Enjoyed your post. Your son sounds like the kind of person we want in those organizations. I have always thought the Scouts prepared boys well for success in life, not just in the military. The mindless Leftists think the Scouts are a paramilitary organization teaching young boys the skills to wage war, become militarists, and kill people with a slavish devotion to a uniform.
I obviously don’t see it that way, and the post below shows why.
Back around 2010 (I think) I had the opportunity to spend some time with a former USMC and Air National Guard pilot who retired as a Col. after 28 years. He had flown combat in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He had flown every fighter in the US inventory except for the F-22, and as I sat in his house looking at all the plaques on the wall, I could easily see this guy was Sierra Hotel. He’d gone to all schools, Top Gun, you name it. He had testimonials, pictures of him with famous people shaking hands, you could tell he made a mark.
His son was 16 years old. He was an impressive looking kid, crewcut, very athletic build, the most notable thing about him was his bearing. He met me at the door when I arrived, very polite and well spoken. He was wearing a USMC T-shirt, and looked like he was already in the Marines.
I spent about 4 hours with this career aviator, who had just retired from the military and was now flying Boeing airliners to Japan. He was a devout Christian, and told me that he had tendered his resignation because of the pro-homosexual policies he saw coming down from above. He did confess to me that the decision was probably easier for him to make because he was closer to retirement, and that there were going to be many younger officers like him who were going to be forced to make a decision that wasn’t going to be nearly as easy as his because they still had much of their careers in front of them.
He told me that he had made some DVDs dealing with the subject, but had not release them for public consumption. He talked to me about the homosexual agenda, and what their goals were. This man was not a bug eyed, spittle lipped fanatic. He was a well educated, religious man who spoke in even terms about this issue.
He spoke about his son. He said his son was an Eagle Scout, and was trying to obtain an Olympic slot in judo, and had been preparing to join the Marines. He said that his son was very focused, and had his religion. His son stood off to the side as we spoke, listening intently to us, but not interrupting us. I must say that I was astonished that his son was only 16 years old. He seemed completely and totally mature and adult, in complete control of himself. His father turned to his son and said “Tell him what you’re reading right now.”
His son said that he was reading a book named “The Book of Chivalry”. (This Is a Write up from Amazon.Com: The Book of Chivalry is the most pragmatic of all surviving chivalric manuals. Written at the height of the Hundred Years War, it includes the essential commonplaces of knighthood in the mid-fourteenth century and gives a close-up view of what one knight in particular absorbed of the medieval world of ideas around him, what he rejected or ignored, and what he added from his experience in camp, court, and campaign. Geoffroi de Charny was one of the quintessential figures of his age, with honors and praise bestowed upon him from both sides of the English Channel. He prepared the Book of Chivalry as a guide for members of the Company of the Star, a new but short-lived order of knights created by Jean II of France in 1352 to rival the English Order of the Garter. Elspeth Kennedy here edits the original French text of Charny and provides a facing-page translation for the modern reader. Richard. W. Kaeuper’s historical study places both man and his work in full context. In the formal themes that give Charny’s book structure, and in his many tangential comments and asides, this work proves a rich source for investigating questions about the political, military, religious, and social history of the later Middle Ages. With this translation, the prowess and piety of knights, their capacity to express themselves, their common assumptions, their views on masculine virtue, women, and love once more come vividly to life.)
I think this book would’ve been difficult reading for me, and I consider myself pretty well read and well spoken. His son expounded at length for about 10 min. on this book. Not once did he hem or haw, pause, say the phrases “uh”, “ahh”, “you know”. He talked about the concepts in the book, and how the core of the book was about caring for people who are weaker than you are, and that was what chivalry was really all about. It was astonishing. The 16-year-old kid seemed so mature and focused, I hadn’t really met a 16-year-old kid like him before.
His father told me (while his son was standing there) that his son was going to wait until he was married to engage in a sexual relationship. He then turned to his son and said something to the effect of “This is his choice of his own free will, not mine. We’ve talked about this at length, and he has told me how terrible it would be if I were to go out and engage in promiscuous relationships, and how ashamed he, as my son, would feel about my behavior. As an extension, he understands how will it affect him in our relationship if he were to engage in such behavior.” When I looked at his son, he looked easily at and said with no discomfort, shame or reticence “It’s true.”
His father turned to me and said “My son had been planning to join the Marines. He had been considering making a career of the military. He has decided, because of these policies towards homosexuality, that he is not going to enter the military.” His father continued “These people, running things, implementing these rules and policies, would have my son at their mercy. Just think of what people like that would do to a young man like him. No, I did not influence his decision in any way. But if he had asked my counsel, I would have advised him of exactly the same course.”
I was stunned and dismayed. I looked at this young man who seemed incredibly talented, exactly the kind of person we want in our military. Thoughtful, educated, principled and mature. If you never read the book “Once an Eagle” by Anton Myrer, this kid would likely have been a living embodiment of the main character in that book, a book that is routinely read at the military academies to teach leadership.
Our government is driving away the kind of people our military has had, and needs the most, to continue to be the best in the world, and instead is openly recruiting and attracting the exact opposite. Taking all of this in was devastating to me. I realized the devastation that these kind of policies regarding homosexuality were having and are going to have on our military.
I mention this because I have always viewed the positive aspects of the military and scouting in much the same way. God, Family, Country, honesty, self-reliance, responsibility, consideration, all those things. And both of these entities have been relentlessly worn down and attacked by the Left, and not undeliberately. They know exactly what they are doing in attacking the military and the Scouts.
Perhaps the BEST statement on this topic I've read is:
It has to be faced that they have won at the national level.
In some ways, there is a parallel with the BSA National organization to the NRA leadership. Both groups were amongst the most steadfast defenders of the underpinnings of the country - strong leadership and natural rights. Nobody could take them down, either. Somewhere along the way, they took their eye off the prize/let their guard down. Their contemporary shenanigans (bordering on being criminally negligent) combined with the attacks from the left, resulted in fallout that is stunning...and heartbreaking. Meanwhile, the enemies of American culture dance in the streets in delight.
Also in parallel, the sprit of developing tomorrow's leaders and defending the right to KABA is not vested with HQ...that spirit cannot be snuffed with a Chapter 11 filing nor revelations about Wayne's wardrobe expenses. Indeed, those painful actions MAY help usher in a cleaning of the Agean Stables.
Until then, we rebels, scattered throughout the nation but without a national office we trust, hold onto our ways and traditions...and an almost genetic predisposition to carry on. The question is: how shall we best meet our predisposition? Do we make a clean break and either form or join new substitute organizations, or do we become a sort of Scouting sedevancantist lot?
I've come to learn through our discourse that we are not enemies, but we sure talk like we are. Maybe it is passion...maybe we are peeved that National let us down...or perhaps, just maybe...this is what the left wants. Well, if that's the case, and at the risk of violating the Clean part of The Scout Law, I say...
If we can agree that whether we stay with BSA via local Troops (my preference) or start anew (others' preferences) that there is legitimacy in each others' chosen path, and that our anger should be directed stage left and not at my fellow actor, then our spirited posts shall not have been in vain.
Thank you, FRiends.