Dear Friend,
That’s a pretty big statement with nothing to help the OP or anyone who reads this post to understand your reasoning. Please help us to understand why it has been a heartache for you. I don’t doubt your sincerity but with no detail how can anyone weigh the merit of your position? After all, what causes you heartache may not cause me heartache.
Respectfully,
Michael
In a certain sense, you are quite right about the heartache, and that might be a big part of the problem. What causes me heartache does not cause the Knights heartache. In other words, my problem is my problem, not theirs, and I don’t think that’s how the Knights of Columbus presents themselves as one of their founding principles to the public.
When it comes to problems, even Job would run the other way, if he were one of my friends. I have numerous serious health problems, lost my work in 2004, went on SSDI in 2005, and declared Chapter 13 in 2006. My family problems are unbelievable, and my living conditions are scary. That does not mean, however, that I’ve asked the Knights for too much, and in fact, I think what I asked for was the absolute littlest, least, and most basic thing they could be asked for: a membership card. Not cash, not help around the home, just a membership card, after having paid dues for well over 20 years.
When my credit cards were all canceled at the end of 2005, and I stopped taking all of my medicines because I had no way to pay for them, my blood sugar went over 700, and the only reason I went to the hospital was that someone told me I would be treated for free, which it turned out wasn’t true, but I went to look into it anyway, and was not asked to leave the hospital, as I was in critical condition, and was told I would have lived only another 24 hours, had I not shown up when I did. I think it’s reasonable that when my dues notice arrived that month, that I wrote to the Financial Secretary and asked about a “dues waiver” that I seemed to recall existed, and the only answer I recieved was another dues notice, which I paid, despite not having money for medicines.
That was the last year I paid dues. Toward the end of 2008, I read something from the Grand Knight in a council newsletter about dues, and help for members, and so sent an email to the Grand Knight, and miraculously recieved an application from him, and returned it to the door guard at the next meeting, which was held at the church across the street from where I live. That, unfortunately, was the end of it. I did write subsequently to the GK, and discussed it personally with a couple of members of the council, and still no membership card. I did write to the Faithful Comptroller for the Fourth Degree, and got a membership card and a dues waiver from him, but now I was recently sent a bill from the new FC for back dues. As I recently mentioned in one of my other posts here on CAF, I’ve also been in touch wiith the District Deputy and State Deputy.
If a person is doing all right for themselves, and has a family, or someone, that helps them when they need it, and if they have enough money for themselves, or can take care of themselves, almost no one will ever find out that the Knights will not be there for them when they need them. If you have never had a fire in your house, you will never know if the fire extinguishers work. If you have never had a crime committed against you, you will never know how good the police are in your community. If you have never had a car accident, you will never know how good your insurance is.
If someone is looking for some fun, perhaps joining the Knights will be a good thing for them. If they are in some type of business, maybe they will network with some other business people. If someone joins a good council, and there may well be some out there, and if they have a need, maybe they will have some help. I know from experience, it didn’t happen for me.
I’m not good at writing long posts, so please, ask some questions, while I take a break.
opcorn:I’m not up on the founding of the Knights of Columbus.I think they were founded to show that american catholics were loyal to this country, since Columbus discovered the Americas,hence the title Knights of Coloumbus, and as the catholic answer to the Masons,which catholics were not supposed to belong to.