[Gazette Blog Editor's comment: This one's for laughs - in a sick sort of way. Here's what one right wing homophobe had to say about the Boy Scouts' decision to allow gays into its membership. May it serve to remind that bigots walk among us.]
By Matt Barber
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)
It’s a sad day for both Scouting and for freedom.
Indeed, it’s a sad day for America. The century-old Boy Scouts of
America (BSA) – created in 1910 to “prepare young people to make ethical
and moral choices over their lifetimes” – has betrayed its own
constituency, mission, oath and law.
Last Thursday, approximately 1,400 adult BSA delegates
from around the country gathered in Texas and decided, in a
disgracefully lopsided vote, to welcome into its ranks, “open and
avowed” homosexuality (boy-on-boy sexual attraction and behavior),
thereby disavowing the “morally straight” Scout Oath its members are
sworn to uphold.
They voted unwisely.
History will reflect that on this day the BSA turned
from morally straight to immorally bent – that this once great
organization – founded on “honor,” “reverence” and biblical morality –
was crushed beneath the worldly weight of pagan idolatry.
Whereas, for over a century, millions of boys have
raised their right hands, swearing “on my honor” to “do my duty to God
and my country” – on this day, hundreds of adult delegates likewise
raised their right hands, shook their fists at God and flipped their
middle fingers at both the boys they serve and the parents who trusted
them.
While endeavoring to “gain the world,” this once honorable institution has forfeited its soul.
Scripture admonishes: “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23).
This was a catastrophic miscalculation. It was sin, and, tragically,
through this sin, the BSA has now effectively sealed its own fate. It
has set into motion its own demise.
Even by its own estimates, BSA leadership admits that
the decision will likely result in a mass exodus from Scouting. They
anticipate that as many as 400,000 Scouts and Scouters will leave the
organization (acceptable casualties in the war on morality, I guess).
Still, as devastating as this number is, it too represents a gross
miscalculation.
Consider, for instance, that when Canada’s version of
the Boy Scouts voted in 1998 to welcome open homosexuality, its
membership rolls plummeted by over half in just five years, forcing camp
closures, staff layoffs and huge budget cuts. Looking north of the
border for clues, then, we can expect that, with current membership at
around 2.6 million, it’s more likely that roughly 1.5 million Boy Scouts
and troop masters will walk.
Then again, we’re talking about “progressive” Canada.
This is the good ol’ USA. With over 61 percent of Scouts, Scouters and
parents opposing the homosexualization of Boy Scouts, and over 70
percent of U.S. Scout groups sponsored by churches and religious
organizations, it’s not unreasonable to expect that defections will even
exceed this estimate.
In short, BSA’s betrayal may well result in near-total ruin. The wages of sin is death.
Here’s the reality: Reality has not changed. Objective
truth did not suddenly and miraculously reverse itself on May 23, 2013.
As BSA has always acknowledged (until Thursday), homosexual behavior remains empirically disordered and immoral. The only thing that has changed is politics.
Ultimately, this decision had nothing to do with
“tolerance” or “inclusivity.” Neither did it concern the best interests
of the boys who make up Boy Scouting. Instead, this decision was rooted
in pure evil. It had everything to do with money. “For the love of money
is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have
wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1
Timothy 6:10).
And wandered from the faith they have.
Now come the many griefs.
Really, three things drove this decision: Fear, greed
and politics. A number of high-dollar corporate donors threatened to
pull funding from BSA if they maintained the existing policy on sexual
morality. Additionally, a number of extremist pressure groups, aided by a
sympathetic left-wing media, brought tremendous pressure to bear.
But the pressure’s not going away. The BSA made a
critical error in judgment. It showed weakness. This has only whipped
these radicals into a heightened frenzy.
Within moments of the “gay”
announcement, Nancy Pelosi called the move “an important first step.”
The Human Rights Campaign demanded “the new policy doesn’t go far
enough,” and Mother Jones, a liberal online publication, posted an article titled, “Boy Scouts: You Can Be Gay Until You’re 18.”
Sin is never satisfied. The homofascist thirst for absolute affirmation is unquenchable.
What’s the next step? Activists now demand that adult
men who desire sex with other males (“gay” scout masters) be allowed to
take your sons camping overnight. Soon they’ll be insisting that
“transgender boys” (girls who wish they were boys) be allowed to join as
well.
What a camping trip. Imagine the pup tent. Your son
and Jimmy – who’s got a crush on him – along with Billy and Billy’s
boyfriend Bobby, all snuggly warm in the middle of nowhere. But make
room for Sammy (formerly Suzie) and Sammy’s boyfriend Gary (formerly
Gertrude).
Don’t forget to hang the disco ball.
And “always be prepared.”
You think there won’t be new membership stagnation?
Who wants to sign their boy up for the “Gay Scouts”? What’s a kid gotta
to do to earn his “tolerance badge”? Parents, you might want to get out
while the gettin’s good. As one Eagle Scout told me, “I’m not leaving
the Boy Scouts, the Boy Scouts left me.”
It’s only a matter of time until BSA caves on these
demands as well. They’ll admit “gay” men and girls soon. They have no
choice. Now that they’ve opened the door, they’ve waived the only legal
defense they once had: religious and moral conviction.
But here’s the good news. I and dozens more will be convening for a coalition meeting
of pro-family leaders next month in Louisville, Ky., to discuss the
creation of a moral alternative to the Boy Scouts. Nature abhors a
vacuum. We intend to fill it.
Still, until then, please join me as we mourn the loss
of this once honorable organization. The Boy Scouts of America: Born
Feb. 8, 1910 – Died May 23, 2013.
May it rest in peace.
Matt Barber
(@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Vice President of
Liberty Counsel Action.
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1 comment:
I'm Gay and I was in the Boy Scouts. My troop was sponsored by St. Raphael's Catholic Church in Potomac, Maryland. Admittedly this was back in the late 1960s to early 1970s, when the modern Gay rights movement was in its infancy, and the prospect of Gay youth "coming out" was unthinkable. But the fact remains that my sexual orientation was irrelevant to scouting activities, and I imagine the same went for the majority of boys who were Straight (i.e. heterosexual). The official Boy Scout Handbook was not heterocentric. The issue of sexual orientation, one way or another, was simply irrelevant.
Gay boys and men have always participated in the BSA and always will, regardless of the official policy. I'm just glad the when boys in the scouts start coming to grips with a different sexual orientation (usually while in their early teens), they will not be kicked out when they need that social support structure the most.
This is not to say that individual Boy Scouts, regardless of their sexual orientation, shouldn't be held accountable for inappropriate behavior. They should be. But sexual orientation in and of itself should not be a barrier to scouting.
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