“We are unique, insofar as we have action on items to do the work necessary,” San Antonio activist Mike Knuffke says of the San Antonio Family Association, an organization he helped found back in 2011. “Most organizations are about running a project, or influencing the community, or for the benefit of some cause. We are about changing the culture of Life, Marriage, Family and Freedom, so you can imagine there is not much competition. In fact, there is no competition.” Indeed, in a liberal hotbed like San Antonio, such an uphill battle makes the efforts of such an organization that much more noteworthy. However, the group’s unrelenting effort has been considerable, and fortunately Knuffke doesn’t stop there.
“I grew up with emphasis on voting and civil service/work at our parish,” Knuffke says. “But cronyism in municipal government was never at the level as it is today. The absolute cronyism, social re-engineering, and liberal ideas by a bunch of inexperienced, runaway politicians is why I stay engaged.”
Originally from Denver, Colorado, Knuffke has been living in Bulverde, Texas, for the past 25 years. He has been heavily involved in various political activities in the San Antonio area, including the San Antonio Family Association (SAFA), SAFA PAC, Allied Women’s Center, Let the People Vote, San Antonio Salt and Light Coalition, Stop “PP” Coalition of San Antonio, and others.
Knuffke recounts the impetus for his helping found his most recent engagement, the San Antonio Family Association. “It started in 2011 when we discovered that the play ‘Corpus Christi’ was being performed that depicts Jesus as a promiscuous homosexual in the San Pedro Theater in San Antonio—on the taxpayer’s dime. We were there in protest to the play and that is when we learned that our runaway city government was just that: running away.”
It was at that moment that Knuffke and his colleagues had the classic ‘light bulb’ moment experienced by some of the most passionate activists: that they couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer. “We knew immediately we had to do something. We formed the San Antonio Family Association and we have been fighting battles ever since. There have been so many battles over the past four years that I could not even give you an accurate account, except to say that there have been multiple events, battles, planning and collaborating with other likeminded groups.”
One of their most recent engagements involves the illegally zoned Planned Parenthood abortion mega-facility proposed at 2140 Babcock Road in San Antonio. While the facility is being built in a residential area which it is not zoned for, the San Antonio Family Association has been one of the only voices to speak out in opposition of the city’s blatant disregard of its own regulations. It is thanks to Mike Knuffke and his colleagues at the San Antonio Family Association that the concerns of the residents of Dreamhill Estates (where the facility is being built in the middle of) are being voiced and fought for daily on the streets and city hall. “What I want to see through my involvement is politicians held accountable, and to change the culture of San Antonio back to family values and individual, virtuous living,” Knuffke says.
When he isn’t busy battling with city officials and runaway politicians, Knuffke enjoys hunting, hiking, fishing, sailing, and four wheeling in his Jeep. He has been married to his wife, Marisa, for 30 years and they have four children.
