Building a Better World: The Blog of the Knights of Columbus

Knights of Columbus Launches “Campaign for Civility in America”

In response to Americans’ growing frustration with campaign rhetoric and the tone of the national discourse, the Knights of Columbus has launched a non-partisan initiative to give Americans an opportunity to express their desire for civility in public discourse.

Information on the “Campaign for Civility in America” will be posted at CivilityinAmerica.org, along with a petition which will invite Americans to take a stand for civility.  The petition reads:

“We, the undersigned citizens of the United States of America, respectfully request that candidates, the media and other advocates and commentators involved in the public policy arena employ a more civil tone in public discourse on political and social issues, focusing on policies rather than on individual personalities. For our part, we pledge to make these principles our own.”

 “The American people want and deserve civility and a conversation on the issues rather than the personal vilification of political opponents,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. “As we found in the polling contained in my 2010 book Beyond a House Divided, and this current data makes all the more clear, the American people want a political discussion that is civil and respectful. As Americans, we understand that we may not agree on every aspect of every issue, but we also understand that how we disagree says a great deal about who we are as a nation.”

This campaign was developed as a result of a Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll conducted from July 9, 2012 through July 11, 2012 which shows that nearly 8 in 10 Americans (78 percent) are frustrated with the tone in politics today.  The survey also found that: 

• Nearly three-quarters of Americans say that campaigns have gotten more negative over the years (74 percent).
• Two-thirds of Americans (66 percent) believe that candidates spend more time attacking their opponents than talking about the issues.
• By a nearly 20 point margin, Americans believe that campaigns are mostly uncivil and disrespectful (56 to 37 percent).
• And nearly two-thirds of Americans say that negative campaigning harms our political process a great deal or a significant amount (64 percent). 

These results demonstrate broad support for a more civil political discourse and it is hoped the “Campaign for Civility in America” will allow Americans to voice this support and have an impact on improving the quality of our national dialogue

Knights of Columbus Previews Haitian Amputee Soccer Team Documentary

The "Everybody has a Place" Conference on Sport, Disability and Theology presented in London's Westminster Central Hall was the setting for the  preview of the Order's new documentary that tells the inspirational story of Team Zaryen, the Haitian amputee soccer team sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and born out of the rubble of the January 2010 earthquake.

Tens of thousands of people died in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and more than 2,000 Haitians lost limbs. In the aftermath of the quake, the Knights of Columbus joined with Project Medishare to launch the “Healing Haiti’s Children” initiative making prosthetic limbs and therapy available to every Haitian child who suffered an amputation because of that disaster. The Knights of Columbus committed $1 million to the program that was administered by Project Medishare. To date, hundreds of children have received prosthetics and therapy through the K of C-Medishare program. The Amputee Soccer team, Team Zaryen was formed as part of this program to help amputees rebuild their lives and to help remove the stigma associated with being an amputee or disabled in Haitian society. The growth and development of Team Zaryen has been chronicled over the past two years by a team of veteran documentary filmmakers including the team's U.S. tour last October.

The  conference was co-sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, which worked closely with the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, and several other organizations. The conference drew together world-renowned scholars, theologians and disabled athletes to help contextualize the upcoming 2012 London Paralympics, and the important intersection of theology, disability and sports.

See the preview here.

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Hunger Knows No Season

Often people think helping families in need through food drives during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Members of Warwick (R.I.) Council 2295 realized that hunger is a year-round problem for many people and with that in mind provided food baskets to 27 families in celebration of July 4th. Keeping with the patriotic holiday, these baskets were designed as the "building blocks" for a cookout. Thanks to the efforts of these Knights, some families had a brighter 4th of July than they might have expected.  See the Full Story.

Posting a Comment
By choosing to submit this form, you have authorized the Knights of Columbus to publish this comment.  All comments should be respectful and address the topics discussed on the blog, not criticize the author.  Language must be appropriate and profanities may not be used. Comments will be published at the moderator's discretion and may be edited for length and/or clarity.  Comments should be no more than one paragraph in length.