by John McCarthy
Professor Anthony Stevens-Arroyo hits the nail on the head with this important article on the Knights of Columbus. We need organizations to actively engage in the political process, especially ones that are authentically Catholic.
Stevens-Arroyo writes:
It was wrong for the Knights of Columbus to spend over a half million dollars in 2012 during four failed campaigns against same-sex marriage laws. My claim that the expenditures were “wrong” has nothing to do with moral and doctrinal opinions on same-sex marriage, abortion, contraception, etc. The paid political propagandizing was wrong because it contradicts the original organizational purpose of the Knights of Columbus. We were founded in New Haven, Conn., in 1881 to provide spiritual and material brotherhood to Catholic men. The chasm separating the original vision from the current drift, I contend, is unhealthy to the Knights of Columbus future.
I have no problem with Catholic Democrats or Catholic Republicans who choose to bind their political activity to their faith. I do have a problem with organizations that politick under the guise of "supporting church teaching." We need more transparency in these organizations -- and certainly more accountable leadership.
