The Sexualization of Scouting

The United States was once a land of wholesome civic organizations. By its very nature America lent itself to private groups working for the betterment of their fellows and the society as a whole. In America the role of government was limited by the Constitution and the American zeal for liberty, and the American Experiment is largely one of private individuals acting for the common good on their own, independent of the force and coercion of government. This is an important point, because what is done by government in many societies was done by private groups in the United States. There are many charitable acts performed by such organizations as the Rotaries, the Elks, the Optimists, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion. And more than charitable acts these groups form the basis of community, help to knit the People together in a brotherhood of community service. The local welfare office may have greater resources to help feed the hungry than the local chapter of the St. Vincent De Paul Society, but the society usually does a fine job of giving help to the poor - and in the process makes its members better citizens. These organizations were once the bedrock of Middle America.

And now groups like the Moose or Elks find themselves endangered species. There has been a drastic decline in civic organizations. The Progressive/Left have systematically dismantled the underpinnings of these types of organizations. Granted, the decline in local businesses has contributed to the decline in these groups (it's no longer as important to network) but there is more to the story. The welfare state makes charitable acts less important and, indeed, the abuses of the welfare state turn many of the once-zealous volunteers cold to helping a bunch of what may be seen as freeloaders. Laws and social pressures to open these organizations to whomever may wish to join have broken the spirit of fraternity in these groups. Men used to join them to have an evening or two a week away from wife and home, a little "guy time" with other men in their same social and economic class. But the great push for egalitarianism has broken that, and now those who used to make up the base for these organizations no longer find them so appealing. It has nothing to do with snobbery, but with a simple desire for freedom of association; these men (and women) no longer find the comfort of being in their own circle. The circle has been broken.

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America has become a land of alienated people. And everywhere the hypersexual nature of Progressive politics besoils the landscape. The Sexual Revolution has tainted every aspect of life, and the notion of a clean, wholesome group of private citizens - particularly men - has become almost a subversive idea. The modern view is that women have every right to be in constant proximity to men, and that no activity should be devoid of a sexual component. That's not true just of men's clubs, or of women joining such organizations; the gay rights movement is making homosexuality an integral part of society, and now it is being demanded that no group be insulated from gay sexual politics. Perhaps the first civic organization that many will join, the training ground for middle America, is the Boy and Girl Scouts. The Scouts have traditionally been as American as apple pie, and as moral as any religious organization. Scouting is the tricycle of American civic life. As such it has been huge in promoting and preserving those values held dear by Middle America. The Boy Scout takes the following oath:

"On my honor I promise to 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 my self physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."

Please note the emphasis on duty to God and Country; this is an alien concept to the modern Left, which sees freedom as the ability to do as one pleases without constraint from society. Liberal notions of freedom dispense with concepts like duty. Furthermore, the atheism at the core of modern Liberalism makes the oath to serve God most unacceptable. And notions of "country" are anathema because we are all citizens of the world, not of our particular unexceptional part of it. Of course, liberals do not want a nation that is mentally awake, lest they pay too much attention to things better left to the self-anointed intelligentsia. And the concept of morality is anathema to them, a holdover from our superstitious, God-fearing past. In the Liberal worldview. The Scouts are a terribly reactionary group. They have traditionally been hostile to Scouting. Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the Scouts to the Progressive Left is their refusal to accept homosexuals into their organization. To do one's duty to God requires a clean sexuality, and to remain morally straight likewise imposes a moral obligation to avoid certain things. The Scouts - particularly the Boy Scouts - have traditionally interpreted that to mean a sex-free environment. Part of the appeal of Scouting used to be that it was a CLEAN outfit, a safe place just to be a kid. Bring a sexual component into it (and putting gay men and boys into the Scouts will make it so) despoils the whole thing. Women as Boy Scout leaders - or men in the Girl Scouts - is also a terrible idea; the purpose of scouting is to teach boys to be men, and women have no business worming their way into it. It's about MALE role models, good male role models. There are plenty of female influences on boys in schools, in churches, in home life, etc. That misses the entire point of the Scouts. This is equally true of male Girl Scout leaders, who cannot act as wholesome role models. But that is precisely why the Left hates the Scouts. They have been trying to build this androgynous world, removing the differences between the sexes and fracturing the traditional male and female roles. They don't give a hoot about the Boy or Girl Scouts except as a tool to show that nobody can oppose them. That the BSA has done so for so long sticks in their craw; all must be part of the collective. They have been pushing hard with the Girl Scouts, and it appears they may have succeeded. In point of fact, the Catholic Church is questioning whether the Girl Scouts is morally safe for young girls. No less an organization than the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops (a notoriously liberal group) has been forced to question the once-All American GSA. The GSUSA has ties to Planned Parenthood, the abortion and contraception promoter, a group founded by Margaret Sanger for the purpose of promoting Eugenics. They have allowed militant homosexuals into positions of authority in their ranks, and many of the top brass are deeply involved in pushing the homosexual agenda. According to an article in the National Catholic Register:

"Under the name of Joshua Starr, he fronted the "homocore” (hardcore/punk music with homosexual lyrical themes) band the Dead Betties, which was founded in 2002 as part of the "queer punk” movement. The band’s lyrics and music videos are dominated by sexual content, violence and misogyny.Ackley is in charge of media relations for the GSUSA and writes for the official Girl Scout blog. In addition to Ackley, other members of the Girl Scouts’ leadership are active in homosexual-rights issues, including Lynn Cothern, the director of administration, and Timothy Higdon, chief of external affairs, who both worked with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Cothern recently resigned from GSUSA and, according to his Facebook page, now works as a "major gifts strategist: for Girl Scouts Cactus-Pine Council in Arizona. [...] Over the years, parents have encountered a variety of problematic educational materials and resources created for use by scouts and leaders. The resource entitled "Your Voice, Your World: The Power of Advocacy” for the Advocate award includes a work page with which girls can complete the activity "Advocacy in My Own Life.” The example given is that of tennis player Martina Navrotilova, who "set a milestone for gay rights with her openness about her sexual orientation. She became an activist for gay rights and, in 1992, sued the state of Colorado over a ballot measure denying gays and lesbians protection from discrimination.” [...] On the page for "Utopias,” they begin with St. Thomas More (who coined the word) and then recommend Sherri Tepper’s novel, The Gate to Woman’s Country. Tepper’s book describes an "ideal” society in which men are subservient, procreation is managed in a twice yearly "festival,” and eugenics is the chosen path to perfection. Aside from the thematic material that conflicts with the Catholic faith, there is a high degree of mature language and sexual content, notable even for a book recommended to high-school juniors and seniors."

It's interesting to note that Joshua Starr calls his band Homocore and plays a genre of music called "Queer Punk"; use of this term by outsiders results in harsh criticisms of the user. So it is fine to be a homo or a queer if you are calling yourself by that name, but despicable if others use the phrase? If we find these terms offensive, shouldn't we avoid letting Mr. Starr anywhere near our children? This is a criticism of the Girl Scouts, not all gays. Parents of little girls are more concerned about who their daughters associate with - particularly on overnight camp outs - than who is in a daytime school class. And this isn't confined to the Girl Scouts. The Boy Scouts recently caved on their ban on gay Scouts and, more importantly, gay Scout leaders. The Scouts have molded many generations of young people into fine citizens. Its mission has always been to build a moral and honorable populace, and it has served that purpose quite well. To force it to comply with modern Progressive beliefs is anathema to that mission. It is a testament to the effectiveness of Scouting that it has been so vilified by the Left. The Progressive Left cannot allow any such cultural institution to remain. Anything that promotes or fosters traditional roles, traditional values, must be destroyed. How can the New Man be created except through the death of the old? Certainly Barack Obama and his associates see the United States as a failure, a disaster in human history, one that must be blotted out. Scouting has been the enemy of that worldview, and as such it must be destroyed, along with other civic organizations that promote the concept of American Exceptionalism. If they can't be seduced into joining the Cause they must be sexualized out. Rot them from within. And if they can kill the Scouts the other organizations will follow. Scouting is the junior division of all American service organizations. It seems to be working too; the Girl Scouts made Michelle Obama their national honorary President in 2009.