As if the political scene in the United States couldn’t get crazier, now come charges from two U.S. Senators that the Knights of Columbus is an extremist organization.
Questioning Brian Buescher, a nominee for the U.S. District Court, Sen. Mazie Hirono (Dem., HI), asked if he intended to renounce his membership in the K. of C. because of its extreme position on the sanctity of life with regard to abortion.
Not to be outdone, presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris (Dem, Calif.) asked if he had been aware of the Knights’ position on abortion when he joined the organization.
Do the senators realize that most Americans are opposed to the idea of abortion? Are tens of millions of Americans who oppose this taking of innocent life really extremists?
Some politicians have swung so far to the left that they have become the extremists, even opposing any difference of opinion on important moral issues such as the sanctity of human life. They have linked opposition to abortion with a woman’s right to choose, as if the decision to end a life was anyone’s decision to make.
The political discourse in America has become so skewed that any right-thinking person trying to live a life based on solid moral principles and common sense is regarded as a kook, a terrorist, and unworthy of public office.
Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who knows a bigot when he hears one, has explained, “Senators Harris and Hirono are playing a game: they are engaged in selective religious profiling and sexism.”
Those who want to exclude people because of their traditional moral beliefs, especially if they’re Catholics, should look in the mirror when they’re speaking about extremism.
Last year, the local Councils of the Knights of Columbus bought more than 105,000 new coats for children. They supplied nearly four million pounds of food to the hungry. They donated 7,649 wheelchairs to their Global Wheelchair Mission. And they made available more than $3.8 million of assistance to 6,348 seminarians and postulants.
Are these the types of people who should be scrutinized by ambitious politicians?
If the Knights of Columbus are radicals, they are second to none in their push for goodness and fraternity for all peoples around the world. The public sector can only benefit from their presence in the political arena.
