It has always amazed me how a small crack in my driveway, even as I try to plug it, fill it, cover it, stop it, or ignore it--always manages to get bigger. And what invariably comes up through it? Weeds. This weed is the worst kind. It is Poison Ivy. Pretty stuff if you don't recognize it for what it is--one element of the erosion of the very foundation of my aggregate concrete driveway. I have been told that if you eat one Poison Ivy leaflet from the time it first comes up each day as it grows bigger--that you will develop an immunity to it. However, I know no-one who has ever actually tried it and lived. I think I first read about this rural myth in a book by Euell Gibbons, wild foods forager who used to do TV commercials for Grape Nuts cereal--likening their taste to wild Hickory Nuts. I have eaten many a hicker-nut as we called them when I was a kid; they didn't remind me of Grape Nuts at all. Not even close. I enjoyed reading Euell Gibbons book about foraging. I was saddened when I heard that he had died of bleeding ulcers. Go figure.
Certain Questions May Naturally Arise When Considering Homosexual Boy Scout Leaders.
To fail to ask such questions would be irresponsible. Have we not yet learned the obvious problems of apparent safe-havens for sexual predators? Are all homosexual males sexual predators of young boys? No. Do scout leaders have a responsibility to avoid the very appearance of evil? Yes.
Would I Be Concerned about the Motives of heterosexual Males who sought to be a Girls Scout Leader--in a role that even approximates the role of a Boy Scout Scoutmaster? You betcha. Maybe that's because I am a heterosexual male. Or maybe that's because I was a Boy Scout and a Boy Scout leader and I fully understand those roles firsthand. Scoutmaster are in positions of overnight guardianship of young men that places them in unavoidable close contact with their charges--sometimes viewing them fully or only partially dressed. It is not unheard of for scouts to skinny-dip or change clothes together in a dressing room--much like in a gym, but worse. These leaders spend the night days or weeks at a time while everyone is or should be asleep. Scout Masters are placed in a situation of being alone with kids--even just picking them up or taking them to Scout functions--often for hours at a time--accountable to no one.
Nor would I ever expect for a man to subject himself to that kind of scrutiny. It is dangerous. It could result in a man being wrongly--or rightly--accused of illegal sexual activity invloving young girls in his charge--of rape or molestation. All of these same dangers exist for a homosexual Scout Master. Any man foolish enough to take such a position, would be setting himself up to become the target of any boy who might perceive him to be unfair or who enforced masic rules of behavior--or who, in his immaturity found it to be funny to cause trouble.
Why do Gay Scout Leaders have such a driving need to be Boy Scout Leaders?
When
my dad was a kid, the BSA was regarded as a training ground for young
men, teaching traditional conservative moral principles to boys who
might not otherwise get such training--bringing them in contact with
other such boys--who were as they say, "all boy". It used stereotypical
manly pursuits, adventure, hiking and camping, archery, wrestling, guns,
shooting, competition to appeal to these boys.
When I was a kid, the mission of the BSA was similar; it was not
particularly popular. It had become regarded as a little too
goody-goody. ~
I caught some guff about being a Boy Scout--but I was not a
very religious kid. The principles of scouting sneaked in a lot of core
moral values and made it palatable enough that some of it took. I
learned and still recite, A Scout is: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful,
Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obediant, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean,
and Reverent. The Scout Slogan reminded me to Do a Good Turn Daily. The
Scout Motto taught me to Be Prepared. The Scout Oath taught me to raise
my arm to the square and Swear on my Honor, to do my best to do my duty
to God and My Country, to help other people at All Times, to keep myself
physically fit, mentally alert, and morally straight.
Over the course
of about five years I embarked upon advancement through six ranks of
advancement that required methodically learning and doing a lot of
stuff, being in attendance to meetings and hikes and campouts, and
participation that enlivened all of those Scout principles.
Additionally, I undertook eleven mandantory in-depth major courses of
study ranging from first-aid to camping, citizenship to conservation,
wilderness survival skills and so on. I also underwent ten more
voluntary courses of study from a wide array of choices required to
become an Eagle Scout. I did not stop there. I voluntarily udertook
another good dozen of these courses of study above the requirements.
Yes, I DO still know how to tie every knot known to man--quicker than
most can imagine, as a result of being a Boy Scout. If the nights I
spent in the woods were strung together either on my own with other
scout friends or at official scout camping trips--it would be more than a
year in the woods. I can go into virtually any wilderness in any
climate or terrain with the clothes on my back and survive. But I also,
learned about many world religions, psychology, sales and marketing,
caring for my environment, teaching, public speaking, writing, and
public service just to name a few. I first learned about most of the
skills that I have used to make my living all these years, as a result
of the BSA. ~ I learned how to set goals and to methodically achieve
them while there. I made life-long friends who are now leaders and
shapers and movers while I was in the BSA. I learned respect for my
country and our flag. When I joined the Navy, I was immediately
comfortable, safe, confident, was given leadership roles, and advanced
quickly as a result of having been a Boy Scout. I learned service to my
country, my community, and to my fellow man in the BSA. I gained
self-esteam, established habits of grooming and dress, and learned
tolerance and respect for other cultures and alternate life-styles from
my time in the BSA. I was allowed to excell in SOMETHING as a Boy Scout.
~
My mom and dad were proud of me when I worked hard and eventually
became an Eagle Scout. They never worried that I was not being properly
taught and looked after and cared for while I was at Scout functions. My
Boy Scout leaders were screened to the highest standards of morality
and ability as a Boy Scout. They were above reproach. They never taught
me by precept OR by example any subversive or questionable principles.
They displayed mainstram old-fashioned, time-tested values--never
extreme, or gray, or marginal, or experimental, or alternative in their
observable actions or teachings--were never extreme or political or
liberal in any way. ~
Indeed, "Boy Scout" has come to be a euphamism,
sometimes meant derogatorily, for someone who is "traditional
squeaky-clean dripping with good old-fashioned boring conservative Moral
Values. Boys who may be questioning their gender identities, as it
were, or have felt inclined to same-sex attraction have never been
discouraged from being Boy Scouts. I am confident that a good many have
gained otherwise unavailable straight male role models--lacking such
elsewhere--by being in the BSA. But having openly gay male role models
as leaders defies everything that the BSA has traditionally stood for. ~
Why is traditional or conservative made out to be a bad thing. Why is
the marginal minority agenda once again disrupting these traditional
conservative values? It is NOT a government public institution. It is
not recieving government funds. It is a private, voluntary, organization
for male children who are willing to uphold a particular traditional
way of life. The vote by Scouting delegates today will determine whether
Scouting and all the good it does has a future. Depending upon the
outcome, the two largest supporting organizations--religious
institutions--will withdraw their financial and institutional support
from the BSA. This will effectively put an end to the BSA. Another large
majority of parents will simply not allow their own children to
participate. Why be hypocritical about it? The wrong vote will simply
mean that the BSA and all it stands for will go away. End. Capoot. Gone.
Everyone loses.
I had my Boy Scout awards laid out and equally divied up next to shadow boxes that I had planned to give to each of my children to encourage my grandsons to become and excel as Boy Scouts. I guess I better rethink that.
