Freemasonry and Endowment?

Critics of the Church often posit a close relationship of some sort between Freemasonry and the LDS Endowment.  When considering such matters, its useful to remember a couple of important points.

1- Freemasonry is an initiation ritual by which one becomes a Freemason.  The Endowment is a ritual which reveals higher mysteries to those who have already been initiated into the Church of Jesus Christ by baptism.

2- Some claim that the Endowment parallels the higher degrees of Freemasonry (in which Joseph Smith never participated).  To receive the higher degrees of Freemasonry, however, one must have previously received the first three degrees of Freemasonry.  To receive the endowment one does not have to have previously received any masonic degree whatsoever.

3- Likewise, the higher degrees in Masonry build closely upon the teachings and practices of the lower degrees; the higher degrees only make sense when contextualized within the framework of the lower degrees.  Understanding the Endowment requires absolutely no knowledge of Freemasonry whatsoever.