By
Raynard Jackson
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.
-. Boy Scout Oath
When the Boy Scouts of America’s leadership voted to allow
openly homosexual kids to become Boy Scouts, they in that one act sold their
souls to the devil. Consequently, there will be hell to pay as a result of that
bone-head decision.
Making
matters worse, they decided to continue to enforce their policy of not allowing
participation by openly homosexual adults as troop leaders.. In its bylaws, the
BSA has for more than 100 years precluded homosexuals, atheists, and agnostics
from being involved with the Scouts. In recent years, pro-homosexual activists
have increased pressure on the Scouts to rescind the policy and they won the
vote with more than 60 percent of the 1,400 eligible voters supporting the new
policy.
For
the moment, let’s remove the issue of homosexuality from this conversation and
instead focus on the underlying principles – or lack of principles – involved
in this debate.
According
to the Scouts’ vision statement, “The BSA goal is to train youth in responsible
citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in
a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age
levels, career-oriented programs in partnership with community organizations.
For younger members, the Scout method is part of the program to inculcate
typical Scouting values such as trustworthiness, good citizenship, and outdoors
skills, through a variety of activities such as camping, aquatics, and hiking.”
How
can you train youth in responsible citizenship, character development and
self-reliance when you have adult cowards voting to shift the group’s moral
compass to make radical homosexuals feel good?
According
to news reports, the BSA hired a polling company to gauge the level of support
from kids and adult leaders within the scouts. What decent parent would
allow their kid to be polled on sex and sexuality at the ripe old age of 12 or
15?
You
don’t give kids choices at that age, you give them direction. Kids should
not be used by adults as pawns in an adult game perpetrated by immoral
homosexual activists.
Furthermore,
when did morals, values, and beliefs become subject to the latest opinion poll
or political whim? For more than 100 years, the BSA has been very clear
in its position excluding homosexuality, atheism, and agnosticism.
It
is estimated that gays account for 2 percent of the U.S. population. Assuming
that percentage applies to youth as well, that means the BSA has decided to
make 98 percent of its troop members uncomfortable in order to satisfy the
perverted needs of 2 percent?
As
I predicted, less than 16 hours after the scouts changed their policy, The
Secular Coalition of America issued a press release under the title:
“Atheists Disappointed with Boy Scouts’ Continued Discrimination Policy.”
It
began, “The Secular Coalition for America today said the Boy Scouts’ recent
decision to allow openly gay boys is a positive step in the right direction,
but does not go far enough. The SCA expressed disappointment that the Boy
Scouts of America (BSA) has decided to continue its policy of discrimination
against atheists and gay Scout leaders. On Thursday, Boy Scouts leaders
voted to open their ranks to openly gay boys for the first time. However, the
Scouts’ longstanding ban on atheists and gay adults remains.”
Edwina
Rogers, executive director of the Secular Coalition for America said the
Coalition, said: “Discrimination is wrong – whether it’s directed at
children or adults, atheists or the religious. We will continue to encourage
the Scouts to address the full range of discrimination against atheists and
LGBT adults.”
I
happen to agree with Rogers’ claim of discrimination, though not for the same
reasons. The BSA’s bylaws preclude three groups from
participation—homosexuals, atheists, and agnostics. In order to be fair,
you should not admit one of the banned groups and not the others. This is
indeed rank discrimination.
Is
this is the lesson the BSA wants to teach our children? Do we want to say
some discrimination is ok, if a large segment of the public agrees? How
do you look into the eyes of our young people and for 100 years tell that
generation that the beliefs and behavior of homosexuals, atheists, and
agnostics are incompatible with Christian values and then suddenly reverse
youself and say, “Oooops, never mind?”
Each
Scout took a pledge, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my
country.”
By
walking away from its core principles, Scout leaders did not do their best – to
God or our country.
Raynard Jackson is president
& CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Washington, D.C.-based
public relations/government affairs firm. He can be reached through his Web
site, www.raynardjackson.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at
raynard1223.
