Howie...

you need to read up on your Robert Anton Wilson. His novels put various `factions' of masons against each other. His early stuff looks to have been written during a major drug trip, though...

That said, differing masonic groups had (have?) differing beliefs as to how their organization should be active in the world.

By way of parallel...a lot of fundy christians, whom you would normally think to be activily supporting candidates somewhere to the right of the republican party, believe that their religion should have no part in politics.