Perhaps, but I think it's more a case of people wanting something for nothing. They want the secrets in this case, but not willing to pay the price of admission. Or they want to be recognized as worthy of receiving the information from a Mason without having to go through the degrees. Won't happen. We don't recruit. You have to ask. The only thing that might hinder you is if you don't have a belief in a Supreme Being. I think there are lodges for aetheists, but you'd have to go to France. That is where European Freemasonry split into two Grand Lodges. France opted for not having to profess a belief in deity. I haven't followed their progress since then, and and just guessing they still exist.
Yes, fundamentalism, of any stripe, seems to be the ones persecuting Freemasonry. Which I find strange, because I'm basically a Pentacostal fundamentalist myself. When I was asked 'in whom do I put my trust?' when I took my first degree I proclaimed loudly and clearly, "My Lord, Jesus Christ!" and was immediately told my faith was well-founded. From that moment on I had no fear about anything I might encounter in Freemasonry, even to this day.
"How would you differentiate between the universal brotherhood of Freemasonry and the hierarchical collective mandates of communism?"
Freemasonry encourages individualism and self-responsibility. Communism mandates group-think and teaches socialism with no moral absolutes. The state is 'god.'
"Kipling's Mother-Lodge would seem to indicate that Freemasonry places great importance on the right to be an individual. What safeguards are there to prevent Freemasonry from being abused and used to consolidate power in the hands of an occult oligarchy?
There is no central authority in Freemasonry. Each state has its own autonomy and rank and file Freemasons comprise the Grand Lodge leadership. Grand Lodge officers serve but one year and the chairs are rotated. As no one Lodge or Grand Lodge, or individual speaks for Freemasonry, I see no opportunity for Freemasonry to be co-opted. In a sense, everything is already 'cut and dried' and any lodge member is elibible to be elected Grand Master once they attain the credentials of past-master of a Lodge.
There are other Masonic-like organizations which have the word, 'Masonic' in their titles. That is a topic for another time, and one that should be more openly discussed, for the confusion non-Masons have is differentiating between the different Masonic bodies. Some of these bodies have given mainline Freemasonry a bad name.