Those are the words that I first spoke as an eleven-year-old in the fall of 1985. And I have done my very best to live up to them, every day since.
That is how I choose to remember what it is to be a Boy Scout. They are the words that I made a lifetime commitment to uphold.
As of today the Boy Scouts of America is no more. It is now "Scouting America". Supposedly something for everyone.
Which is something that it can not be if we're going to be realistic about it.
This isn't the popular thing to say, but here it is: boys and girls are different. They always have been and they always will be. They have DRASTICALLY different needs physically, mentally, and emotionally.
At their best the individual Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts movements address those needs admirably (I'm not passing judgment on one or the other). I can see adult women leaders being accepted into the Order of the Arrow, and taking traditional roles in Cub Scout leadership, but young boys and young girls are vastly different from one another.
And that must be acknowledged and respected. No offense meant to those young women who have earned the Eagle Scout, but that is the highest honor for a program that from its inception by Lord Baden-Powell has guided young men to be their best. Girls need that kind of virtuous guidance also Yes the two programs are analogous but they are not compatible.
But I saw this coming over ten years ago. The Boy Scouts of America turned away from its noble virtues when it began allowing homosexuals into the ranks. Those practicing perversion had already corrupted the Girl Scouts of America. But the real prize was the Boy Scouts. And now at last as of today, their conquest is complete.
Liberalism destroys everything it touches. I honestly thought the Boy Scouts would forever be above that kind of corruption. But alas, it was not to be.
I am going to keep the shadowbox up on my wall containing my Eagle Scout medal, my Eagle card, and patch. I earned those, more than thirty years ago. Nothing can take that away from me.
But I lament for those who now earn something that has come to stand for much less than it used to.
2 comments:
Boy Scouts and Scouters have seen this coming for more than a decade. But their concerns didn't matter to the national leadership. It's the ones at the top of the organization that are most responsible for destroying Scouting, not the rank and file. As for me I am with you Chris. I EARNED Eagle Scout and that's something nothing can take away from me or you or any other real Eagle.
The Boy Scouts already has female participation with the Explorers program. And for a long time now women leaders have been allowed to be members of the Order of the Arrow. Very right Chris, boys and girls are not the same. They each have their needs. If only Girl Scouts not embraced liberalism it would still be a good organization.
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