Article on the Scouts
Boy Scouts still under heavy fire
David Limbaugh
June 4, 2004
One of the most outrageous injustices occurring in our society is the
homosexual activists’ relentless assault on the Boy Scouts of America (BSA),
all because the BSA will not conform its standards to accommodate their
lifestyle.
It’s not enough that even the liberal United States Supreme Court ruled in Boy
Scouts of America v. Dale that the Constitution guarantees the BSA’s right to
exclude homosexuals from leadership positions in its organization. Homosexual
activists will not take no for an answer. Their brand of tolerance insists that
no tolerance be accorded the Scouts.
Forget the BSA’s constitutional right to freely associate with whomever they
please. No one dares to withhold approval of the homosexual lifestyle lest they
invite the unquenchable wrath of homosexual activists who, ironically, insist
their aim is to prevent hatred.
Have we turned our backs on traditional morality so completely in this country
that we won’t even stand up for one of the last remaining groups that has the
unwavering integrity and fortitude to resist the onslaught against decency so
rampant in our popular culture?
How many times have you heard people, your own friends and acquaintances,
lament the demise of our moral fabric? Yet when that rare group fights to
preserve traditional values we mostly sit idly by as the culture unleashes its
vengeance against it.
Ever since the Dale case, the homosexual lobby has redoubled its efforts to
cripple this fine organization through sheer bullying tactics and intimidation.
When will those who appreciate the work of the Scouts begin to speak up on
their behalf and denounce and perhaps even boycott those organizations
conspiring to hasten their capitulation to the culture?
No, homosexual activists and some of their political supporters will not be
denied. In Madison, Wis., the Boy Scouts volunteered to assist with the city’s
Fourth of July celebration in exchange for a modest donation. But the Madison
City Council passed a measure to compel the organizers of the fireworks display
not to donate to the Boy Scouts because of the BSA’s “anti-gay” stance.
Though it is not a city-run event, the council felt justified in intervening
because the city contributes $60,000 toward it. Councilman Steve Holtzman
said, “This is an inclusive event, and we simply will not support organizations
that have a discriminatory policy.” The mayor disagrees, saying, “It sends a
terrible message. I think for the city to be dictating where the funds go is a
little presumptuous.”
In keeping with their character, the Scouts said they would nevertheless help
with the event, even without the donation. But such graciousness will not take
them out of the line of fire. This is a war, and the homosexual lobby seems to
have plenty of allies.
Take the United Way in Portland, Ore., for example, which cut off $150,000 in
funding to some 53,000 inner-city children because the Boy Scouts help them
with a number of activities. United Way chapters in other major cities have
also severed ties with the Scouts, including San Francisco, Chicago, Boston,
Philadelphia, Madison, Sacramento, Hartford, Seattle, Dallas, Tucson,
Providence, Santa Fe, Miami, Portland, Maine and Portland, Ore.
There’s more. The city of Berkeley, Calif., denied the Sea Scouts free berthing
rights at a local dock because of their relationship with the BSA. The
California Supreme Court decreed that state judges working with the Scouts must
not sit on any case involving homosexuals. The state of Connecticut prevented
its employees from using their voluntary payroll deductions to donate to the
Scouts, though they have been among the eligible beneficiaries of the state’s
charitable program for more than 30 years. And get this, when the Second U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the right of the state to discriminate
against the scouts, Judge Guido Calabresi blistered the Scouts in a footnote to
the ruling, essentially saying the state could make the scouts “pay a price”
for their position on homosexuals.
A federal judge ruled that the city of San Diego could not lease public park
land to the Scouts because they were a religious organization. Keep in mind
that the Scouts fervently deny their aim is to promote religion. But since they
do promote traditional values, which some in the popular culture find
offensive, they have now been deemed a religious group. Is that the point at
which we’ve arrived in this nation: Any group that adheres to Christian values
will be speciously classified as religious? Can you think of a better way to
secularize a society by coercion?
I simply don’t understand the silence from those who say they support the
Scouts.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
