From Sepp of www.Uncommon Sqalor.blogspot.com
I read an article yesterday...obviously written by a hard core liberal...who called the Boy scouts a "hate group". Thinking back, we hatemongers of troop 79 must have really been a bane to society. Courteous, kind, obedient, cheerfull, thrifty, brave, clean and, reverent...yeah, I can see where those values would piss off liberals since those values are the carbon negative of what liberalism is all about anymore. Maybe if we were all about drugs, porn, athiesm, laziness, excuses and, homosexuality we wouldn't seem so hateful.
I see this as pretty much a validation of the liberal credo where "everything that is good is bad and bad is good". I guess that any organization that has morality in its credo and family values would be deemed an imediate threat to the left.
I learned outdoor skills, community involvement, ecological responsibility, American Indian folklore, American folklore, respect for other cultures and, adults. This may shock even the most hard-core liberal out there...we learned diversity! Firsthand too! We met other scouts from all over the world who, although different from us culturaly and ethnicly, shared the same positive goals and attitudes...God forbid!When I look at rabies symptoms in animals, I can see the exact same symptoms in liberalism in some people.
posted by -Sepp at 12:18 AM on Apr 3, 2007
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I appreciated this post because the scouts have been under attack for their stance on homosexuals in scouting--as well as their pledge of loyalty to God and country and requirement that scouts say it.
I don't think there are really gay scouts --or gay boys --before they actually get involved with gay acts--and even then, they may not be convinced this means they are gay. There ARE boys with poor self-image as males who crave attention from men they admire,sometimes lacking a close bond with or affirmation as males from their own fathers. If they are drawn into gay activities by an admired homosexual --which could be sexually stimulating--they MAy conclude they are gay.
There also may be boys with a feminine self-image --with effeminent mannerisms, because of over-identification with their mothers who may have treated them like girlfriends --in the absence of an involved father figure. This can be unconscious on the child's part --but peer rejection and ridicule enters in to confirm a gay self-image for such kids.
It's painful enough going through adolescence and it's not easy to feel "normal" and most don't --at the jr. high stage. Dobson called it the "canyon of inferiority"
Such kids don't need to ponder if they might be gay because they aren't fitting in. At such vulnerable ages, kids don't need a homosexual scoutmaster or even a predatory peer in their tent --anymore than the girls need a guy scoutmaster or any guy in THEIR tent. We usually wouldn't allow the latter; we shouldn't allow the former ---even if in both cases the scoutmaster or person of opposite sexual attraction is thought to be of good character.
10:23 PM
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2 comments:
Barb:
I can't quite bring myself to condemn homosexuals, as I have commented elsewhere in your blog, but I do agree that it is reasonable for the BSA to restrict its membership on whatever criteria it chooses, as as do the Freemasons or the Knights of Columbus.
However, as someone who grew up in Scouting (my Dad was a Cubmaster and Scoutmaster and Mom was a Den Mother), and earned the rank of Eagle, we have to observe that Scouting has endevoured to be inclusive for a number of years. For example, page 441 of my 1958 vintage Handbook for Boys lists religious awards for Scounts of Buddhist, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, Mormon, and Protestant faiths. On page 382 of the 1965 version, awards were added for Lutherans, Episcopalians, Muslims, and Unitarian Universalists. (Apparently, in the typical Protestant fashion, all denominations could not agree on one award, and the Lutherans and Episcopalians needed to have their own)
The primary bond sought by Scouting is the connection between a boy and his father. Some troops are indeed built around kids with involved fathers. Sadly, it is increasingly true that one of the roles of Scouting in society is to connect kids with adult role models in the absence of a father figure in the home. Even when I was a Scout 40 years ago, there were a number of boys who were better connected to my Dad and the other fathers than to their own.
For such boys, Scouting needs to be an organization where the adult leaders are trustworthy and moral men. We can't allow sexual predators and others who would bring harm to the boys be in contact with them.
But we have to be careful about barring boys who might get labeled as homosexuals from joining. It's tough enough to survive childhood psychologically intact these days. I would much rather encourage a boy to form friendships in a Scout unit than let him be marginalized and segregated. We're finding out now that exclusion from society is probably what drove this kid to go nuts at Virginia Tech, as was the case at Columbine.
PL
We agree. I said in the post that I don't see a boy as gay --until he's really into the life --because kids are still trying to figure themselves out. we don't need any sex educators pointing at the class and saying "10 percent of you are gay" (2 to 4 percent is percentage in population, supposedly) --causing the kids to ponder who the gays might be --making insecure youth feel all the more unsure of themselves. Nor do we need any seductive scoutmasters of either sex or of gay inclinations toward the young men under his influence.
I think scouts is excellent for helping boys identify with the guys and find a niche with guys --among all the other good things in a scouting program. My father was a scout and later scouting commisioner --I think that's what they called 'em.
I'm not for outing anyone who is trying to live a straight life despite attractions, either.
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