Posted on 10/18/2017 3:43:54 PM PDT by Kaslin
One of the finest organizations for boys used to be the Boy Scouts of America, which provided parents with amazing help in raising young men of character and responsibility.
But with the sad announcement last week that the Boy Scouts will no longer be the Boy Scouts, the organization now is going to treat boys just like another girl.
My husband and I will always be grateful for the years our sons spent in scouting and the lessons they learned on their way to achieving the Eagle Scout rank.
In addition to the hard work and community service required in scouting, the camping, camaraderie and sometimes goofiness that occur when a bunch of boys hang out together were a real hoot to observe.
I’ll always cherish the magical years of watching my husband and the other patient Scout leaders corral the often scatterbrained, hormone-driven, hysterically funny boys as they learned to focus and complete manly tasks. Awards ceremonies for individual achievement of various milestones were punctuated by the expressions of pride on the young, freshly scrubbed faces as little men stood at attention and received their patches and pins.
By doing manly things, boys became manly in their own minds, a critical component in actually becoming a man. The Scout program was successful because it helped boys truly believe that manliness was something to be achieved and treasured.
Sorry folks, but you just can’t do that when you throw a bunch of girls into the mix.
The “manly” things they did, like learning to find their way out of a dense forest with only a compass in hand, build a fire from twigs and stones, and dress themselves in a clean uniform subject to inspection, were coming-of-age rituals designed to make boys learn to be independent.
Yes, yes, yes, of course girls can learn to do those things too. But there’s something really special and important about guys roughing it on a camping trip and jumping from rope swings into a swimming hole without having to worry about what the girls might be thinking.
The major focus of Boy Scout instruction has been on the impressionable years of 11 to 16, when minds and hearts immersed in goodness, adventure and the company of men who fully embrace their masculinity can mold a boy into someone he could be proud of becoming. The opposite of today’s politically correct little cabal, a Scout troop was the crucible where a boy became a man.
And not just any ’ol man, but a man with the character traits that our nation and families need. Consider the Boy Scout Law, enforced in every activity and which boys were required to memorize and live by in order to advance. It is a recipe for creating a chivalrous man if ever there was one: “A Boy Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.”
Reflect for a moment on the Boy Scout Oath, which I’m willing to bet anyone who spent even a year as a Boy Scout can still recite to this day:
“On my honor, I will do my best
“To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
“To help other people at all times;
“To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”
Several years ago, however, the Scouts abandoned their time-honored principles of teaching fidelity and helping support boys to be “morally straight” when they decided to open their troops to openly homosexual leaders and students.
When the BSA decided to become “politically correct” by pandering to the homosexual activists and abandoning their principles and the families that believe in them, it was only a matter of time that they would decide to further destroy the mission of the organization by allowing girls in too.
Of course, the next step will be the removal of a pledge to God and country. Believe me, it’s coming.
Those who seek a genderless, homogenous society where everyone and every group is forced to be the same are celebrating the demise of the Boy Scouts.
But for parents who still strive to help their boys grow into men and their girls grow into women, and to celebrate the beautiful differences found in both genders, it’s time to look elsewhere for help.
Check out Trail Life USA (TrailLifeUSA.com) for your sons, and American Heritage Girls (AmericanHeritageGirls.org) for your daughters.
Correct. The BSA National Executive Board of Directors is led by its Executive Committee, i.e., ~ 27 officers. They are all volunteers and are a subset of Fortune 500 executives.
Why did they decide this?
BSA's flagship youth program, troops for boys 11-17 years of age, has been steadily bleeding youth members since its 1973 high water mark, a decline of ~ 50%. BSA is desperate for new youth membership blood to generate $$$ to fund the BSA professionals' pensions and for the local councils to be able to afford keeping their camp properties open for the 6-7 week summer camp season.
How do directors get on the board to be in position to make decisions?
Most likely these business executives were involved in Scouting during their youth. They simply put the word out through the old boy network that they wish to serve on the National Board of Directors. Of course it is implicitly understood that you "pay to play" by making a generous donation to BSA.
Sounds like lots of Mormom church based troops are leaving.
Yes. The LDS offered up an explanation earlier in 2017 they are withdrawing after 104 years of using BSA programs as their church's official male youth program. Many suspect that after LDS national leadership secretly approved the BSA's National Executive Committee's plan to admit openly homosexual youths as members in 2013, they developed buyer's remorse.
The scouts may well see their membership dwindle. Time Will tell.
BSA most likely commissioned a study to determine if they could stanch the membership loss by accepting girl members. Apparently the findings suggested they could. As you say, time will tell.
Is political correctness so strong in this society, that this decision was inevitable??
Yes. The cultural Marxism espoused by "The Frankfurt School" has fully taken root in U.S. soil. The "Long march through the institutions" starting in 1933 has succeeded.
>Shake your head and move on. People are so stupid.
Never forget that the left took the boy scouts from us. Make them pay some day.
> BSA most likely commissioned a study to determine if they could stanch the membership loss by accepting girl members. Apparently the findings suggested they could. As you say, time will tell.
Their membership losses will accelerate after the initial waves of girls into the groups. The same pattern happens when a church hires a female pastor.
I have no list. When my oldest was interested in joining GSA, I researched and came up with AHG. By providence, a troop was just starting up in our area...
We have been considering this.
I hope you will. While I understand why some folks would want to take a stand within BSA/GSA, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are more than enough battles out there and I’m allowed to pick and choose. Our Lord advised us to shake the dust from our sandals.
Shake, shake, shake.
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