BE NOT AFRAID:
STAND UP, SPEAK OUT FOR THE BOY
SCOUTS!
"BE NOT AFRAID. Today, as in the past, we
need a brave civic virtue, not a timid civility, to keep our
republic. Be not afraid. By yielding to a false form of
civility, we sometimes allow our critics to intimidate us. Active
citizens are sometimes subjected to truly vile attacks. They are
branded as mean-spirited, racist, Uncle Tom, homophobic, sexist,
etc. To this we often respond, if not succumb...trying to be
tolerant and non-judgmental. That is, we censor ourselves. This is
not civility. It is cowardice or well intentioned self-deception at
best."
CLARENCE THOMAS: Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme
Court
Ex-Boy Scouts: Are we
cowards?
I'm proud to be an American, born in the
U.S.A.*
AN ENVIABLE RECORD!
110 MILLION BOY SCOUTS...AND NO
SCANDALS!
THOUGHT
INTOLERANCE
We live in a new age, the age of
"intolerance." This doesn't concern attitudes of a racial, gender or
many of the more common forms of intolerance, but today's repugnant,
yet rampant thought intolerance.
Before we, as
Americans, deign to express an opinion today, especially in writing,
each one of us is forced to think long and hard about the potential
consequences of our self-expression, and indeed, there may be the
most serious consequences to be faced, in spite of the fact that we
supposedly enjoy freedom of speech as one of our "rights" as
set forth in the 2nd Amendment.
Freedom of Speech is now
in the process of slow strangulation through the effective use and
abuse of the Politically Correct crowd. It is especially true
if what we say or write goes against the current politically
correct stance that emanates in successive waves from our
liberal educational institutions, which seems to include most of
them today.
Students and off-Campus
speakers must conform to the educator's code or they find themselves
in an untenable positon, denied the use of halls or other meeting
places on college campuses. They have been met, blocked and
intimidated by mobs. In others, vocal thugs have incessantly
screamed and shouted and drowned them out. The only "free speech"
these ugly male and female thugs will respect is from someone known
in advance who will express viewpoints that they're sure they will
agree with. It is as if we are going through times and experiences
similar to those which the Red Guards imposed upon the
Chinese nation not too long ago. Anyone who disagreed or seemingly
violated the tenants espoused in Mao's Little Red Book was
publicly humiliated at least or lost their freedom, even their life,
at worst. That was political correctness carried to the
extreme.
What is going on...here, in our
country?
STAND FORTH, STAND FIRM. SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT...WHEN
YOU HAVE THE CHANCE, OR ONE DAY YOU MAY FIND THAT YOU'VE LOST THE
CHANCE FOREVER.
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ABRAHAM LINCOLN & THOUGHT CONTROL
Abraham Lincoln fought the same
type of liberal (Democrats) thought control when he
argued for the banishment of slavery, "Let us apply a few
tests. You say that slavery is wrong, but you renounce
all attempts to restrain it. Is there anything else that
you think as a wrong, but you are not willing to deal with it
as a wrong? You will not let us do a single thing as if
it was wrong. There is no place where you will allow it
to even be called wrong.` We must not call it wrong in
the free states, because it is not there, and we must not call
it wrong in the slave states, because it is there; we must not
call it wrong in politics, because that is bringing morality
into politics, ande we must not call it wrong in the pulpit
because that is bringing politics into religion; we must not
bring it into the tract society, or other societies, because
those are such unsuitable places, and there is no single
place, according to you, where this wrong thing can be
properly called wrong.
The Question of Slavery.New Haven,
CT Mar. 6, 1860. A. Lincoln
(R) |
And why these "consequences"? Once
you speak out...there are those who, if they disagree with your
position, will immediately begin a series of vicious attacks
designed to destroy your reputation, indeed, even your very living.
They'll impugn your character and question your motives. You may
have an unblemished record of complete tolerance, treating each
person with courtesy, living a principled life, but when the
witch-hunters get through with you...you're labeled for the rest of
your earthly years. If their campaign is successful, as they hope it
will be, you'll be cast into the dungeon of oblivity. This is their
sole intent, to silence the opposition by destroying the reputations
and the livlihoods of those with whom they disagree.
Well, I choose to speak
out. I choose to stand and oppose them, to condemn these
shrill and evil harpies who would destroy our cherished ideals and
valued institutions. They would destroy them in order to further
their own nefarious schemes and purposes, their political aims,
which include an agenda to bring about socialism or communism to
this nation.
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I CHOOSE TO SPEAK
OUT!
I choose to say what I feel I must,
and if they try to silence me, to speak all the louder and more
often. I hope that others will join me in a continuous and
unrelenting opposition to this form of censorship, against these
restrictions on our rights, on our ability to freely express our
opinions, and to remain firm and steadfast in our convictions. We
should not be on the defensive. We should be on the offensive,
constantly on the offensive, aggressively on the offensive. We have
nothing to be ashamed of, for have we not brought ALL youngsters
into the organization since its' founding, and taught them tolerance
towards their fellow man and reverence towards
God?
I believe, for example, that there are
evil people whose political agenda includes the
planned destruction of groups, organizations and ideals that the
majority of us hold in high esteem and one of those that they are
currently targeting is: Scouting. They are intent upon
destroying it, and with it...another fine American
institution.
They are anti-American. They are as
un-American and intolerant as they accuse others of being; they are
terribly wrong. You and I have the right to hold fast to our own
beliefs, and because we differ in our approach to an issue does not
make us wrong. Their agenda is to denigate, harm, tear down and
destroy; ours must be to maintain things of a positive nature,
and to build. We must demand that these attacks on our
long-established institutions cease, but even if they do not, we
must be outspoken and go on the offensive; to remain forever in a
defensive position means we will lose.
We must present a united front and stand
firm against this evil onslaught, these people who run around with
petitions against Scouting, those who would destroy an organization
that has benefitted more than 110,000,000 youngsters since its
founding here in the U.S., and...benefitted more Gay youths than
probably any other organization in America. It has treated
all youths, including gay youths, fairly and equally and given them
the same opporutnities as every other young man who belongs! If
for no other reason than that it helps gay youths to develop
self-confidence in the same manner as all other youths, we must
stand firm. Scouting should receive our admiration and support,
and unqualified support from Gay organizations
too.
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THE BOY SCOUTS DO NOT,
DEFINITELY
DO NOT
DISCRIMINATE! |
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These are dangerous times. These are days in which
the risks of sexual encounters, especially between males or
homosexuals, are much greater than ever, when the risk of an HIV
infection means either an early death or a lifetime of medication,
diminished activies and caution. It is our job as parents, as
citizens, and as leaders, scouting or otherwise, to take every
precaution possible to protect those young men and women entrusted
to our care, and social issues that are contrary to these goals must
not be overlooked. The simple and inescapable truth is:
that we are obligated to forsee and avoid danger to young boys
entrusted to the care of others, that they must be protected from
the harm which might be inflicted upon them by those with different
moral outlooks, shielded from those temptations which might affect
their development and psychological well-being, even though
those perceived dangers might offend any certain group who adhere to
differing beliefs.
There have been too many instances of betrayed trust
of minors in recent years, of men who have been damaged because
of it, and we cannot afford to ignore the clear lessons presented to
us as these cases unfold. To do so would be foolishness in the
extreme. Those who ignore them, who criticize and denigate the Boy
Scouts because of their rigid stance, would present us with another
plague of problems in ten or twenty more years, a plague which could
easily be avoided by taking the proper steps to screen the
Scout Leaders according to acceptable standards now.
Experience cautions us, responsibility demands it of
us and the inherent dnngers force us to be alert to every temptation
or subterfuge. for one purpose, the protecton of the youth of
America.
Back in the 30?s young boys, when they were around eleven years old,
could hardly wait to reach their twelfth birthday so that they?d be
old enough to join the Boy Scouts of America. That magic birthday
usually meant a present of inestimable value to a youngster in those
days, a gift that many of them carried in their pockets long into
their adult years, a Boy Scout knife. It was sort a coming of age
rite, but when they joined...it was to an organization whose tenants
and principles helped to build and continually strengthen the moral
foundation of those young men, as it had in the decades before the
30?s, and as it continues to do to this day.
[Life was much simpler in the depression years. A
small gift, such as a pocket knife, had a much greater impact on
boys then, more than a thousand dollar computer has on the young
people in today's world.]
That moral foundation continues to serve and guide
the lives of millions of former Boy Scouts in countries all around
the world, just as strongly as it did while we were trying to
advance, between the ages of twelve to sixteen, from Tenderfoot to
Third Class, through the ranks on up to Eagle Scout. Just a few made
it to the rank of Eagle Scout, but I can remember how enthusiastic
the boys were when it was announced at one of our weekly meetings
that a member of our troop had advanced to that rank, and how proud
that youngster?s parents felt at his accomplishment.
While many of us may not have climbed all the way up
the ladder, we certainly learned valuable lessons along the way, not
the least of which were the important lessons of good
citizenship.
They taught (and still do) patriotism, the love of
country. We saluted the flag and recited the Pledge of Allegiance at
every meeting, as we did in school too. (There seems to be too
little of that today.) There are people in this country who are
strongly against such teachings, who degrade our nation and
continually rail on about faults, some real, many imagined, but the
Boy Scouts taught us what was good about our country.
The life lessons and the emphasis in the Boy
Scout movement have always stressed international
brotherhood, and they practiced this in every way possible.
Discrimination was against Baden Powell's philosophy of what young
manhood was all aboout. He stressed equality and brotherhood by all
of those who joined the Boy Scout movement. They welcomed every
young boy and treated each of them as equals. Boys from every strata
of society, of every color, speaking every language, and practicing
every known religion from all around the world, joined the Boy
Scouts, as they still do to this day.
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friend.
They were, indeed, from every persuasion, because that was never
questioned; each boy entered as a Tenderfoot, and if they had the
ambition and the determination, they climbed the ladder to Eagle
Scout. The participants in these law suits against the Scouts, in
newspaper photos...were shown proudly wearing their Scout uniforms
and ribbons filled with the merit badges they had earned ,proving
that the Scouting movement did not discriminate against them and
indeed, had provided them with the same opportunities as every other
of their brother scouts.
There were Boy Scout camps in rural settings for each district,
used mainly during summer vacation, and they provided daily
instructions in various fields of activity for Scouts, and there
were also national scout encampments that a few boys from each
district managed to attend. Then, there were International
Scoutaramas, held in different countries of the world for the past
100 years, where young boys and young men from this country and
scores of others, of every ethnicity, have met in fellowship and
friendship, and they learned a little lot about each other while
doing so. Those lessons, both moral and social, have proven
invaluable to them throughout their lives. At no time did these
encampments make a distinction between the boys, and again, the
Eagle Scouts who are suing most likely attended such functions and
were treated the same as every other Scout.
They taught a love of God, as well. While not a secular
organization, still and all, there were a few requirements, but
first and most important was a belief in God.
Why not? Is every organization in this country supposed to
conform to a single dogma? If so, it is not something that I have
ever been taught, nor have I found it in our Bill of Rights nor our
Constitution.
They taught us to respect our fellow man (or boy),
and at they helped us to develop self-confidence in a variety of
ways because we were always encouraged to try different things and
to develop a number of varying skills, instead of just one sport. It
was the overall development that counted, the transition from a boy
to a man. Is a single man's welfare more important than that of
millions of others who benefit now, and will benefit in the
future?
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THE GREATEST GENERATION;
MANY
WERE FORMER BOY SCOUTS |
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When the radios and newspapers blared forth the news that the
Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, tens of thousands of the young men
who volunteered for duty were ex-Boy Scouts and they were often the
first to volunteer. Many had leadership skills learned in Scouting,
and they often became officers. They fought and fell in every battle
during the war. The tenants of scouting went with them...to war, and
they served in all sectors with honor.
When they returned home,
lessons learned in Scouting helped them adjust, and become community
leaders. Those same tenants learned in scouting were in the hearts
and minds of many of the world?s great Statesmen from the turn of
the century onward. And those tenants most Scouts can recite to this
day. A Scout is Honest, Loyal, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty,
Brave, Clean and Reverent. Scouting is an important part of American
life. Scouting is an important part of many a youngster's life. And,
Scouting, whether you recognize it or not has been an important part
in your life, because former Scouts have treated you with the same
kind of civility that they learned as part of their training. Click
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EXPOSING THE BOY SCOUTS
But now, after a century of serving with honor in every
state in the Union, it seems that the Boy Scouts of America have
suddenly been ?outed? and they now suffer a stigma and damage to
their once clean reputation by mean-spirited and destructive
opponents. As a result of that stigma, they are now roundly
criticized, disenfranchised, disclaimed, and dishonored, by a pack
of social hyenas snapping at their heels at every opportunity.
Generations of Boy Scouts, millions of them, have now been cast into
a light that seemingly blinds their former supporters to their
virtues, and instead subjects them to nasty attacks and riducule.
Yes, they have been declared "anti-gay" or "homophobic." They
have been castigated unfairly in news articles, on TV, in City
Councils, in churches, and by Gay and Lesbian organizations
nationally. In other words, this great organization, one which has
contributed a great deal to communities the country over for
decades, is supposedly fatally flawed!
This is absolute bull, a calumny all out of proportion to the
supposed problem.
They've been denied access to schools and city properties where
they used to hold their meetings. They have been denied the
cooperation of other organizations because of the vociferous attacks
made upon them at public meetings, by critics who have little real
knowledge of the function of Scouting. These attacks are never
rational, and their vituperativness tends to scare off supporters,
and even those who have always had a high regard for Scouting. Yes,
now there are those whose sole agenda, it seems, is to discredit
this fine organization, and who make serious and damaging
accusations, that falsely make them out to be a biased and
discriminatory group comparable to the Klu Klux Klan. As G.I. Joe's
used to say, "What a crock. Whan an absolute crock!"
The simple truth of the matter is that the Boy Scouts are paying
the penalty for their sins, not for the sin of being biased or
prejudiced against any group or sect, but for the sin of acting in a
prudent manner, [i.e.] for the protection of all the youngsters
in their charge, committed by the national Board of Directors of
that fine orgnization. It was a decision that they legally had to
make, one which fulfills their obligation to protect the youngsters
in their charge from the wrongful acts of others, and the group from
lawsuits and judgments which could virtually, if not completely,
wipe out the funding that supports them.
What kind of a society are we living in today that this is judged
wrong, that one person can infringe upon the rights and duties of
many others to such a degree?
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110 MILLION BOY SCOUTS IS AN ENVIABLE RECORD.
BY
BEST ESTIMATES,THREE TO FIVE MILLION OF THEM WERE [BORN]
GAY! |
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More than 110 million boys have had the benefit of scouting in
the years since they were incorporated here in the United
States.
If statistics mean anything, then
at least 3% of them were Gay, or 3.3 million boys.
Some
statistics claim that as great a number as 10% of men may be Gay,
which would translate into more than ten million boys of Gay
orientation were Boy Scouts and benefitted accordingly. All of them
too had the wonderful training and they participated in the
fraternal and social activities which exists among scouts.
Would
you deny all boys, including those who may be Gay, the tremendous
benefits of scouting?
Would you not agree that perhaps some
sacrifices might be a greater benefit to millions of scouts than to
a few individuals who disagree with certain policies of the Boy
Scouts of America? The Scouts have never proclaimed Gay boys
unwelcome, and they were treated just as well as any other boy in
the organization.
James Dale, of Monmouth County, New Jersey, the
young man who filed the suit that wended its way to the Supreme
Court, attained the rank of Eagle Scout, and a prime example of the
fact that scouting welcomes all boys, and as long as they hold to
the tenants of the organization, they are welcome. This is no more
than any other group requires, whether it be the Knights of
Columbus, the Baptist Church, the Woodmen of America, the Masons,
and the many other Fraternal and Soriety groups about the country.
MINORITY GROUPS HAVE
THEIR OWN DISCRIMINATORY POLICIES AND WAYS.
Discrimination surrounds us.
Discrimination encompasses us. Discrimination is hurtful to those
who suffer it...and discrimination is wrong, but in many ways it is
always a part of our lives and we all are involved in different
forms of it, either on the receiving end or we're among those who
are dishing it out. There is no perfect world. There is no perfect
country. There us no perfect state. Discrimination will always be
with us, unfortunately, but true.
The B.S.A. did not wish to
discriminate against a young scout leader who may or may not have
been Gay. Obviously he was accepted and well treated during his
Scouting experience. But when he declared his preference, it became
necessary to consider his position and then it became necessary to
act in the best interest of the organization as a whole.
It was
a duty, an obligation, not a private opinion. His public declaration
immediately put a different slant on the situation and forced the
Board to discuss it and to make a decision as to what was best for
the young scouts in their care, and also to consider what this might
portend, and then to protect the treasury of the corporate
structure. Judgments today often award overwhelming punitive damages
and this is a strong consideration for the Board Members to keep in
mind during their deliberations.
But, let us really examine the
matter, first as to what the Boy Scouts stand for, and secondly, for
what they really believe, and why they are forced to take the
position that they have in regards to Gay scout leaders.
The
Catholic Church, for example, has been sued time and again in recent
years, and has paid out millions in damages to young men who were
seduced by gay priests or pedophiles in the priesthood. The Church,
in order to protect itself from further raids upon its treasury,
must somehow manage to weed out those whose earthly desires are
stronger than their heavenly beliefs. Cannot this too be said to be
a form of discrimination, when a priest is either transferred or
defrocked because of his homosexual tendencies? Have the boyscouts
any lesser concerns than the Catholic Church? Is the potential for
harm to a youngster any less whether the person with the obsession
or desire wears a black cassock or the khaki uniform of a Scout
Leader?
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OUR NATION SEEMS TO
BE RULED BY LAWYERS, LAWSUITS, AND MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR
JUDGEMENTS |
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Today, if a young priest declares that he is gay,
would the Catholic Church not be prudent to assign him to duties
that keep him away from the temptation of maleable young boys? In
fact, from all the experiences that they have had in recent years in
the courts of law as well as the court of public opinion, the
church's leaders would be foolhardy not to have learned a strong
lesson. ALL THIS MUST BE CONSIDERED OR THE
EXPOSURE FROM FROM LAW SUITS COULD PROVE DISASTROUS, AN END TO
THE B.S.A.!
The Boy Scouts, too, would be foolhardy not to have
observed the long-standing problems in the Catholic church and take
whatever precautions they deem necessary in order to avoid having
similar experiences, especially considering the resulting life-long
trauma that many boys and young men have suffered as a result of it.
All one has to do is to read the accounts of the victims, the number
of lives ruined, the desperation, alcoholism, drugs, depression,
that has followed them for years because of the betrayal of their
core beliefs by the very people they admired and trusted the
most.
Scouting has been forced to look at this, to think
deeply about it, and to make their decisions based on their
knowledge of it. If they failed to do so law suits in the future
could bring up the fact that even though they knew the potential for
harm, they ignored the warnings and must therefore suffer the
consequences. The resulting punitive damages could be disastrous,
and more than the organization could withstand.
Isn't this a valid consideration? Isn't this a very,
very important consideration when it might possibly prove harmful to
the youngsters in their care? How can any Board of Directors ignore
the lessons learned by the Catholic Church and fail to take them
into consideration? No matter what their personal beliefs, no matter
the struggle within with their consciences and the fear of being
labeled homophobic (as indeed the whole organization has not found
to be true), it was a decision they felt compelled to make, and they
had the fortitude to take it upon themselves to do so. As a result,
the Salem Witchhunt has begun all over again, and now the Boy
Scouts of America have become its latest victims. We've no sooner
gotten past the trials of the 80's that put many innocent parents
and teachers through hell, and some in prison, then we've found a
new group to attack, some newer phobias to stir up the stew
and give the media their chance to make mince-meat out of its
victims.
It is time for former Boy Scouts to come ot the defense
of the organization, but they too are intimidated. Many have
business considerations and they feel that if they are labeled
homophobic for expressing an opinion that has nothing to do
with homophobia, that they might suffer from the fallout. However
unjust that would be, it is all too true. We can be 99 94/100% pure,
like ivory soap, but just that little bit of 6/10ths of 1% is enough
to scar a person for life in today's world. The land of free speech
has fallen victim to a whole new screwy set of rules, rules that as
effectively stifle free speech as Hitler's Storm-troopers did in the
1930's and 40's until a war dislodged them, and Stalin's NKVD did
just as effectively until the fall of communism.
to be continued
Oct. 4, 2006: Two recent most newsworthy
incidents require special attention, and will be discussed on the
2nd Page of this discussion on Boy Scouts. One is Rep. Mark Foley,
of Florida, and his homosexual activities with boys who served as
Pages in the House of Representatives. A Link posted here
shortly.
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS
ETERNAL VIGILANCE. W. Durant
ROLL OF HONOR The Friends of Ventura County Scouts
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Forward it to members of oour City Council, to your school
principal, to teachers as well.
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