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Compromise on Gays Pleases No One, Scouts Are Learning
New York Times ^ | MAY 8, 2014 | KIRK JOHNSON

Posted on 05/09/2014 7:39:54 AM PDT by Second Amendment First

Pascal Tessier is a 17-year-old Eagle Scout in suburban Maryland who says scouting made him who he is today, with its lessons about morality, leadership and responsibility. And those very strengths, this openly gay high school senior said, are what compel and equip him to fight back now against Scout policies on gays that he believes are wrong.

After long, anxious debate, the Boy Scouts’ national board voted a year ago to allow openly gay youths to participate in scouting, while continuing to exclude gay leaders age 18 and over. It was promoted as a compromise intended to offer the organization time to figure out how to proceed.

Instead, it has brought the Scouts only more ire from all directions and produced a house divided.

The awkwardness of the compromise — don’t-ask-don’t-tell silence on the one hand, and a supposedly welcoming embrace on the other, with an 18th birthday dividing the two — has emboldened gay scouts like Pascal to step forward with passionate editorials and online petitions.

Conservative critics have been no less vehement. Rob Schwarzwalder, a senior vice president at the Family Research Council, a Washington-based group, said: “Judeo-Christian sexual ethics are fixed. Dislike or reject them, if you wish, but they are not malleable. How can two boys both pledge to be ‘morally straight’ when they operate out of two different moral perspectives concerning human sexuality?”

The partial ban is also proving legally problematic with two distinct classes of members treated differently.

In California, for example, state judges could be barred from involvement with the Boy Scouts under a proposed change of the rules on judicial ethics, which bar participation in groups practicing “invidious discrimination” but currently exempts “nonprofit youth organizations,” like the Scouts.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: boyscouts; homosexualagenda
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To: Second Amendment First

Next Saturday will mark the official end of our involvement with BSA. We will present my son with his Eagle Scout rank that he earned last December, just before we switched over to Trail Life USA.


41 posted on 05/09/2014 9:12:22 AM PDT by cyclotic (America's premier outdoor adventure association for boys-traillifeusa.com)
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To: Second Amendment First

It’s sad to see one of the most important and respected organizations for young men to commit suicide.

I am happy that I lived in the true Norman Rockwell world during the mid 40’s through the late 60’s. The world was a much more decent place back then and individual responsibility ruled the day.

Now, look at the vast wasteland of irresponsibility we now live in today.

What was the poison that killed it? Compromise and Political Correctness. Will it ever be revived? NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!


42 posted on 05/09/2014 9:25:15 AM PDT by DH (Once the tainted finger of government touches anything the rot begins)
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To: ontap

There’s no compromising with these bastards....they require full surrender.


The word/phrase “compromise” means to give something up to get something. True, strong leaders don’t compromise.

For example: Obama is a strong Marxist leader and does not compromise with any conservative group or organization...nor does his band of zealous Communists in the Democrat party.

The Republicans are expert in compromising but give away 99.99% to get .01% from the enemy (Liberals) and call it a victory.

Now, with that in mind it’s easy to figure out how we have lost our freedoms and rights.


43 posted on 05/09/2014 9:31:53 AM PDT by DH (Once the tainted finger of government touches anything the rot begins)
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To: Second Amendment First
My unsolicited $0.02?

I didn't pull my kid out of scouting when all this nonsense came about last year. I figured (correctly) that he would look at it as a punishment - even if it wasn't - and I thought that it was wrong to punish him for the actions of a few idiots at the top of the scouting food chain. Instead, I got *very* involved with the pack, figuring that if it turned out that there was a problem, I'd be aware of it and could easily deal with it.

Instead, I shouldn't have bothered worrying. The pack membership dropped by half, almost overnight. Frankly, I doubt that there will be a pack next year, there just aren't any kids participating. I don't know if parents are pulling them out, or the kids are dropping out. I'd guess that it's about 50-50.

I wrestled with my decision on this matter for a long time. And, I damn the gays for forcing people to make decisions that frankly, should never have needed consideration in a rational world.

This is not the America that I grew up in. Not even close.

44 posted on 05/09/2014 9:32:23 AM PDT by wbill
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To: Second Amendment First
Why is a 17 yr old even gay or straight? Am I so old that I can remember a time where sexuality was not part of being a teenager? I mean, it really wasn't. Even dating was a kind of courtship, not a booty call. It is so terrible that this has to be a problem for the scouts.

"Morally straight" means refraining from sexual activity. How about "openly moral" for a change?

45 posted on 05/09/2014 9:34:15 AM PDT by Mamzelle
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To: Steely Tom

I might steal that for my tag line.


46 posted on 05/09/2014 9:39:55 AM PDT by aquila48
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To: wbill
Your anecdote was inexpensive and interesting. In March I entertained at the 7th Annual Troop XXXX Pie Auction and Dance in a Maryland town. The troop number has changed as there was a schism.

The original troop had four families remaining and declined to repeat the pie auction this year. The others had reorganized as the new troop and asked me to do the event if the originals passed. I don't know which group is which as to opinion on the national policy - I didn't ask.

We had a great time, they raised a goodly four-figure sum and I made my usual three-figure fee.

47 posted on 05/09/2014 9:53:12 AM PDT by jimfree (In November 2016 my 13 y/o granddaughter will have more quality exec experience than Barack Obama)
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To: aquila48
I might steal that for my tag line.

I would be honored if you would.

48 posted on 05/09/2014 9:59:27 AM PDT by Steely Tom (How do you feel about robbing Peter's robot?)
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To: Second Amendment First
As with most libs, they demand A, and when you give them A, they then demand B. They will never be satisfied until the Boy Scouts are destroyed.

The answer is to never give in, even a little bit.

49 posted on 05/09/2014 10:07:53 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

there must be some form of hedonism cult in DC that requires sexual fetishism.


50 posted on 05/09/2014 10:12:03 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Dilbert San Diego
Amazing how things have changed.

Things haven't changed at all, DSD.

These schmucks have their fingers in the wind, just like they always do; and they think they're running in front of the incoming tide.

What they're really doing is wallowing in a following sea.

51 posted on 05/09/2014 10:35:17 AM PDT by metesky (My investment program is holding steady @ $0.05 cents a can.)
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To: jimfree
No schism in our troop - at least not that I know of (and I think that I'd know).

People just left. The handful that I spoke with - our pack is sponsored by a church that we don't attend, so I don't see the parents/kids very often - just gave non-committal excuses: "too busy", "too much going on" and so on. No real fire and brimstone, but then I wasn't really expecting any.

They're not going to other packs - we did a recruitment drive not too long ago, and the other leaders said they were having a hard time with retention, as well. The elephant in the room was the decision on gays in scouting - no one said a thing about it...they just walked right up to the line and stopped.

Since I was the new guy, I just kept my mouth shut and listened.

However, it's obvious. This time last year, there were 50-odd kids, now there are 20-odd. It's not a coincidence that it happened overnight.

It's a shame. "Boy Scout" used to be an ideal to aspire to.

52 posted on 05/09/2014 10:43:21 AM PDT by wbill
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To: PapaBear3625
They will never be satisfied until the Boy Scouts are destroyed

Remember that progressives, by definition, never build societal constructs. They can only destroy them.

53 posted on 05/09/2014 10:45:06 AM PDT by wbill
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To: wbill
I have a colleague who thought this entire issue was no big deal as he had involved his sons. Last I spoke with him, his son's troupe was not only having a sudden drop in membership AND retention, they also have a major problem in fund raising. (ala girl scout sawdust cookies)

The sad part is he blames the parents who are protecting their sons from the high risk of abuse now in the scouts.

54 posted on 05/09/2014 10:55:43 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: longtermmemmory
When one looks objectively at those who vote dumbasscrat, one can see that it comprises those who could very well be described as the dregs of society. I think it is very telling as to the TYPES of people who gravitate toward libtardism as to the fact that one must have a significant degree of social/political/mental retardation (forgive me for inusulting people who are truly mentally handicapped) to be so easily persuaded to vote against their best interests with a smile on their faces.

This being said, I can spot a libtard fascist a mile away solely by the manner in which he speaks, dresses, and with whom he associates.

55 posted on 05/09/2014 11:07:07 AM PDT by EnigmaticAnomaly ("Discarded fetuses for power? Hitler may have lost the battle, but he won the war.")
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To: longtermmemmory
I will say that the Boy Scout fundraising stinks. People will shell out 4 or 5 bucks for cookies on a whim.

20 bucks for popcorn is a purchase to be considered. Fooish to make it so pricey.

56 posted on 05/09/2014 11:14:41 AM PDT by wbill
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To: PGR88
30 the Boy Scouts problem was their reliance on big-corporate money to fund nice offices and high salaries at their world HQ They learned that whoever pays the bills eventually will call the tune.

What you said. The final straw to break the camel's back was the The Summit Preserve. Though the porperty was donated to BSA back around 2010, it requires tons of $$$ to develop it into the high adventure base and training site they want. Scouters who have been out to the National HQ in Irving, TX, report on the internet that BSA National is gradually "turning out the lights" in its HQ office, i.e., thinning the herd.

57 posted on 05/09/2014 11:29:51 AM PDT by MacNaughton
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To: cyclotic
31 Next Saturday will mark the official end of our involvement with BSA. We will present my son with his Eagle Scout rank that he earned last December, just before we switched over to Trail Life USA.

Congratulations to your family. Fair skies and wind at your back as you continue in TL-USA.

58 posted on 05/09/2014 11:34:19 AM PDT by MacNaughton
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To: MacNaughton

Thanks. It’s been a great ride so far. TLUSA is doing it right.


59 posted on 05/09/2014 11:44:05 AM PDT by cyclotic (America's premier outdoor adventure association for boys-traillifeusa.com)
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To: longtermmemmory

Well there probably is, but there’s also inredible isolation from reality as the rest of us know it.


60 posted on 05/09/2014 12:05:47 PM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (Tokyo Rove is more than a name, it's a GREAT WEBSITE)
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