “preaching to the converted” in hopes of preventing their de-conversion. [via]