Breaking: Exclusive: Boy Scouts Pressured to Change Position on Homosexuality by Church Sponsors pb

“DECENCY VS. INDECENCY”

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jan. 31, 2013) —[Editor’s Note:  This article may be freely reproduced and widely distributed with attribution and a link back to The Post & Email.  Anyone interested in supporting the Boy Scouts’ current position by sponsoring a troop may contact this writer at editor@thepostemail.com or the Boy Scouts of America directly at 972-580-2000.]

In an interview with Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III on Thursday evening, he told The Post & Email that a scouting professional at the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) national headquarters revealed the reason that the organization is considering changing its longstanding policy of disallowing homosexuals from membership.

The Boy Scouts were founded in 1910 and operate approximately 300 councils throughout the United States.   In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that as a private organization, the Boy Scouts retains the right to exclude individuals who do not meet its requirements, including troop leaders.

Fitzpatrick contacted the national headquarters on Tuesday after learning of the Scouts’ decision to review its stance.  Fitzpatrick is an Eagle Scout from Troop 508 in Miners Oaks, CA in 1969.  The Eagle Scout designation is earned by outstanding performance by about 5% of boys who participate.  Other awards are given for special achievements, including saving another person’s life.

At present, the Boy Scouts have a ban on all homosexuals, including women who might serve as assistant scoutmasters in the “Venture” division.

UPS and other companies have recently withdrawn funding from the Boy Scouts because of its policy on homosexuals.  “There’s speculation that the Boy Scouts are hurting for money, but I was told today that it’s not about money,” Fitzpatrick told us.

The impetus for the possible change is that some churches which currently sponsor Boy Scout councils have said that they will not continue their support unless the Scouts change their stance on homosexuals.

“Chartering organizations such as churches are saying, ‘We as a church, in our present-day canons, accept gays.  Didn’t Christ say that all people should embrace?’  So it’s churches which are pressuring the Boy Scouts to change with a ‘religious’ argument.  They’re saying, ‘If we are accepting gays in the church, how can we sponsor an organization that doesn’t?'” Fitzpatrick told us, who spoke with the scouting professional for approximately 90 minutes on Thursday.

“The chartering organizations and the Boy Scouts have to agree on how they’re going to work together.  Up until just very recently, churches did not openly embrace the gay movement.  Now some of them have pastors who are admittedly gay, and they’re having internacine fights.  Now this argument has carried over into the Boy Scouts.  The churches are trying to force the Boy Scouts into accepting gays and to be ‘compassionate’ and ‘open.'”

“My contact told me that it’s a religious argument, and I said, “No, it’s not,” Fitzpatrick said.  “It’s a moral one.”

He continued:

The Boy Scout oath reads:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

So there are two aspects to this.  Some churches are saying that “duty to God” means that the Scouts have to embrace homosexuals.  The other aspect to the Scout law is the moral aspect, and I told the professional that that is where the Scouts have to draw the line because homosexuality is immoral.

I told my contact that if the Scouts make this change, I am going to send my Eagle Scout medal and certificate back to him or her directly.  I said, “If you make this change, I renounce the Boy Scouts.  If you make this change, this will be your end.  Take this to your leadership tonight and tell them that it is not a religious argument.  Some churches and the Boy Scouts can still agree on the moral issue so that the Boy Scouts can say, “Thank you, but no thank you.”

We need other organizations that believe that homosexuality is immoral to call the Boy Scouts and offer to sponsor them.  So instead of a church which is attempting to change Boy Scout policy, another entity which supports their position could step forward.  If enough organizations call into the national headquarters at 972-580-2000 and say, “We are more than happy to sponsor your units if that’s the issue,” the better.  “Come to us.”

When a church sponsors a Boy Scout troop, that’s where the troop actually meets.  When an American Legion post sponsors them, they meet at the American Legion.  They can weigh in and change this position overnight by saying, “Forget about the church part of it; we’ll sponsor you.”

It’s not about money; it’s about the churches trying to change the Boy Scouts.  Secular organizations can just as well sponsor them who support their position.

There are only two kinds of people in this world:  decent and indecent.  The Boy Scouts is based on morals, and they must not give that up.

On January 4, a man who calls himself “WildBillforAmerica” lamented the fact that, unlike the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts have “caved in to liberalism” by allowing lesbian leaders and “formed an unholy alliance with the Planned Parenthood death clinics.”  In the video, Wild Bill praises the American Heritage Girls, “where God and country are honored.” He thanks God for both the Boy Scouts and the American Heritage Girls.

Wild Bill saluted the Boy Scouts for setting an example to boys to grow into strong men.  “Homosexuals are banned from the Boy Scouts because the Scouts don’t think it’s a good idea to take little boys on camping trips,” he said.  “Their funding has been cut and they have been kicked out of many public meeting places by people who don’t have the courage to stand up against the liberal bullies…If you want to keep America strong, then fight for the Boy Scouts…Find out what you can do to help them.”

American Heritage Girls is a Christian organization which is attempting to counter cultural threats to girls’ well-being by teaching leadership, love of God, and community service.

“The Boy Scouts of America is a pillar of this nation.  There are men like me tonight who are just as outraged and upset as I am about the Boy Scouts who are asking, “How do we keep this light shining in the lighthouse?”  The answer is that we need other sponsoring organizations who will allow the Boy Scouts to continue to maintain their moral standards, and then these other potential organizations can get in touch with the Boy Scouts and say, “If the churches will not allow the Boy Scouts to maintain the light, we will,” Fitzpatrick said.  “It could be a corporation or any other group or church that could sponsor a troop.  And I believe there will be an outpouring.  The Boy Scouts won’t say this, but you can.”

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Editor’s Note:  The Post & Email bears no ill will to any person of any creed, religious belief, race, nationality, or sexual orientation.  We do, however, respect the right of any organization to uphold its moral principles and beliefs without fear of retribution or political backlash.