THE END OF THE BOY SCOUTS IN PHILADELPHIA

NewsWithViews ^ | June 2, 2003 | Hans Zeiger

[fight_truth_decay]

The Meaning of the Boy Scout Oath

On my honor . . . By giving your word, you are promising to be guided by the ideals of the Scout Oath.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . I will do my best . . . Try hard to live up to the points of the Scout Oath. Measure your achievements against your own high standards and don't be influenced by peer pressure or what other people do.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . To do my duty to God . . . Your family and religious leaders teach you about God and the ways you can serve. You do your duty to God by following the wisdom of those teachings every day and by respecting and defending the rights of others to practice their own beliefs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . and my country . . . Help keep the United States a strong and fair nation by learning about our system of government and your responsibilities as a citizen and future voter.

America is made up of countless families and communities. When you work to improve your community and your home, you are serving your country. Natural resources are another important part of America's heritage worthy of your efforts to understand, protect, and use wisely. What you do can make a real difference.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . and to obey the Scout Law; . . . The twelve points of the Scout Law are guidelines that can lead you toward wise choices. When you obey the Scout Law, other people will respect you for the way you live, and you will respect yourself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . To help other people at all times; . . . There are many people who need you. Your cheerful smile and helping hand will ease the burden of many who need assistance. By helping out whenever possible, you are doing your part to make this a better world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . To keep myself physically strong, . . . Take care of your body so that it will serve you well for an entire lifetime. That means eating nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly to build strength and endurance. it also means avoiding harmful drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and anything else that can harm your health.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . mentally awake, . . . Develop your mind both in the classroom and outside of school. Be curious about everything around you, and work hard to make the most of your abilities. With an inquiring attitude and the willingness to ask questions, you can learn much about the exciting world around you and your role in it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. . . and morally straight. To be a person of strong character, your relationships with others should be honest and open. You should respect and defend the rights of all people. Be clean in your speech and actions, and remain faithful in your religious beliefs. The values you practice as a Scout will help you shape a life of virtue and self-reliance.

[Semper Paratus]

The least they can do now is to provide condoms in very scouts' kit.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

scouts

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Guess they'd seen the movie Philadelphia one too many times.

[LTCJ]

Furthermore, the BSA national office must entirely disconnect itself from the Philadelphia, Boston, and San Francisco Councils. And Boy Scout councils around the country must take notice that their entire mission is staked upon the moral character of the boys and men involved, and that if they sever those core principles from the program they will destroy the entirety of Scouting.

The national office needs to revoke the charters of these councils post haste to draw a line in the sand.

BSA Bump.

[tdadams]

Wow, that's mind boggling. You'd think the Catholic Church problem would have tempered this idea.

[HamiltonJay]

Hey, what do you want, Philly isn't known as the city of brotherly love for nothing...

[fight_truth_decay]

ENTER

.. The 25th Annual National Conservative Student Conference..Michael Reagan, Milton Friedman, G. Gordon Liddy, Ann Coulter................. [July 20-26]

[ArGee]

The Philadelphia Council is the third largest local council in the country, serving 87,000 boys and men.

I wonder what would happen if they were to change their press release to read:

The Philadelphia Council is the third largest local council in the country, serving 87,000 boys, men, and faggots.

Often people will ignore issues when they are couched in careful terms to hide the truth. If the Scouts were up front with the truth, I wonder how many children would be yanked immediately from the Scouts?

Shalom.

[Indianer]

I am surprised by all this. We were told that concerns that homosexuals would seek to convert young impressonable kids were totally unfounded by these advocacy groups. Then we discovered that there was massive recruiting going on by the good priests of the Catholic Church.

With the results of the Catholic Church among men who were certainly less likely to openly engage in a counterculture lifestyle than is the homosexual community as a whole in large cities like Boston, Philadelphia and S.F., I would think a parent would have to very carefully consider exposing a child to this type of situation.

[LTCJ]

I would think a parent would have to very carefully consider exposing a child to this type of situation.

I know you just used a turn of phrase but I would hope that a parent wouldn't have to consider it carefully at all. My hope is they would make their decision after about two seconds and protect their children without a second thought.

[RRWCC]

"but I would hope that a parent wouldn't have to consider it carefully at all."

No Kidding!

Kinda like the pro "Choice" bumper sticker that says "If you can't trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child" To which I responded (with a note on the windshield) "If you think it is a choice...I DON'T trust you with a child!"

If you have to "carefully consider" this one, your childrem are already in trouble!

[RonF]

I'm a long-time Scout (= youth member) and Scouter (= adult member). A few comments:

Local BSA Councils are not-for-profit corporations consisting of local business and community leaders, as well as a few Scouters. They receive, and must renew annually, a charter from National Council to establish, oversee and support the BSA program in a geographic area. They in turn charter local organizations such as churches, veterans' organizations, fraternal organizations, schools, etc., to sponsor Packs, Troops, Ships, and Crews. These are also renewable annually.

If the sponsoring organization does not follow National and local Council guidelines and policies in running their units, the local Council can refuse to renew their charter. If the local Council does not follow National guidelines, National Council can refuse to renew their charter. In the former case, the unit folds and the Scouts would have to join another unit to continue in Scouting. In the latter case, either a new not-for-profit corporation would have to be started up to take over the charter, or the region the old Council covered could be taken over by one or more Councils contiguous to it. What's going to happen here is that first a delegation from National will meet with the Council's Executive Board (tha above noted local community and business leaders) to see just what their intent is, as opposed to what's in the press. If they persist that they are going to register "avowed homosexuals" as leaders, then I expect that they'll end up taking one of the steps I've outlined.

Note that it is the responsibility of the local units to select leaders. While the BSA is often brought into lawsuits on these matters, it's the sponsoring organization that has failed to do it's homework in registering an unqualified leader, and in failing to make sure that he or she is conducting the program properly.

National's basis for excluding homosexual leaders is because they provide what the majority of the BSA's sponsoring organizations believe are improper moral role models for youth. According to the BSA's own web site, any risk of paedophilia has nothing to do with it. And practically, if you search on Google for cases of molestation of Scouts by Scouters, you'll find that the Scouter involved either has no known sexual relations with adults at all, or is married and has kids.

What the BSA depends on to prevent child molestation is the proper selection of leaders by sponsoring organizations, and the strict application of the Youth Protection guidelines by the sponsors and the leaders. These steps will prevent child molestation of any kind.

The other way for parents to make sure that things of this sort don't happen in their unit is to show up. The BSA is not a program designed so that you can drop off your kid and a check once a week. "BSA" does not stand for "BabySitters of America". It's a family program, not a youth program, and you need to put some time in. Even if you can't be a leader, you can go on the occasional campout, hang around for a Troop meeting, run the Popcorn sale, help with the Pancake Breakfast, get your hands dirty helping with a service project, and in general observe what's going on.

I question the original author's characterization of the Minuteman Council's (Boston) announced policy re: sexual orientation of leaders. National doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Minuteman Council's policy seems to be "Don't ask, don't tell", which is National policy. They just stated it in a fashion that makes it a little more palatable for the locals. But I am unaware of any "avowed homosexual" who has taken a leadership position, "told", and stayed registered at Minuteman Council.

It's also worth noting that Cradle of Liberty Council isn't telling units that they have to accept homosexual members; they're saying that they can if they want to. Note as an analogy that BSA units can accept women as leaders if they wish, but many don't and are supported by both their local and National Councils (Troops sponsored by Mormon stakes do this) in their decision. The choice of leaders is up to sponsoring organizations and they are free to accept or reject leaders on whatever reason they choose (gender, profession, health, etc.).

Finally, cutting off support to your local BSA Council because there is an unresolved situation in Philadelphia is a sure way to hurt a bunch of youth and to make sure that they don't get the program from someone who wants to do so properly.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Wow, that's mind boggling. You'd think the Catholic Church problem would have tempered this idea."

The secular media have refused to draw the obvious connection between homosexuality and the sexual abuse of young men by priests. To the media, such a connection is unsophisticated and even bigoted, e.g., "only a small number of homosexuals are child-abusers - the problem is not homosexuality, but pedophilia." The undisputed existence of a homosexual "cabal" in many Catholic (and Episcopalian) seminaries is ignored. Instead, the media has seen these scandals as an indictment of celibacy, as if the thought process of the priests was, "Gee, since I can't have sex with women, I guess I'll have sex with the altar boys." Similarly, the media will not admit that homosexuals or pedophiles seeking opportunities for contact with vulnerable young males will now look to the Scouts as a window of opportunity. In short, this whole issue is a manifiestation of liberal stupidity and ideology overriding common sense.

[jimt]

Clearly the leadership council has been infected with enablers and wishful thinking leftists.

No logical parent would place their male child in the care of fudge-packers and pole-smokers.

There should be a mass exodus from the Philadelphia Council. They should be formally de-listed from the BSA, and then the parents should form a new council, with members who aren't enablers.

[joesnuffy]

When I recited that oath as a kid it was a very sobering thing to contemplate
As a teen I though it was lame
As a college punk I thought it was sadicious
As a grandpa I realize how American it truly is....and how vitally important for the survival of our nation and heritage..
God save the BSA for the sake of the USA

[RonF]

What has been found in practice is that there are people in some areas of the country who are perfectly fine with homosexuals as youth leaders, at least in the abstract (as opposed to whether a particular one was otherwise suitable).

For example, there were 7 units in Oak Park, Illinois sponsored by the local PTAs where said PTAs refused to renew their charters unless the local Council allowed them to ignore sexual orientation when registering Scouters. A number of the parents apparently didn't object to this. The local Council (Des Plaines Valley Council) refused and refused to renew the charters. Most of the Scouts moved to other units. There are numerous sponsors such as the Unitarian Universalists, the Episcopal Church, etc., that sponsor units and object to the BSA's policy in this matter. And remember that about 45% of Scouts are registered to units sponsored by secular organizations, such as the VFW, American Legion, Odd Fellows, Elks, PTAs, public schools, etc., that either have no official ban on homosexuals or even have anti-discrimination policies that include them as a protected class.

Now, whether individual units of these organizations would actually register avowed homosexuals is another matter. Your child wouldn't actually have a gay Scoutmaster unless your unit decided to register one, and as a concerned parent you'd certainly find out about that if you wanted to.

[RonF]

"The secular media have refused to draw the obvious connection between homosexuality and the sexual abuse of young men by priests."

If you check the BSA's web site, their official position is that there is no relation between the two. They state that they ban avowed homosexuals because they don't provide a fit moral example, and that the BSA sees no link between homosexuality and pedophilia.

[tdadams]

The secular media have refused to draw the obvious connection between homosexuality and the sexual abuse of young men by priests.

I don't necessarily agree with you there. I believe adult consenting homosexuals should be left alone to do what they will. I believe pedophilia is a separate and distinct problem.

But naively opening the door for grown men who are possibly homosexual pedophiles to be sleeping side by side with adolescent boys is like chumming the waters for pedophiles.

[RonF]

There should be a mass exodus from the Philadelphia Council.

What you probably will see is a lot more parents starting to question their unit's sponsor, asking "Are we going to register a gay Scoutmaster?", and then switching units if they don't like the answer. The Cradle of Liberty Council isn't saying that the units have to register gays, just like they don't say they have to register women or any other particular class of people as leaders.

They should be formally de-listed from the BSA, and then the parents should form a new council, with members who aren't enablers.

If the Cradle of Liberty Council persists in this new policy, then this is probably exactly what will happen.