"Caused a Stir"?

As in past tense?  Where has this guy been?

I found this article on the new uniform for Fourth degree Knights of Columbus, wherein the good Deacon seems to think the 'stir' caused by the uniforms is a thing of the past.  Dear sir, not even close.  It is going on, and on, and on, and on, and on...... 

I'll be honest: I am neither hot nor cold towards the old regalia, and I think the new regalia is, at best, a misfire.  I thought going around dressed like Captain Crunch was a bit ridiculous, but, at the same time, at least one of the purposes (if not the main purpose) of the fourth degree is to be visible, and the old regalia at least accomplished that.  The new? Well, I'll get to that in a moment.

The article quotes some officials of the organization saying that potential recruits kept turning away from the Knights because they had no desire to wear the old outfit.  Fair enough, but they never had to wear the outfit.  That's only for fourth degree,  You can be a Knight and never wear the regalia.  (More disclosure- I never have.  I only  joined recently, when the relaxed the requirements and said you only needed to wear a dark suit rather than the tuxedo. I have no intention of buying the new regalia, and am considering leaving the fourth degree, though for unrelated reasons.)  So they are talking to people who are specifically not knights and getting their opinions.

Which unfortunately has alienated the people who are knights, who did get the old regalia and enjoyed wearing it.  Many of them are getting set to resign the fourth degree.  I know, because I have spoken to many of them, which is exactly as scientific as the study done by supreme to change the regalia.

Will they be replaced by these people who will no longer have the uniform as a barrier?  Perhaps, but I have my doubts.  I don't know these people, but I have met a lot of people who have said they aren't doing this or they won't do that for this reason or that reason.  When you address the reasons they give, they still won't do this or that, for some other reason, or just because.  At the heart of it, they were looking for an excuse.  Remove the excuse, they'll find another.  And another.  And another.

Our Church has been changing for these fifty years, changing time and again to try and draw people back in.  We have done much of what was believed would bring them back, but never did.  It only alienated those who had stayed, and eventually, they started leaving as well.

I was told the new regalia would be cheaper.  It isn't.  I was told it would bring new members in.  Perhaps it will.  But it is also driving old members out.  The councils didn't ask for the change.  Those outside the council did.

It also has one more consequence, at least in Canada.  The new regalia is nearly identical to the uniform of the Canadian Legion, our Veterans Association.  Very nearly identical.  Our Veterans are understandably touchy about people who are not veterans dressing like them.  Many Legion Halls have told KOC Councils to stay away from any event that involves them- say, for example, providing an honour guard for Remembrance Day- perhaps the time of the year where we are most visible to the general public.  That is now gone.

To return to my original point, the stir caused by the change in regalia should not be referred to in the past tense.  The date of the change has been settled from on high, but arguments it kicked up, and the aftershocks of that decision- they are going to be with us for years to come.