I won't argue with that sentiment. But I will challenge the claim that Matthew the gospel writer was an apostle. For a start, no name was originally attached to that gospel and there are quite a few other pointers to the probability that it was neither written by a bloke called Matthew nor by anyone who was a compatriot of Jesus (if there ever was a Jesus at all). There are lots of things in Matthew's gospel that I see the wisdom of, having said all that, and one or two things that I don't agree with. Had I been present for the Sermon on the Mount I might well have been an occasional heckler.

Anyway, today I've heard from masons on the wireless that they're fluffy bunnies really, just in it for the friendship, etc., and utterly harmless and not at all secretive. Yes they bare their breasts, even the very few girl ones, they roll up their trouser legs and they have a secret handshake (as do the Sicilian Mafia) and they give each other the third degree (to make sure they're not moles, presumably). But it's all just in fun and it's just tradition and they mean no harm.

Like hell.