By Tom Ryan, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel

Michael Baigent, the editor of “Freemasonry Today”, has a new book called "Racing Toward Armageddon". In 2006, Michael filed a lawsuit against Dan Brown, arguing that the “The Da Vinci Code” used theories posited by Baigent and his co-authors in their 1982 book called "Holy Blood, Holy Grail".

This time Bill Maher should chase Baigent because his new book smells like Bill’s 2008 film “Religulous” with footnotes.

As Michael says in his preface on page xxiii, “…Jerusalem has seen it all before”. Well, so have we. If you’re plowing through Dan’s new book, you may want to give Michael’s a read. After all, Dan Brown talks about The Freemasons in his new novel. Michael Baigent is the editor of their world magazine. A real spokesman and an excellent writer.

What’s odd is that Michael Baigent makes no mention of his membership in his new book. Perhaps it’s not needed given his notoriety, or maybe he’s humble, or both. Or maybe…?

Like Bill Maher, Michael takes us on a trip through the wonderful worlds of religious fundamentalism sparing no Jerusalem centric denomination…Judaism, Christianity of all flavors, and Islam…Sunni, Shiites and Sufis. He likes the spiritual Sufis…Nice photos in the book. A few of Megiddo, and the multi-named piece of ground called…too complicated…it’s called many things by many people…where the “gold dome building stands on the hill, right by the multi-layered wall, where many believe stood a temple once”.

Unlike Bill Maher, Baigent gives us 36 pages of scholarly-like footnotes and an index for his 240 pages of prose. It’s like a doctoral dissertation except it costs $26.99. Both Bill and Michael believe were doomed by three faiths worth of crazy people who believe in the big bang theory of the final countdown cum revelations rapture judgment day. I think John the Devine may have just written a cool book about the last days of Pompeii. Fantastic literary imagery.

Baigent characterizes fundamentalism as a lake rather than a free flowing stream or river. Nice image. He sees the lake as stagnant and murky. He likes clear water. According to my first grade teacher, Sister Jeanette Francis, Christ was baptized in a river and also did some of his best work by and in a sea that some consider a big lake.

Michael Baigent and Bill Maher think we’re doomed. Keep the faith, whatever yours may be. We’ll be fine. Michael, on the other hand, may be getting a call from Bill’s lawyer…

Read Baigent’s editorial for this month here...subject: Charity.