“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.”
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.”
Sitting in an Eagle
Board of Review a few weeks ago I considered what the scout in front of me was
swearing to. I considered this boy,
almost a man, and the promise he made. As
I’d known him in his Cub Scout days as well, I had a pretty good handle on the
type of young man he was. I reflected on
the Oath he was making and it struck me that I would no longer be able to be
certain that future scouts would be able to demonstrate in honesty what the
oath required.
“I will do my duty to God…”
Please notice this is not an all-inclusive “little ‘g’ god. This is a term of reverence used to specify the Christian God. Not Buddha, or Allah or Krishna or other
gods. Although Boy Scouts is not
specifically a Christian
organization, in this instance the oath represents a Christian God.
That same Christian God specifically calls us to
stand for what is right, follow His judgments and obey His laws. One of the laws that He instructs us to
follow is to keep our bodies sexually pure.
And, in specific, He warns against sex between same-sex persons and
encourages either remaining abstinent or marriage between a man and woman. (1
Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 1:26-27).
“To keep myself…morally straight.”
BSA has made a
financial decision to change their “timeless”
values to reflect the current belief that sexual choices are a personal
decision. However, in a youth
organization that presumes to protect those young people; whether physically or
emotionally; allowing anyone with destructive sexual choices into an
organization can only lead to injury and damage to the same youth it promises
to protect.
I have served the
organization in many facets for many years and completely supported the program
and the opportunities it provided for scouts of all beliefs and backgrounds. The belief that the value of sexual morality
is of no consequence to our young men and women as they become adults is a
dangerous and harmful ‘compromise’ that neither reflects timeless values or
strong moral code.
It is because of that
decision that will impact the lives, morals, values and futures of many youth
in the organization for years to come; I have decided to terminate my
membership in all areas of BSA. This was
in some ways a difficult decision as I still believe in many of the principles
of the scouting program. The decision further
saddens me as I’ve already discovered that in standing for my values, I have
been labeled as hateful and phobic; a misunderstanding that unfortunately
reflects the consequences of standing for what one believes, instead of
following the crowd and the social wind.
I wish the scouting
program and all involved the best as they struggle to remain protective and
active in a society that is destructive and unproductive.
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