Posted on 05/27/2013 7:51:13 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)
It’s a sad day for both Scouting and for freedom. Indeed, it’s a sad day for America. The century-old Boy Scouts of America (BSA) – created in 1910 to “prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes” – has betrayed its own constituency, mission, oath and law.
Last Thursday, approximately 1,400 adult BSA delegates from around the country gathered in Texas and decided, in a disgracefully lopsided vote, to welcome into its ranks, “open and avowed” homosexuality (boy-on-boy sexual attraction and behavior), thereby disavowing the “morally straight” Scout Oath its members are sworn to uphold.
They voted unwisely.
History will reflect that on this day the BSA turned from morally straight to immorally bent – that this once great organization – founded on “honor,” “reverence” and biblical morality – was crushed beneath the worldly weight of pagan idolatry.
Whereas, for over a century, millions of boys have raised their right hands, swearing “on my honor” to “do my duty to God and my country” – on this day, hundreds of adult delegates likewise raised their right hands, shook their fists at God and flipped their middle fingers at both the boys they serve and the parents who trusted them.
While endeavoring to “gain the world,” this once honorable institution has forfeited its soul.
Scripture admonishes: “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23). This was a catastrophic miscalculation. It was sin, and, tragically, through this sin, the BSA has now effectively sealed its own fate. It has set into motion its own demise.
Even by its own estimates, BSA leadership admits that the decision will likely result in a mass exodus from Scouting. They anticipate that as many as 400,000 Scouts and Scouters will leave the organization (acceptable casualties in the war on morality, I guess). Still, as devastating as this number is, it too represents a gross miscalculation.
Consider, for instance, that when Canada’s version of the Boy Scouts voted in 1998 to welcome open homosexuality, its membership rolls plummeted by over half in just five years, forcing camp closures, staff layoffs and huge budget cuts. Looking north of the border for clues, then, we can expect that, with current membership at around 2.6 million, it’s more likely that roughly 1.5 million Boy Scouts and troop masters will walk.
Then again, we’re talking about “progressive” Canada. This is the good ol’ USA. With over 61 percent of Scouts, Scouters and parents opposing the homosexualization of Boy Scouts, and over 70 percent of U.S. Scout groups sponsored by churches and religious organizations, it’s not unreasonable to expect that defections will even exceed this estimate.
In short, BSA’s betrayal may well result in near-total ruin. The wages of sin is death.
Here’s the reality: Reality has not changed. Objective truth did not suddenly and miraculously reverse itself on May 23, 2013. As BSA has always acknowledged (until Thursday), homosexual behavior remains empirically disordered and immoral. The only thing that has changed is politics.
Ultimately, this decision had nothing to do with “tolerance” or “inclusivity.” Neither did it concern the best interests of the boys who make up Boy Scouting. Instead, this decision was rooted in pure evil. It had everything to do with money. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10).
And wandered from the faith they have.
Now come the many griefs.
Really, three things drove this decision: Fear, greed and politics. A number of high-dollar corporate donors threatened to pull funding from BSA if they maintained the existing policy on sexual morality. Additionally, a number of extremist pressure groups, aided by a sympathetic left-wing media, brought tremendous pressure to bear.
But the pressure’s not going away. The BSA made a critical error in judgment. It showed weakness. This has only whipped these radicals into a heightened frenzy. Within moments of the “gay” announcement, Nancy Pelosi called the move “an important first step.” The Human Rights Campaign demanded “the new policy doesn’t go far enough,” and Mother Jones, a liberal online publication, posted an article titled, “Boy Scouts: You Can Be Gay Until You’re 18.”
Sin is never satisfied. The homofascist thirst for absolute affirmation is unquenchable.
What’s the next step? Activists now demand that adult men who desire sex with other males (“gay” scout masters) be allowed to take your sons camping overnight. Soon they’ll be insisting that “transgender boys” (girls who wish they were boys) be allowed to join as well.
What a camping trip. Imagine the pup tent. Your son and Jimmy – who’s got a crush on him – along with Billy and Billy’s boyfriend Bobby, all snuggly warm in the middle of nowhere. But make room for Sammy (formerly Suzie) and Sammy’s boyfriend Gary (formerly Gertrude).
Don’t forget to hang the disco ball.
And “always be prepared.”
You think there won’t be new membership stagnation? Who wants to sign their boy up for the “Gay Scouts”? What’s a kid gotta to do to earn his “tolerance badge”? Parents, you might want to get out while the gettin’s good. As one Eagle Scout told me, “I’m not leaving the Boy Scouts, the Boy Scouts left me.”
It’s only a matter of time until BSA caves on these demands as well. They’ll admit “gay” men and girls soon. They have no choice. Now that they’ve opened the door, they’ve waived the only legal defense they once had: religious and moral conviction.
But here’s the good news. I and dozens more will be convening for a coalition meeting of pro-family leaders next month in Louisville, Ky., to discuss the creation of a moral alternative to the Boy Scouts. Nature abhors a vacuum. We intend to fill it.
Still, until then, please join me as we mourn the loss of this once honorable organization. The Boy Scouts of America: Born Feb. 8, 1910 – Died May 23, 2013.
May it rest in peace.
As others have said, there is so much that isn't known about the details of the voting. I wonder if the BSA officials who caved got any assurance from the strong-arming corporate donors that they'd cease their strong-arming after gay scout members only are accepted?
I have a few loose ends to tie up, and then I will be done with the BSA for good.
Very painful—My involvement with Scouting started in 1962 when I was seven years old, and I’ve been associated with the organization since that time. I made Eagle, as did both of my sons.
My only intent was to inform some people who might not be aware that the royalties from "God Bless America" go the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Why do some people have to read more into something than is written. You make me sick!!!!
“What if families took the BSA back?
Why should they lose?”
This old scoutmaster has too many years in, what used to be a great organization, to pack it all in without a fight. Not in my troop is my standard. I will make the BSA force me out. The BSA gets $16.00 / boy for registration and insurance. I know it costs more than that to operate. I will do my best to reverse this from within, or at least put up one hell of a fight.
I was a Scout in the 1980s and 90s and I agree with what you said. I really do not know why they would do this. They are doing tremendous damage and they just don’t care.
In the end it all came down to idolatry of money.
Nothing else had anything to do with anything. The simple scum in charge of the BSA were corrupted by the money. After that, it was all internal politics and spin.
Congratulations to them. They'll get their dirty money, from people and corporations and "charities" who already folded like cheap suits to the malignant forces of decadence and political correctness.
RE: You make me sick!!!!
The feeling is mutual. I ASKED A QUESTION, Which you could have simply answered with a yes or no.
If I read more than what was written, I would not have asked a question, I would have made a statement. Stop reading into my motives.
I don’t know if i’ll be condemned for this or not, but it bears speaking: I am an Eagle Scout, and a volunteer in scouting; i intend to remain in the BSA as a volunteer, because i believe there is still hope for Boy Scouts. Anyone who was a scout probably knows someone in scouting that isn’t there just for merit badges and camaraderie, if you know what i mean. I knew a few like that, and while they weren’t completely open about it, the other boys also knew. This decision doesn’t change anything really; Because National has upheld the ban on gay leadership, as well as the clause that states that any sexual activity by youth is immoral, all it does is allow every boy an opportunity to learn important skills. This decision is fair from an endorsement of homosexuality, and i don’t think you’ll be seeing any “diversity training” in scouting any time soon. Instead of backing down and running towards something else, i say “retreat hell!” I’ll remain a volunteer, and have a voice in what scouting is and does for its boys. I will also fight the corruption that many will attempt to bring to scouting, as it seems is likely to come in the following years. God Bless all!
Stop reading into my "sayings!" The fact that you raised the question is proof you read more into what was written! Ridiculous!
RE: Stop reading into my “sayings!” The fact that you raised the question is proof you read more into what was written! Ridiculous!
Again, I ASKED A QUESTION, I did not make a statement. A question is a desire for clarification, not an attempt to read into anything.
YOU are being ridiculous, not me.
I applaud your determination but the BSA has already shown is has no backbone. Quickly, they will be allowing homo’s to be scout leaders. My children are grown but I will strongly discourage my grandson from joining BSA because I don’t believe it is salvagable or worthy of my grandsons.
Just like I didn't give a thought to "gays" when I posted about him giving the royalties to the Scouts. I just think it's interesting.
Were you aware that the royalties to "God Bless America" from the first time it was sung by Kate Smith, have gone to the Scouts?
FWIW, I don't spend much time thinking about "gays." I also don't think that "gays" are responsible for for the moral decay of our society. I think heteros have contributed more than our fair share to that!
Who first made a mockery of marriage?
6/26/2003 – In Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, the SCOTUS in a 6-3 ruling struck down the sodomy law in TX and, by extension, invalidated laws against sodomy in 13 states making homosexual activity legal in every U.S. state and territory.
I found the letter below reprinted in The Pink Swastika.
NOV 1992 – NAMBLA sent a letter to BSA Chief Scout Executive Ben Love in which NAMBLA predicted that BSA would eventually succumb to homosexual demands. The letter was also published in the NOV, 1992 NAMBLA Bulletin.
Dear Mr. Love, (Chief Scout Executive, BSA)
At its 16th membership conference, held in Chicago, August 7-9-1992, the North American Man/Boy Love Association unanimously adopted the following resolution:
“NAMBLA calls on the Boy Scouts of America to cease its discrimination against openly gay or lesbian persons in the appointment of its scout masters. This will permit scouts to be exposed to a variety of lifestyles and will permit more of those individuals who genuinely wish to serve boys to do so.”
I feel especially honored to have been asked to alert you of this resolution. I have also been a scout and a scout leader and share with so many in NAMBLA affection for the movement.
We recognize, of course, that the action for which we call is inevitable. What a great added contribution your organization will make possible to all the boys and girls who participate in it when you take this step. May it be taken in the near future.
We share a common mission — to bring greater understanding and light and purpose to the young as they grow. We invite you to join with us in cherishing individual integrity, and in seeking the opportunity for every boy and girl in our country to find their own truth. We encourage you to help every person associated with your organization to be able to express those values from themselves which to them represent for themselves the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. As we work together toward these ends Light will guide our way.
We express these sentiments most respectfully,
Very Cordially,
Leland Stevenson
Co-Recording Secretary, NAMBLA
The only way we are going to learn anything of the details of the vote is if someone on the National Executive Board or 1 of the 1,400 voting delegates who were there decides to leak it. So far, that hasn't happened. The number of voting delegates has long been established policy within BSA. The delegates come everyone of BSA's ~294 local councils.
Remember the 11-man panel that was secretly selected by BSA National 3 years ago to make a decision on this very issue? Many of the homosexualists within BSA complained bitterly that they did not know who they were, how they were selected, or have input into their committee.
7/17/2012 – BSA spokesman Deron Smith announced that after a 2-year study, an 11-member special committee returned a unanimous decision that BSA should retain its current membership policy excluding open homosexuals and atheists. The committee had been formed discreetly by top BSA leaders in 2010 and consisted of professional scout executives and adult volunteers. Many veteran volunteer scouters bitterly complained of the lack of transparency in how this committee was selected and operated.
And we all thought it was settled. Next thing we know ...
1/28/2013 – Six months after announcing that BSA would retain its exclusive membership policy, BSA spokesman Deron Smith announced that the BSA National Executive Board (~ 72 members) was prepared to vote on the “local option” resolution at its next business meeting on 2/06/2013.
That created a firestorm ...
2/06/2013 – BSA spokesman Deron Smith announced that the NEB postponed its vote on the “local option” at today’s NEB business meeting. He also said it would be brought before the entire National Council voting membership for a vote at the next annual national council business meeting over May 22-24 at the Gaylord Texan Hotel, in Grapevine, TX.
As Paul Harvey would say, "Here is the rest of the story."
5/10/2013
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130510/NONPROFITS/130519985
The God Bless America Fund has withheld a donation because of gay ban.
The Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America has lost a long-time supporter because of its national organization's ban on gay youth and leaders.
The God Bless America Fund, which controls the royalties of its famous namesake song, withheld funds in December because it did not receive adequate assurances from the NYC Boy Scouts' leadership that it was not discriminating against gay scouts or leaders. The fund generates between $100,000 and $200,000 a year, which is usually split between the NYC Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of Greater New York.
Bert Fink, a spokesman for the God Bless America Fund, couldn't immediately say how much money was withheld from the NYC Boy Scouts but noted it was in the five-figure range. The NYC Boy Scouts did get a check last June. Mr. Fink said that the fund has always been very concerned about the Boy Scouts of America's ban against gay individuals but was confident the local chapter wasn't discriminating. However, he said that over the summer the NYC Boy Scouts' leaders "couldn't unequivocally say that they do not discriminate," so the fund withheld its donation.
He said the group will reconsider the decision after the outcome of a vote slated for May 23 by the Boy Scouts of America on whether to allow gay scouts. The group would still ban gay leaders.
"We are truly grateful for the generous support of the God Bless America Fund, which has been transformative in our work, enriching the lives of hundreds of thousands of New York City children," said a spokesman for the NYC Boy Scouts, in a statement.
He added that, "The Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America continues to practice non-discrimination here in New York City and strongly believes that both gay adults and youth must be welcomed in scouting. We support the proposed change in policy as a meaningful step in the right direction, and share the God Bless America's Fund's commitment to advocating for total inclusion."
The anti-gay policy has caused numerous donors, including Intel Corp. and UPS, to stop funding the Boy Scouts of America. And even though the NYC Boy Scouts said it doesn't follow the lead of its national organization, its funding has suffered, according to sources. Tax records show that in the five years ended in 2011, donations, grants and membership fees fell 36% to $7.2 million.
But the God Bless America Fund had been a stalwart supporter of the NYC Boy Scouts. Irving Berlin wrote "God Bless America" to boost the country's spirits during WWII but didn't want to take any royalties from it. In 1940, he established the God Bless America Fund and said that royalties should go to support America's youth. Funds were distributed to girl and boy scout troops around the country. However, since the 1990s, the royalties only flowed to the New York City chapters of each organization.
In the 12 months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the fund generated $800,000, or $400,000 for each group. If the NYC Boy Scouts received at least $50,000 from the fund annually since 1990, plus the $400,000 in 2001, that would total about $1.5 million for the NYC Boy Scouts. Former communist David Horowitz said that all the commies from the 60-70s took the "long march through the institutions" to collapse the republic from within. Horowitz said that over half of the charitable non-profit foundations founded by successful, dead, white, male, capitaltists have had their board of directors undermined from within and take over by the progressives from the 60-70s. This is where so many of the leftist causes find their money - grants.
Actually, it's way PAST time to pull your boys out of the Boy Scouts. These decisions aren't made out of the blue. They are the logical conclusion to a long period of festering liberalization. An organization can't make a rotten decision like this unless its core is already rotten. Not to say that many local units didn't still espouse true scouting values. But the individual units don't make the rules.
I have heard from many former scouts and current scout leaders that the BSA has been tacking left for decades. After all, they've been tolerating many "openly 'geh'" activist scouts for years, and only the most egregiously disruptive ones have been dismissed. None of these would have been tolerated 25 years ago.
There are plenty of camels
To cross the desert, he has a Toyota truck
They don’t give up, do they?
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