there are lots of great men who are/were Freemasons. but still the Church still continues to see them as a threat. they say there are lot of reasons for Masons to branded as such. but the most infamous reasons would be: that Freemasonry is connected with Devil worship.
i do not agree with this.
it was the early Church leaders who, acting on their narrow-mindedness, branded the Masons as heretics because they have practices or possess knowledge that are different from the Church. they saw the Masons as a threat.
the Masons encouraged free-thinking and so the Church views this as a threat to their institution of Dogmas.
remember why Galileo was executed? because he believed that the Earth revolves around the Sun which was against the Church's beliefs that the Sun revolves around the Earth. and so he was silenced, permanently.
in numerous ways, the Masons contributed greatly among the society in general by encouraging free-thinkers to develop their creative ideas on how improve our world. and so the Rennaissance began.
the Masons continue to exist today and growing more stronger in numbers. maybe a lot of people are awakening to the Dogma instilled by the Church.
Freemasonry is just an organization. it's not a religion. as long as you believe in one God, in one Supreme Being, in the Great Architect of the Universe, you may petition for membership in a Masonic Lodge.
as for the conspiracies, there will always be conspiracies. ('c',)