Saturday, October 11, 2008

Knights of Columbus - An Enemy to Families

As regular readers know, I was raised Catholic and was even a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus until I left the Church and the Knights in disgust over the sex abuse scandal and utter moral bankruptcy displayed by the Church hierarchy from the Pope on down and the leadership of the Knights of Columbus who kept their noses firmly up the asses of the despicable bishops, cardinals and Popes who had enabled and/or covered up the sex abuse scandal (some, like Bishop Daily, a former Supreme Chaplin for the Knights had even threatened and intimidated victims and their families to remain silent).
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Now, the Knights of Columbus are further betraying the purpose for which the Order was founded in 1882, by donating $1,250,000 in support of Proposition 8, which would amend the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. If passed, Proposition 8 will potentially severely harm many families headed by same sex couples. When Fr. Michael J. McGivney founded the Knights in 1882, his driving motivation was to protect immigrant families from financial harm if a member died. The goal was to insure through the Knights' insurance program that the surviving spouse and children would be assisted financially and not find themselves destitute or lacking in assistance. I cannot help but believe that Fr. McGivney - who was willing to buck the system of his day - would be anything less that horrified that the organization he founded is actively supporting an initiative which would deprive surviving spouses and children of insurance and medical care benefits and put countless children in gay households at risk.
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Given the failure of the Knights to repudiate the misdeeds of the Church hierarchy and demand accountability and now this attack on gay families, I am truly ashamed that I was ever a member of this wrong headed organization.

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