Posted on 12/27/2007 1:12:20 PM PST by AFA-Michigan
Finding an organization more all-American than the Boy Scouts would be hard. Take it from someone who is blessed to have not one, but two sons achieve the distinction of becoming Eagle Scouts -- this organization is up there with baseball and apple pie. According to its charter, it exists to “promote … the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others … and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance and kindred virtues.”
Since 1910, that’s exactly what the Boy Scouts have been doing. Thousands of men today in positions of leadership, from soldiers to salesmen, began learning lessons in responsibility when they were Scouts. Which makes it all the more curious that the city of Philadelphia is determined to kick its local Scout council -- the “Cradle of Liberty,” seventh largest council in the nation -- out of the building it’s been meeting in for 80 years.
The Scouts may not be facing a formal eviction, but that’s the upshot of an ultimatum that Philadelphia’s city council delivered to the group earlier this year. Eight decades ago, the Scouts made an agreement with the city to pay a nominal rent of $1 a year. How much is the city demanding that they pay now? $200,000. Sadly, that’s not a misprint. The Scouts really are facing a rent hike of $199,999.
The blatant unfairness of the situation is galling -- especially when you consider, as Robert Knight of the Media Research Center has pointed out, that the Scouts “built the building with their own money, and then gave it to the city in 1928.” The Scouts’ lease was “in perpetuity,” notes Bob Unruh, news editor for WorldNetDaily, but the city doesn’t seem to care.
You may be wondering: Have the Scouts done something wrong? Oh, yes. In our politically correct age, they have committed what liberals would call a major sin (if they believed in “sin,” that is): They prohibit openly gay men from serving as Scout leaders. And if this policy strikes you -- as it does me -- as just plain common sense, then welcome to Bizarro World.
“If the Boy Scouts were anti-God, championed homosexuality and were anti-establishment, I would venture to say they would find themselves welcome in Philadelphia,” Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie has commented. “It's the fact that they stick to and seek to promote a responsible and reasonable code of ethics that makes them a target of the anti-family left that tends to dominate urban governments such as Philadelphia’s these days.”
City Solicitor Romulo Diaz -- an open homosexual, according to media reports -- is spearheading the campaign against the Scouts. Officials defend the outrageously high rent hike with typical PC blather. “You cannot be in a city-owned facility being subsidized by the taxpayers,” Councilman Darrell Clarke told The New York Times, “and not have language in your lease that talks about nondiscrimination.” Never mind that the U.S. Supreme Court already ruled several years ago that the Boy Scouts are a private organization entitled to set its own membership policies. Clarke and Diaz apparently answer to a different authority.
Perhaps a bigger question is, who’s next? According to Jeff Jubelirer, a spokesman with the Philadelphia Scouts, dozens of other groups could be targeted next. Will, say, the tax-exempt status of some be questioned? Take the Catholic Church, which doesn’t allow women ministers. How would it fare under an extreme PC regime? As Jubelirer says, “How are [city officials] going to justify differentiation in treatment? There are wonderful arts organizations, museums, a public radio station. They’re on that list.”
The hypocrisy at work here is astonishing. How often do radical liberals lecture us about the First Amendment, insisting that it’s meant to protect unpopular points of view from censorship, only to turn around and find some sneaky way to try and muzzle an upstanding group like the Boy Scouts for daring to offend their leftist orthodoxy?
Besides, the Scouts happen to have a logical reason for their policy. “The Scouts bar openly homosexual Scoutmasters and members for moral reasons and for the sake of protecting young boys from possible harm, not because they are motivated by bigotry or prejudice,” Robert Knight says. Their opponents act “as if the Scouts have no rational reason for wanting to determine whether prospective leaders or members are attracted sexually to males.”
Fortunately, the city’s disgraceful campaign against the Scouts hasn’t gone unnoticed by the public. Indeed, writes Bob Unruh, “Citizens outraged by the city's ultimatum crashed the e-mail system of the Philadelphia mayor's office.” But, he also notes, Philadelphia isn’t alone: “City officials in San Francisco and Boston have made similar decisions to displace the Scouts because of the group’s behavior code.”
So whose “behavior code” makes more sense? The Boy Scouts, who make their communities better places to live, as they turn boys into responsible young men? Or PC government officials determined to push a warped social agenda on the rest of us? If you side with the Scouts, learn more and speak up -- responsibly but firmly. Our Scouts deserve nothing less.
Now here’s a question to ask all the candidates; “Do you Support the Scouts and will you as President Order the Immediate Halt to the Attacks on the Scouts?”
There’s no way the president could issue such an order. He doesn’t have the power.
True but it sure would be fun to see them sweat trying to equivocate around the answer.
The cost, if Philly wants to break their oral or whatever contract with the BSA should be for the entire value of the building plus interest for 100 years. Make the cost of evicting the scouts so prohibitive they have to choose whether they would bankrupt the city to appease a group of men who for some reason long to sleep in tents with little boys.
The actual number is somewhere between 12% and 13%, matched by the Lutherans and closely followed at ~10% by the Roman Catholic Church.
So, what does the President of LDS say about the question of turning the homosexual activists loose on the little boys?
The LDS scout leaders are called by the Bishop of the corresponding ward, but also have to meet all the screening standards of the BSA. That "double filter" is accentuated by the scout leaders also being active members of the ward. They are visible at all times to the members of the ward. It would be pretty damn difficult for a homosexual to ever be appointed to that position.
Which is the main reason the liberals hate it so. Not the homosexual thing which is just an excuse, just as it is in their anti ROTC pogroms on our campuses.
Doggone it, with that guy it's always something isn't it.
If he’s a member of LDS he really doesn’t have a choice does he.
It was a very large troop. Almost 100 scouts. The parents were extremely active in fund raising. The troop's taste for exotic and expensive outings necessitated a grueling schedule of fund raising. It was never enough. As parents, we were regularly asked to cough up almost another $100 per month toward the activities.
My son zipped though Tenderfoot, 2nd Class and 1st class before the first court of honor was held. At that point the scoutmaster suggested that he "slow down" so he could "mature". Big mistake. He turned the scouts off like a spigot and redirected all his energy to the high school band and academics. Sitting 1st seat in the trumpet section, achieving "5" on all AP classes and finishing with a 4.33 GPA was a satisfactory substitution.
I prefer a troop with depth of experience and age among the scouts. That helps build leadership and mentoring skills in the older scouts as they advance in rank. Trying to accomplish the same objective with extra adult leaders deprives the scouts of that leadership experience. Having a troop that is too small has the same effect.
The troop where I earned my Eagle scout rank had 7 patrols with 8 members each. Ages ranged form 11 to 18. Ranks from Tenderfoot to Eagle. It had good balance. The PTA sponsorship simply meant we could meet in the cafeteria for meeting and I was permitted to schedule some Saturday afternoon movies with a nominal admission fee to permit some fund raising. I rented the 16mm movies and handled the projector. The income was a little better than running a car wash or collecting newspapers. We avoided door to door sales like the plague.
I think that's pretty clear ~ so don't come running to me saying "Hey, Thompson said Poo Poo in public so he's infantile" ~ I want you to show me where he WROTE that in a public policy statement of some kind first.
That still means that the Mormons are vastly over represented in the Scouts, since according to the CIA, they are only 2% of the population. Catholics, at 24% of the population are much underrepresented. Lutherns, (from another source) are about 5% of the population, so they too are overrepresented, but not as much so as the Mormons.
Mitt? Sure, he goes against LDS teaching plenty.
Yeah, sure. I'll get right on that.
I am not sure what you are attempting to articulate with that. However, what's lame is posting an article that has nothing to do with Romney, attaching his name to the title, and going off on a rant.
It's important not to skip your medication you know.
Thank you for the personal attack. No thread about Mitt-flop would be complete without the favorite tactic of Mitt-flop supporters. Can't win the argument so just disparage anyone who disagrees with you. I'd love to see the campaign literature provided by Mitt that directs implementation of the tactic. U.S. Army Retired |
By the way, I would love nothing more than to have a President Thompson or President Hunter. I simply believe they would not be strong enough as candidates to defeat Hillary or Obama. With an aging Supreme Court and the nation "at war," we must not allow 8 years of Clinton in the White House..
This article has a link that takes you to Mitt’s actual words on YouTube:
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/200024.aspx
INTREP
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.