Posted on 08/08/2012 5:24:01 AM PDT by Morgana
August 7, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Although the Boy Scouts of America recently reaffirmed a policy against having open homosexuals as members, at least some local councils say they don’t consider the policy actually binding on their own operations.
A Catholic parish in Minnesota was recently blindsided when they learned the Boy Scouts’ reputation for Christian conservative values didn’t bear out in the case of their local Council, which declared last month that it would continue admitting individuals who were openly homosexual.
“Every council is reflective of their community,” said Kent York, spokesman for the Twin Cities-based Northern Star Council, Minnesota’s largest Council with 75,000 Scouts. “Our commitment has been to reach out to all young people and have a positive influence.” When asked how they could differ from the national policy, according to the Twin Cities Star Tribune, York said that it had “worked for us.”
The policy of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) states that youth organization does not “proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers or members,” but also does not “grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA.”
Click “like” if you want to defend true marriage.
The Tribune quoted a statement by Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca that, “While a majority of our membership agrees with our policy, we fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society.”
After the Tribune report emerged, Rev. John Echert, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in South St. Paul, Minnesota, told LSN that he immediately broke his church’s ties with the Twin Cities group, and announced the rupture to his congregation, after learning the group had permitted open homosexuality “for years.” Although the split was amicable, he said, he was alarmed not to have known about the Council’s divergence from national policy earlier.
“I wonder how many other Councils or lower levels before the national are not doing that, and parents and pastors are not even aware of that,” he said.
The sentiment of the Northern Star Council appeared to be echoed in at least one other local Council: a woman who answered the phone at the Chicago Area Council declined to speak officially, but indicated local leaders didn’t feel an obligation to hold to national standards on the issue. “This is a national policy. Each council is run separately, so what they do, we might not do,” she told LifeSiteNews.com.
Despite pressure from gay rights advocates, the Boy Scouts of America in June issued a clarification stating that, although a resolution had been submitted to either amend its policy on homosexuality or allow local councils to decide their own, the group had “no plans” to change its current policy. The BSA also announced last month that it decided against a change after an 11-member committee conducted a two-year review of the matter.
“The BSA is a voluntary, private organization that sets policies that are best for the organization. The BSA welcomes all who share its beliefs but does not criticize or condemn those who wish to follow a different path,” it said.
An official with the Boy Scouts of America referred LifeSiteNews.com to the clarification and said that, “All local councils agree to follow national BSA policy.” LSN was invited to submit further questions electronically, but did not receive a response to multiple emails.
I would have thought the BSA policy was national. That local councils are openly admitting homosexual members sort of negates what the organization was trying to do. As noted in the piece, parents may not even be aware that the national policy doesn’t apply to their local chapter.
I thought it was national too. This surprised me. Looks like they are finding a “back door” no pun intended.
Revoke their charter and disbanded the troops and let the gay group form under another name free and clear of BSA. The values associated with scouting mean alot to the boys who achieve. To have separate values for each city devalues the eagle and other levels, affirming a higher power and extolling Christian values builds stronger more righteous men.
go start their own group “The Goy Scouts” and don’t allow the real Boy Scouts to join. Simple! End of Discussion!
Sue those local councils for child endangerment.
Even if those suits aren’t initially successful, it provides a reference point in the event there are later molestations.
Any council that admits perverts in with the children should be stripped of the title Boy Scouts and banned for life from the program.
This has got to stop.
Homosexuals, out on a camping trip, with young boys.
What could go wrong?
“Every council is reflective of their community,” said Kent York,
Kent York is right.It is evident that some Councils are run by fags and should be broken up. A Council that allows Homosexuals is refective of that Council. Queers are running it.
It is a national policy, and the BSA can choose to revoke that Council’s charter. They may also be able to come in and fire the Exec, which is the easiest thing to do.
Instead of taking the honorable way out, respecting the BSA’s SCOTUS upheld right to free assembly, and form their own organization, they want to basically defecate on 100 years of hard work and real dedication.
Funny how the some of the tenants of the Scout Law are sort of moveable. You know, like ‘loyal’, ‘friendly’, ‘clean’, ‘brave’, and then of course ‘reverant’.
They can call themselves the Rainbow Scouts. The Equality Rangers.
I know the BSA has an entire database of adult leaders they’ve rejected over the years that would simply salivate over the possibility of leading such a fine youth organization.
what does national say about this?
it seems there is no margin. Homosexuality is wrong. Boy Scouting prohibits wrong. Boy Scouting prohibits homosexuality. the end.
1. Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910. Its Scout law and Scout oath proclaimed that a Scout is reverent and believes in God, however it is non-sectarian. Its by-laws included designating the POTUS as its honorary president.
2. LDS Church adopted BSA as its official male youth program in 1913. It remains so to this day.
3. LDS Church continues to condemn active homosexuality as sinful.
4. Congress approved an honorific Congressional Charter to BSA on June 15, 1916 in recognition of BSA’s civic virtue goals.
5. During the mid-1920s, the BSA began cross-referencing all adult volunteers against a list of “ineligible volunteers” maintained at its national headquarters. This practice of identifying individuals deemed by the BSA as not having the moral, emotional, or character values for membership is later discussed in William D. Murray’s 1937 book titled The History of the Boy Scouts of America.
http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/BSAYouthProtection/BSA_Communications/Timeline.aspx
100 Years of Enhancing Efforts to Protect Youth
6. In 1972 BSA begins developing standards for leadership as a guideline for screening adult leaders.
http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/BSAYouthProtection/BSA_Communications/Timeline.aspx
100 Years of Enhancing Efforts to Protect Youth
7. Mitt Romney’s family line goes back several generations in the Mormon Church. He is a lifelong Mormon and is very active in his church having served as a bishop, stake president, and making generous finanacial donations.
8. Mitt Romney’s 3 youngest sons are Eagle Scouts. (A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, by Hugh Hewitt, © 2007, Regnery Publishing, Inc., Washington, D.C.)
9.• In 1990 BSA launched a new version of “Youth Protection Guidelines: Training for Volunteer Leaders and Parents.” This was the 1st compulsory training for all volunteers.
http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/BSAYouthProtection/BSA_Communications/Timeline.aspx
100 Years of Enhancing Efforts to Protect Youth
10. from Wikipedia: Since 1991, openly homosexual individuals have been officially prohibited from leadership positions in the Boy Scouts of America.[12] A 1991 Position Statement states: “We believe that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the requirement in the Scout Oath that a Scout be morally straight and in the Scout Law that a Scout be clean in word and deed, and that homosexuals do not provide a desirable role model for Scouts.”[4] The BSA thus “believes that a known or avowed homosexual is not an appropriate role model of the Scout Oath and Law.”[13]
11. Since the early 1990’s, over 70 local United Way chapters (out of ~ 1,300) from California to Connecticut have scrutinized many local BSA councils (294 in all) and stopped or decreased funding the councils because their own by-laws are opposed to all discrimination.
http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/UnitedWay-Top.html
United Way BSA Chapters Deal w/ BSA
12. Mitt Romney (R) ran in 1994 for (and lost) the U.S. Senate seat in MA against Ted Kennedy (D). During the campaign he proclaimed his support of the homosexual agenda in MA (partner state benefits and civil unions).
13. Mitt Romney served on the BSA national executive board of directors during the 1990s. While sitting on the BSA national executive board, he campaigned for election to the U.S. Senate in 1994. During the campaign he publically stated that open homosexual youths and adults should be admitted as members into BSA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI
The Real Romney?
October 1994
14. from Wikipedia: Boy Scouts from the Atlanta Area Council participated in large numbers at the 1996 Summer Olympic games in Atlanta. Cobb County, which is adjacent to Fulton County/Atlanta had previously passed anti-homosexual legislation. Homosexualist activists organized the “Olympics Out of Cobb County” campaign which successfully diverted the 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay (which preceded the start of the games by a few days) away from Cobb County, Georgia.
15. Around 2000, the LDS Church surpassed the UMC Church as the denomination with the largest number of chartered Cub packs and Boy Scout troops. There are many allegations that many of the registered youth members are not active in the units, i.e., their families are members of the Wards but the boys do not participate in Scouting.
16. from Wikipedia: 0n June 28, 2000 the SCOTUS ruled on Boy Scouts of America et al. v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640. It held that the BSA, with respect to the right of freedom of association, had the right to exclude a person from membership when “the presence of that person affected in a significant way the group’s ability to advocate public or private viewpoints. The court ruled that opposition to homosexuality and atheists are part of BSA’s “expressive message”, and allowing homosexuals or atheists as adult leaders would interfere with that message. The documentation submitted during the case revealed that several local BSA councils were already implementing what essentially was a “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell” membership policy during the early 1990s. BSA has never saught to determine members’ sexual orientation.
17. from Wikipedia: In 2001, the Boston Minuteman Council adopted a nondiscrimination policy which included sexual orientation; however, when an openly homosexual man attempted to register as a merit badge counselor he was rejected on the basis of his sexual orientation.[22] The same year, 9 BSA local councils proposed a resolution that would have allowed local councils to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding homosexual persons but the resolution was rejected by the BSA National Council.[21] Also in 2001, the BSA revoked the charters of several Cub Scout packs in Oak Park, Illinois, because the sponsors, a parent-teacher group, adhered to a policy which banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.[21] In part due to a lawsuit (Cradle of Liberty Council v. City of Philadelphia), the Cradle of Liberty Council in Philadelphia adopted a nondiscrimination policy with respect to sexual orientation in 2003 but was ordered to revoke it by the National Council.[23]
18. from Wikipedia: LGBTQ activist groups vocally opposed Utah’s 2002 Winter Olympic bid because of the Utah State Legislature’s imposition of a ban on same-sex marriage in 1995. Utah has the largest concentration of Mormons within the United States. The Mormon Church headquarters is in Salt Lake City. The Olympics Out of Utah Committee staged protests on Interstate 15, which included the use of slow-driving cars to disrupt traffic.
19. Mitt Romney was asked to take over as chairman of the financially plagued Salt Lake City Olympic Organizing Committee in 1999 He resigned his job as president of Bain Capital to do so. BSA’s Great Salt Lakes Council anticipated participating heavily with Scouting volunteers - youths and adults. The Olympic Organizing Committee, under Mitt Romney’s leadership, denied the Boy Scouts from participating. Olympic Organizing Committee spokesperson, Caroline Shaw, stated that the organizing committee had rules against involving under-age (<18 years of age) volunteers. Yet (1) adult Scouters were denied the opportunity to volunteer while wearing their uniforms, and (2) all Scouts and Scouters were permitted to volunteer individually out of uniform (many did so). It was seen clearly for the red herring that it was because of how the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta (which were much larger in size – the number of Olympic athletes competing, the number of events held, and the number of ticketholders to watch the different events) permitted involvement by the Boy Scouts. Mitt Romney refused to ever meet or talk with professional and volunteer Scouters from the Great Salt Lakes Council. Mitt Romney was roundly praised for turning around the troubled Olympic games in Salt Lake City into a successful business venture.
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2000/12/15/214301.shtml
Exclusive: 2002 Salt Lake Committee Bans Boy Scouts From Olympics
December 18, 2000
20. Mitt Romney was elected governor (R) of MA in 2003. On his watch, MA becames the 1st state in the nation to approve homosexual marriage in 2004. It was done through the state government, principally the state supreme court, and not by ballot/public referendum. Romney was roundly criticized by social conservatives for how he mis-handled this issue.
21. In 2006 Mitt Romney proclaimed that homosexual couples have legitimate interests in adopting children.
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/marriage/romney/timeline.html
Timeline Documents Romney’s Role in Creating Same-Sex “Marriages”
November 23, 2006
22. Starting in 2008, BSA required all volunteers go through a full criminal background check.
http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/BSAYouthProtection/BSA_Communications/Timeline.aspx
100 Years of Enhancing Efforts to Protect Youth
23. Romney’s foreign policy spokesman, open homosexual Richard Grenell, resigned on 5/02/2012 after only a brief stint on Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign due to pressure from social conservatives.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/02/romney-foreign-policy-spokesman-resigns-after-hounding-by-anti-gay-right-wingers/
Romney foreign policy spokesman resigns after hounding by anti-gay right-wingers
May 2, 2012
24. BSA released a press statement on 6/07/2012 in response to homosexualist activists affirming that its membership policy against open homosexuals and atheists has not changed.
http://www.scouting.org/media/PressReleases/2012/20120607.aspx
2012 Press Release: The Boy Scouts of America Clarifies Membership Policy
June 7, 2012
25. Two CEOs on the BSA national executive board, James Turly of Ernst & Young and Randall Stephenson of AT&T, pledged to work inside BSA to change its membership policy to include homosexuals. Stephenson is expected to be selected as the BSA national president in 2014.
http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9VCBA581%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=931
CEO on Scouts’ governing board opposes ban on gays
June 13, 2012
26. BSA released a press statement on 7/17/2012 that an 11 member internal committee had completed a 2 year review of its membership policy and declared that its current policy would remain in effect.
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/APNewsBreak-Boy-Scouts-reaffirm-ban-on-gays-3713046.php
APNewsBreak: Boy Scouts reaffirm ban on gays
July 17, 2012
27. Speaking with reporters in Nevada, Mitt Romney refused to enter the Chick-fil-A controversy (Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy’s personal comments regarding homosexuality and former AR governor Mike Huckabee’s call for a national CFA Appreciation Day) that had occupied most of the nation’s attention that week. During the press conference, Romney was asked whether the CFA controversy – or the controversy about Huma Abedin’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood – should be part of the national conversation. “Those are not things that’s not part of my campaign.” he answered shortly, after explaining that he wasn’t in the business of telling people what to talk about.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/romney-chick-fil-a-controversy-not-part-of-my-campaign/article/2503932
Romney: Chick-fil-A controversy ‘not part of my campaign’
August 3, 2012
28. Romney spokesperson, Andrea Saul, wrote in an e-mail in AUG 2012 that Romney’s 1994 position for inclusion of open homosexual members in BSA remains his position today.
http://christiannews.net/mitt-romney-comes-out-in-support-of-homosexual-boy-scout-leaders-members/
Mitt Romney Comes Out in Support of Homosexual Boy Scout Leaders, Members
August 6, 2012
29. Two local BSA councils, North Star Council (MN) and Chicago Area Council (IL) appeared to flaunt national BSA membership policy by declaring their membership policies to be non-discrimnatory and inclusive.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/national-boy-scout-policy-against-openly-gay-members-flouted-by-local-counc
National Boy Scout policy against openly gay members flouted by local councils
August 07, 2012
Ditto.
Kerping ... As per our conversation at lunch regarding n00bs working FR: you might want to take a look at what this n00b just happens to have filed away for posting at FR. Seems loaded for action don’tchaknow.
Equate it with sandusky and watch how quick they drop it.
Un mentioned is the money, the financial aspect, the costs.
I am soon to be a 50 year registered scout. Most of that time is as an adult leader and much of that was in a senior troop leadership position. We pay out tons of money that is sent to National Council and is budgeted for law suits brought by families of boys abused in one form or another by leaders who join for the specific purpose of gaining access to boys and especially teenage boys.
I have real experience as a Troop executive dealing with young men who moved to our town to become leaders in a troop for the express purpose of getting at the boys. They are known as travelers. They move around, not for a job but for boys. A scoutmaster struggling with out adequate adult help is an easy mark. They jump at the chance to take on an assistant who claims to be an Eagle or Life scout. The threat is real in spite of the tracking.
We are now required to take youth protection training every other year. That is not because we are not adequately trained, but just to keep up with the ever changing methods of those who would do our scouts harm. If you do not present a certificate of training, you can not be re registered.
The cost of queer/predator defense to BSA is immense and a terrible tax on resources that could be much better spent on a myriad of subjects of direct benefit to boys.
BSA is not the Roman Catholic Church. BSA does not have world wide resources to payoff those who bring suit against youth predators. As A scouter I can only dream of the day when the pressure and resources brought to bear on Penn state sinners are used to assist the embattled BSA that is in the same but much less well funded boat.
The day queers are admitted should also be the day they can be stood against a wall and shot for their predation.
That wouldn't have worked when I was a scout. Some of the scouts were Jewish.
The Wood Sprites. It works on more than one level.
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