keeping one's soul intact

There is a movement afoot to start a chapter of the Knights of Columbus in our local church. I no more want to join the Knights of Columbus than I would the John Birch Society or Hell’s Angels. Here we have an all male imitation Masonic brotherhood complete with weird uniforms and secret ceremonies. They also follow a brand of Christianity that I find particularly distasteful, one that reduces the entire Christian message to two simple but absolute commands: criminalize abortion and ban gay marriage (matters about which Jesus had remarkably little to say). The word is out that the Knights of Columbus donated more than $1.4 million to Proposition 8, making it the proposition’s largest financial supporter.

But, here's the problem. The Knights won’t start a new chapter unless at least 30 guys sign up. At last count, we still needed 7. So, the pressure is being ratcheted up for every able bodied man to sign. After every Mass I am approached by someone and asked, have I signed?

Once every so often I get the sense that I’ve wandered onto the set of some movie. When I first took Ellen up to her college nestled in upstate New York’s wine country, I thought, this is “Sideways!” Lately, however, it’s been “A Man for All Seasons.” For example, the latest argument to convince me to sign up for the Knights of Columbus was this: even if you don’t want to be a member, just sign up so that we can reach 30. You don’t have to actually participate, but we’ll get our chapter. It’s like the Duke of Norfolk asking Thomas More to sign the Oath of Supremacy for fellowship’s sake. And, I’ve been tempted to make More’s answer:

And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?

OK, there’s a lot less at stake here, but I’m thinking Thomas More, and hope to be able to hold out until the bitter end. Not only will I keep my soul in tact, but the world will no doubt be a better place without another chapter of the Knights of Columbus.

(Of course, I might be persuaded to join the Sons of Knute, which, according to Garrison Keiler, is a fraternal organization for Norwegian Lutherans who couldn’t get into the Knights of Columbus. From my brief research, the Knutes gave absolutely zero financial support to Prop 8.)

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Postscript: There’s one other small point here, and that is our cultural acceptance of dishonesty. It’s like people expect you to lie. The people at church with little more than a shrug seem to think they ask nothing extraordinary of me when they request me to make a false statement on their behalf. I have seen this sort of attitude elsewhere. Again, Thomas More had this to say, and here he speaks to his daughter, Meg: “When a man takes an oath, Meg, he's holding his own self in his own hands. Like water. And if he opens his fingers then—he needn't hope to find himself again.”