The Boy Scouts’ Bankruptcy Is Not Just Financial. It’s Moral

The Federalist ^ | 01/02/2019 | Alfred Siewers

[SeekAndFind]

What’s left of the Boy Scouts of America (now operating as Scouts BSA) is on the brink of declaring bankruptcy, according to recent news reports. With estimated assets of more than $1 billion, Scouting’s problems go beyond the financial, deep into the problems with America’s civil culture today.

The U.S. Boy Scout movement reached its numerical height in 1969 with 6 million members, in a year with President Richard M. Nixon as honorary head of the Scouts and Eagle Scout astronaut Neil Armstrong stepping out on the moon.

I was a Cub Scout that year, once a week proudly wearing my uniform to Armstrong Elementary School in our Chicago neighborhood, heading to our well-attended den meeting right after school. My liberal Democratic parents signed me up, my dad a World War II veteran supportive of Scouting’s patriotism.

Fast-forward ahead nearly 50 years: Scout membership has dropped toward 2 million. The impending departure of the Latter Day Saints troops this year will drop that total by one-fifth. Our local school district in conservative central Pennsylvania won’t allow promoting Scouting at school. In our college town, many in the woke local elite now despise Scouting as neo-Nazi and white nationalist, despite efforts to change the national movement to please progressives. My son’s local troop closed recently for lack of members, and so did others in the area.

The national organization faces large lawsuits due to alleged cases of sexual abuse as state legislatures change the statute of limitations on such cases. It also faces a lawsuit from the Girl Scouts for poaching on their membership by changing its name recently to Scouts BSA and recruiting girls.

It’s Not Just Financial Bankruptcy The old American Boy Scouts might as well be filing for moral bankruptcy, having lost both its base and elite cultural capital. What used to be an organization designed to help boys become men has now been re-fashioned in line with the new gnosticism of American culture, accepting LGTBQIA ideology, while abandoning its traditional ascetic position about sex and its opposition to atheism.

Next year’s World Scouting Jamboree in West Virginia reportedly will be the first hosted by the former Boy Scouts of America to make condoms available to participants. A 2016 agreement with the Unitarian-Universalists overrode the group’s membership requirement of belief in God by allowing belief in humanism, contrary to the Scout Oath.

The “bowling alone” syndrome of declining civic groups in the United States, over-scheduling of young people, and the weakening of American family models all played a role. In fact, political scientist Paul Kengor of Grove City College has detailed the history of American communists and cultural Marxists’s efforts to target and subvert Scouting in particular, to help undermine American family life.

Yet it was corporate executives and members of the U.S. political establishment (including Scouting leaders such as Rex Tillerson and Robert Gates) on the national board who with progressive staff members agreed to surrender to pressure to sexualize the organization in recent years, despite an earlier hard-fought U.S. Supreme Court victory by the organization to preserve membership rules. In admitting openly gay members and leaders, accepting transgenderism, then admitting girls, Scouting turned its back on a cultural background of Christian teaching on sexuality going back millennia.

The central issue was not admitting openly LGBTQIA-identifying members and leaders, but redefining the group’s value of freedom as self-expression, rather than self-restraint. The latter was the traditional ethos of Scouting, not shaping boys into open heterosexuals or any other type of -sexuals, in the “Mad Men”/Hugh Hefner mold or anything else.

Turning On Historic Christian Morality In Scouting in recent decades, physical edginess and “tough” training requirements also were loosened or removed. The values of a culture dedicated to the human person as totally malleable, based on self-will, took hold. Safety and comfort became increasingly the ultimate values.

Such values, which affected Scouting ultimately more because of changes in in its anchoring mainline Protestant and business cultures than leftist subversion, reject an age-old cultural inheritance of the American republic that regarded virtue and self-restraint as the goals of education of young men, to be leaders of a free society and the families that would continue it.

In the wake of the Neo-Chalcedonianism established by the Fifth Ecumenical Church Council in 553, St. Maximus the Confessor in the seventh century articulated the basis for traditional Christian ascetic approaches to identity as a cosmology, not merely morality. It was a synthesis in part of biblical and Greek philosophical traditions. He wrote of how God created man male and female, but also that there was neither male nor female in Christ.

Maximus’ Christian Byzantine Empire had a performative sense of biological and embodied sexual identity of men and women, with also a third gender or sex, that of both eunuchs and ascetics. Virtuous and holy women could aspire to manliness; men could venerate the Mother of God as the best of saints. Self-restrained and grace-filled chastity, engaged in marriage to the oppose sex or to Christ in monastic community, was seen as leading to the fulfillment of human life in oneness with God’s grace—not essentializing sexual passions by objectifying others.

The complementarity of marriage was a living symbol of the relation of humanity in the universal church to God. Biological sexes of male and female were an embodied sacred iconography to be honored and followed, nurturing trans-generational families in which men could learn to be guardians of peace, husbands who would lay down their lives for their families and country.

That is the deep and complex centuries-old basis for a moral initiation into manhood that dimly still underlay the Boy Scout Oath and Law, a distant cultural inheritance.

Setting Boys Adrift In a Mooring-less Culture Scouts were never a perfect organization. Major problems with sexual abuse and coverups of it show that. They had quasi-Masonic aspects in Order of the Arrow ceremonies and “great Scoutmaster in the sky” language at camp chapel, emerging from an odd crucible of Teddy Roosevelt-style nationalist progressivism and British Empire civics of the early 20th century. Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book” also inspired Cub Scout ranks.

But in the lost world of 1969 working-class Chicago neighborhoods, in the heyday of the Boy Scouts of America, I with many other boys before and since learned valuable lessons from Scouting, and however imperfectly kept respect for the virtues of the Scout Oath and Law tucked away with my old copy of the Scout handbook and Scout pocket knife in later years.

Our eldest son found a home in a small rural troop run by dedicated military and law enforcement veterans. I often went along on camping trips as an adult volunteer leader. It was a great experience and a sad day when the troop closed recently due to dwindling membership.

Our family’s relationship with regular Scouting ended around the time our younger son in fifth grade ran to get his copy of Boys Life magazine in the mail only to throw it aside because it was featuring girls, as if photoshopped into Norman Rockwell Scouting art. He lost his enthusiasm, our eldest lost his home troop, and dad didn’t want to send money to a national organization adrift.

Not just the old Boy Scouts but America may need receivership for moral bankruptcy. Either way, the real shame is that it is that much of a harder path today for many American boys without strong male role models to find their way to the freedom of self-restraint in manhood envisioned in that millennia-old tradition.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Alfred Kentigern Siewers is the William E. Simon visiting fellow in religion and public life (2018-2019) at the James Madison Program, Princeton University, and associate professor of English at Bucknell University. He is also reader and warden at Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Mission Church in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He teaches and writes on Christian literature and ideas of nature, and on public rhetoric related to secularism and faith. His views are his own.

[Albion Wilde]

"Scouts BSA" ping.

Sad.

[Albion Wilde]

Yet it was corporate executives and members of the U.S. political establishment (including Scouting leaders such as Rex Tillerson and Robert Gates) on the national board who with progressive staff members agreed to surrender to pressure to sexualize the organization in recent years, despite an earlier hard-fought U.S. Supreme Court victory by the organization to preserve membership rules. In admitting openly gay members and leaders, accepting transgenderism, then admitting girls, Scouting turned its back on a cultural background of Christian teaching on sexuality going back millennia.

[SoFloFreeper]

you are correct.

[Albion Wilde]

Excellent article. Orthodox author.

[sphinx]

Great timeline. I see Scouting started to collapse precisely when I aged out and went to college. Coincidence? I think not.

[SENTINEL]

I earned my Eagle at the age of 14. I am a former Marine Platoon Sgt and was a scoutmaster for 15 years. I now have a 9 year old son I will not allow into the org. What a shame.

Morally straight, my ass!

[Pikachu_Dad]

It was a murder not a suicide

[SENTINEL]

Eagle Scouts scare communists....

[AFPhys]

my dad’s occupation was professional scout executive, and has undoubtedly been turning in his grave for over a decade due to his organization’s moral failures.

[fwdude]

Be thankful that he’s not around to see the unchecked perversion that has flooded into Scouting.

And no, I don’t think we’ve seen the bottom yet.

[Texas resident]

You bet. I was a scout and Explorer back in the 1970’s.

I was a scout leader while my son worked his way through the Scouts.

We had to go through Virtus training and two deep leadership training. Then they allowed gays into the organization.

The BSA threw all that out the window along with the oath.

They deserve their fate.

[SunkenCiv]

Well, yeah. Thanks Albion Wilde.

[Tired of Taxes]

I had a good experience scouting during the 1970s, . . . Our summer camp even featured archery and rifle ranges. In the late 1990s, I put my own sons through the program . . . Boys weren't even allowed to carry a pocketknife and the mothers went everywhere with them.

That must not be true for every troop - unless things changed in the 2000's. In the troop my sons belonged to, up to around 4 years ago, their summer camp had archery and rifle ranges. They were encouraged to have pocketknives. (One of my sons brought home a large folding knife from camp once.) And we mothers (mostly) weren't allowed to be as involved as the fathers.

[DoodleBob]

To be precise:

Dr. Alfred Kentigern Siewers is the William E. Simon visiting fellow in religion and public life (2018-2019) at the James Madison Program, Princeton University, and associate professor of English at Bucknell University. He is also reader and warden at Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Mission Church in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He teaches and writes on Christian literature and ideas of nature, and on public rhetoric related to secularism and faith. His views are his own.

I don't doubt Dr. Siewers' bona fides aside from Princeton, but anyone who lays in to the Scouts for moral failings while he fiddles from Central NJ's Ivy League HQ seems to have an agenda.

The irony of this situation is that the boys and young men that could benefit MOST from Scouting, i.e., those from single-parent homes, will not "benefit" from Dr. Siewers' alleged wisdom since he's checked out. How sad, in this time and age, when Deplorablism is on the ascent, when we have more in common with a billionaire President from Queens than with the educators down the street, that men of good character are trashing and abandoning perhaps THE single best youth organization when it comes to proper male formation.

Let us not be Pollyanna. There ARE problems with BSA, no doubt about it. And yes, there are other competing clubs that MAY have a thing or two over BSA. But a century of a program that has given us millions of Eagles and even more well-developed males shoulnd't be disposed of because senior management took their eye off the ball and/or demographic changes. Indeed, the BSA attendees to whom Trump spoke in the summer of 2017 totally ATE UP his speech and his message. But then again, the Boy Scouts have been a pernicious antidote to secular modernity for those of us in the know.

[DoodleBob]

Many of the most popular Non-Eagle required merit badges involve firearms or knives. Notwithstanding all the hoopla around what's going wrong with BSA, the boys are drawn to the things secular/modern society considers to be "bad."

What more of a vote of confidence does one need?

• 2017 rankings

  Rank	Merit Badge	2017 earned
  1	First Aid	69,563
  2	Swimming	62,057
  3	Citizenship in the World	55,917
  4	Environmental Science	55,703
  5	Citizenship in the Nation	52,949
  6	Cooking	51,004
  7	Camping	50,871
  8	Communication	50,503
  9	Personal Fitness	50,428
  10	Personal Management	49,287
  11	Family Life	48,774
  12	Citizenship in the Community	48,736
  13	Emergency Preparedness	43,351
  14	Fingerprinting	38,989
  15	Rifle Shooting	37,796
  16	Leatherwork	35,490
  17	Archery	35,301
  18	Wood Carving	32,943
  19	Wilderness Survival	30,814
  20	Kayaking	30,466
  21	Chess	26,919
  22	Canoeing	26,052
  23	Fishing	24,343
  24	Art	21,567
  25	Lifesaving	20,748
  26	Shotgun Shooting	19,703
  27	Space Exploration	18,994
  28	Mammal Study	18,715
  29	Geology	18,674
  30	Climbing	18,356
  31	Indian Lore	17,003
  32	Astronomy	15,702
  33	Basketry	15,406
  34	Robotics	15,031
  35	Aviation	14,347
  36	Small Boat Sailing	14,182
  37	Pioneering	13,870
  38	Game Design	13,810
  39	Photography	13,550
  40	Metalwork	12,990
  41	Weather	12,690
  42	Geocaching	12,604
  43	Engineering	11,773
  44	Fire Safety	11,746
  45	Orienteering	11,742
  46	Fish & Wildlife Management	11,615
  47	Nature	11,586
  48	Forestry	11,456
  49	Welding	10,656
  50	Music	10,592
  51	Chemistry	10,248
  52	Automotive Maintenance	10,205
  53	Search and Rescue	10,107
  54	Motor Boating	9,517
  55	Soil and Water Conservation	9,484
  56	Moviemaking	9,262
  57	Electricity	9,245
  58	Digital Technology	8,768
  59	Sculpture	8,715
  60	Horsemanship	8,641
  61	Rowing	8,239
  62	Pottery	7,940
  63	Oceanography	7,763
  64	Electronics	7,524
  65	Signs, Signals and Codes	7,364
  66	Sustainability	7,295
  67	Snow Sports	7,267
  68	Hiking	7,084
  69	Public Speaking	7,035
  70	Pulp and Paper	6,879
  71	Archaeology	6,876
  72	Crime Prevention	6,721
  73	Nuclear Science	6,702
  74	Railroading	6,663
  75	Sports	6,556
  76	Reptile and Amphibian Study	6,053
  77	Scouting Heritage	5,916
  78	Salesmanship	5,908
  79	Radio	5,840
  80	Cycling	5,742
  81	Traffic Safety	5,689
  82	American Heritage	5,496
  83	Animation	5,462
  84	Law	5,402
  85	Disabilities Awareness	5,239
  86	Genealogy	5,213
  87	Woodwork	5,212
  88	Bird Study	4,965
  89	Mining in Society	4,673
  90	Fly Fishing	4,597
  91	Plumbing	4,398
  92	Pets	4,289
  93	Scholarship	4,171
  94	Collections	4,140
  95	Programming	4,138
  96	Coin Collecting	3,930
  97	Animal Science	3,848
  98	Architecture	3,654
  99	Medicine	3,561
  100	Reading	3,524
  101	Backpacking	3,498
  102	Entrepreneurship	3,473
  103	Home Repairs	3,432
  104	Inventing	3,296
  105	Safety	3,280
  106	Golf	3,248
  107	Painting	3,222
  108	Dentistry	3,135
  109	Graphic Arts	3,066
  110	Water Sports	2,966
  111	Whitewater	2,832
  112	Athletics	2,754
  113	Energy	2,749
  114	Dog Care	2,661
  115	Insect Study	2,644
  116	Model Design and Building	2,564
  117	Truck Transportation	2,466
  118	Veterinary Medicine	2,451
  119	Theater	2,332
  120	Farm Mechanics	2,307
  121	American Cultures	2,298
  122	Textile	2,205
  123	Plant Science	2,107
  124	Exploration	2,090
  125	Scuba Diving	1,842
  126	Public Health	1,798
  127	Skating	1,785
  128	Landscape Architecture	1,483
  129	Gardening	1,450
  130	Composite Materials	1,407
  131	Journalism	1,127
  132	Drafting	1,119
  133	Stamp Collecting	954
  134	American Labor	901
  135	Surveying	863
  136	American Business	613
  137	Bugling	454
  138	Cinematography	231
  139	Computers	207

[MacNaughton]

31 The noted songwriter, Irving Berlin, assigned all the royalties from his popular song, ‘God Bless America’ to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. …

How the BSA benefits every time you hear ‘God Bless America’ 2/03/2016
Berlin released “God Bless America” in 1938 (though he had written it two decades earlier). In 1940, he established the God Bless America Fund, setting aside the song’s royalties “for the benefit of the youth of America,” according to this story in The New York Times. The fund’s two major beneficiaries: Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in New York.

And so, for the past 75 years, every time “God Bless America” has been performed, a portion of the royalties have gone to the Greater New York Councils (which covers the 5 boroughs of NYC) of the Boy Scouts of America.

During the last 5 years of the Cultural Marxism takeover of the BSA I recall reading an article that said that the GBA Fund board of directors were threatening to withhold its customary funding of the BSA if it didn't change its membership rules to permit openly homosexual youths and adults.

[MacNaughton]

54 There ARE problems with BSA, no doubt about it. … Indeed, the BSA attendees to whom Trump spoke in the summer of 2017 totally ATE UP his speech and his message. But then again, the Boy Scouts have been a pernicious antidote to secular modernity for those of us in the know.

The Head of the Boy Scouts Just Apologized After Trump's National Jamboree Speech

"... I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. That was never our intent. The invitation for the sitting U.S. President to visit the National Jamboree is a long-standing tradition that has been extended to the leader of our nation that has had a Jamboree during his term since 1937. It is in no way an endorsement of any person, party or policies. For years, people have called upon us to take a position on political issues, and we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program."

[DoodleBob]

Many of us regarded that “apology” as we regarded Obama’s 8-year apology/Presidency.

[MacNaughton]

42 Yet it was corporate executives and members of the U.S. political establishment (including Scouting leaders such as Rex Tillerson and Robert Gates) on the national board who with progressive staff members agreed to surrender to pressure to sexualize the organization in recent years …

[Tired of Taxes]

Boys need action and adventure (and so do some of us girls).

If boys don’t experience action and adventure through something like scouting, they might look for it somewhere else, sometimes in the wrong places.