Apparently, to liberals, there is no enemy on the left, only on the right
Posted on 08/02/2006 2:55:00 PM PDT by fgoodwin
Street's Ousting Of The Boy Scouts An Act Of Political Cowardice
http://www.theeveningbulletin.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16997240
http://tinyurl.com/qhhrm
08/02/2006
By: GREGORY J. SULLIVAN, Special To The Evening Bulletin
The decision by Mayor John Street and supported by the Fairmount Park Commission to punish the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America for its adherence to the organization's long-standing prohibition on openly homosexual members and leaders is the triumph of political correctness over sound policy. What is more, it is a betrayal of an organization and, most especially, the young boys who desperately need the moral instruction of the Scouts more than ever.
Since 1928, the Scouts have occupied the city-owned building at 22nd and Winter Streets. The Scouts have been charged no rent; the city's boys have had the advantage of the excellent character-forming work of the Scouts. (Actually, more than just the city: the Council is the third largest in the country and serves 87,000 children in Philadelphia, Delaware, and Montgomery counties.) For decades now, this arrangement has been enormously beneficial for both parties, particularly the city: for boys involved in the group, the Scouts provide what may, in many cases, be the only real male authority in their lives. Mayor Street knows how utterly important this authority is for children; but he has decided - and this decision is a very large mistake - to swim with the current of political correctness.
Philadelphia's fair-practices ordinance prohibits discrimination against, among others, homosexuals. Mayor Street has offered to allow the Scouts to stay and pay rent at fair-market value or leave. One major problem is that the city provides space under these very favorable terms with 75 community organizations, including religious groups. The city's battle with the Scouts could be the first in a long war against any group that is less than enthusiastic about homosexuality, which means with virtually all community and religious groups. Does Mayor Street really want to go in this direction to satisfy the clamor of homosexual activists?
The fact is that the restrained prohibition on avowed homosexuals as members and leaders in the Scouts advances the conventional view on sexuality that has been, until the day before yesterday, almost universally accepted. Homosexual conduct - as opposed to the orientation which is itself of no moral significance - violates the natural law. This view, though bitterly rejected by elites today, has been the standard one from St. Paul on. Opposition to this conduct is not, as is often assumed, irrational bigotry but a reasoned acknowledgement of heterosexuality as normative. The Scouts endorse this view.
The Scouts had a similar struggle over its policy in New Jersey. In the case of the openly homosexual James Dale, who was dismissed from the Scouts because of his well-publicized homosexuality, the New Jersey Supreme Court expressed its disgust at the Scouts' policy by deliberately misreading the state's antidiscrimination statute. Clear statutory language that excluded the Scouts from application of the antidiscrimination law was brushed aside in pursuit of the court's policy preference of homosexual inclusion.
The United States Supreme Court narrowly overruled this outcome, finding that the Scouts have a right to free association under the First Amendment. (Justice John Paul Stevens's dissenting opinion echoed the contempt of the New Jersey high court in its condescending denunciation of the "atavistic opinions" of those, like the Scouts, who interpose moral opposition to homosexual conduct.) And yet the systematic harassment of the Scouts continues.
The city can and should be squeezed by the federal government. There is a federal statute (the Support Our Scouts Act of 2005) that permits the Department of Housing and Urban Development to deny money to the city if its discriminates against the Scouts; the organization must be given equal access to public facilities. The city received approximately $62 million last year, so denial will have a major impact.
The city, however, should take the initiative and enhance the common good by enacting an exception to the antidiscrmination ordinance to allow the Scouts to pursue their admirable work. A free society must be vigilant in guarding the right of private groups to define themselves. An exception to the ordinance would be the salutary vindication of this principle. In pursuing the course he has chosen, Mayor Street is sacrificing the concrete good the Scouts do in the city and surrounding area to satisfy an aggressive minority. That is not leadership in the cause of vindicating sound principle; it is political cowardice.
Gregory J. Sullivan (Gregoryjsull@aol.com) is a lawyer in Bucks County
Amazing. This was posted yesterday and no one cared to comment on it. Have we all become so complacent about this assault on the Boy Scouts that it fosters little or no outrage?
Maybe I'm just ranting over a lost cause...
Still though, I'm proud to be a former Boy Scout
I will never give business nor monetary benefit to anything having to do with this city, as many good people that probably live there. If they re-elect that scumbag mayor, the majority deserve the just coming judgment.
Yes, I have posted several, very similar articles on this issue.
Part of the reason I do so, is to keep a record of them. Many times, an article will be archived and no longer freely available from the source, so I post it here (and on Google) to make sure it is available long after the fact.
I learned my lesson after the the flap over the Boy Scout color guard being booed at the 2000 Democratic Convention. Initially, the media ignored the report, and it wasn't until the Wash. Times did a detailed article that other, conservative media picked up on it.
Of course, now liberals deny the event ever happened, and they cite the fact that no "mainstream" media covered it, and the only places it is mentioned are right-wing media, which they discount as unreliable sources.
In fact, the LA Times actually broke the story, but it is no longer available on their public website. So now whenever I see an article, I post the whole thing so it can be retrieved for later use.
You mean people actually booed boys who only wanted to provide service and show their patriotism? Wow! Unbelievable!!
This story should have been trumpeted from every conservative source. What scumbags!
Apparently, to liberals, there is no enemy on the left, only on the right
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