A few days ago, delegates to the National Council of the Boy Scouts voted to accept homosexual boys into the Scouts. The Scouts leadership said the decision was based on “growing input from within the Scouting family.” Around 1,400 delegates approved the change in membership standards by a margin of 61-39 percent. Changes to the adult leadership policy was not up for vote, which means the ban on homosexual Scout leaders remains in place.The commissioner of the National Council, Tico Perez, said at a press conference that the adult leadership guidelines that ban homosexual leaders “have served us well for 100 years.” Haven’t the other policies that were changed also served the Scouts well for 100 years?
The Scouts may not have even considered changing the policy against homosexual leaders, but I predict that policy will be changed by court decision. And the Scouts will have no one to blame but themselves. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled the Boy Scouts are not required to allow homosexual leaders because the homosexual lifestyle was contrary to the core values espoused by the Scouts. Now that the Scouts have voted to allow openly homosexual Scouts, it’s no longer a core value. The Scouts have voluntarily given up their right to ban homosexual leaders. It is just a matter of time before there is litigation to force the Scouts to accept openly homosexual leaders. Did the National Council not even consider this before voting on the change? Poor leadership.
For years now there has been pressure on the Scouts by homosexual activist and liberal groups to change their policy against homosexual Scouts. Groups such as the United Way defunded the Scouts, withdrawing their support until the Scouts accepted homosexuals. Was the vote to allow homosexual Scouts a purely financial one in order to prevent further defunding? Did the Scouts leadership believe accepting homosexuals was the only way to remain financially viable?
There are now many, many parents and churches who will have to make decisions about being part of the Boy Scouts and providing sponsorship and support. Organizations such as the Southern Baptist Convention will likely drop their affiliation with Scouting. SBC President Fred Luter said, “As Southern Baptists, our commitment to the Word of God and Christian values must take priority over what is ‘politically correct.'”
To my mind, this decision by the Scouts indicates their organization is no longer worth belonging to or supporting. As a former Scout it pains me to say that. They have held their fingers in the air to see which way the cultural wind is blowing and they have made a decision I believe to be purely financial. They are teaching their Scouts that values are not absolute and can be changed when no longer popular or when keeping them threatens your fiscal status. When your values change because the culture does, you have no values. Until now the Boy Scouts have always been synonymous with values. Now they will be synonymous with pandering.
It’s hard to understand why the Boy Scouts voted for this decision. They had to know that many of their sponsors would no longer be willing to continue their support. It seems to me they willingly abdicated their moral position and gave up ground to the liberal supporters of homosexuality, with no real need to do so. I can help but wonder why they did.
I think it was a combination of three things – a financial decision, progressives infiltrating leadership positions, and a shift to the moral left in this country with homosexuality becoming more accepted.