A Boy Scout pledges to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
A Boy Scout vows to keep himself physically strong, morally straight and mentally alert.
And because of these characteristics and goals, the Boy Scouts today are under siege -- the latest target in the Culture War.
On the front lines in the assault on the Scouts are two organized pressure groups -- homosexual political activists and atheists. So confident are these fringe groups of the acceptance of their radical agendas by the popular culture, they have aimed their sights on an organization that has been a pillar of respectability, credibility, honor and virtue.
I, for one, am taking a public stand in favor of the Boy Scouts. I like what they stand for. Even though I have never been a Scout or involved with the organization (as a father of five girls), I consider their goals and objectives beyond reproach.
When you see an institution like this under attack, it should set off an internal warning that our very way of life -- not just the Boy Scouts -- is threatened by an organized, well-funded conspiracy. I know many do not like that word “conspiracy,” but no other synonym in the English language is appropriate in this context.
Think about it.
Alan Keyes said it best when he wrote recently in WorldNetDaily that there are people in our society today who “believe that it is unconstitutional for citizens to act on their moral judgments, such as the view that homosexuality is wrong. … They believe that the state has the right coercively to dictate conscience on these points -- and on a civil rights pretext force citizens to accept what is contrary to their religious conscience.”
Remember when the homosexual political movement began? We were told that it was only about what people do in the privacy of their own bedrooms. No longer is that the case -- if, indeed, it ever was. Ironically it is the homosexual activists today who want to make a public issue of what they do in their bedrooms. In fact, they want to turn what they do -- their chosen behavior -- into a phony civil rights issue. In the process, they seek to deny others their most legitimate civil rights.
As these enemies of freedom, morality and responsibility see it, the Boy Scouts do not have the right to assert their First Amendment rights.
I do not seek to deny homosexuals any of their God-given, unalienable civil rights. Neither do the Boy Scouts. Rather, it is the homosexual political activists who seek to undermine the institutions that represent the bedrock of freedom, of self-government, of individual rather than group rights.
And they are succeeding. As incredible as it may seem, they are winning this Culture War. The establishment press is their ally. The entertainment industry is their ally. The federal government is their ally. The schools are their allies. The foundations are their allies. Even many of the apostate churches and synagogues are their allies.
Together, those institutions are a powerful force pushing our culture. There are few courageous souls willing to push back. I’m proud the Boy Scouts are not caving to this relentless pressure.
It’s time to reframe the debate. That’s the only way our civilization, as we know it, can survive. It’s time to tell the truth. It’s time to stand up for decency.
Look at what happens to those who dare to do that. Dr. Laura Schlessinger, one of America’s most successful radio personalities, stood up for common sense on this issue. She has been the target of ruthless attacks and smears ever since.
That we now live in a world in which it is dangerous to stand up for trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courteousness, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, bravery, cleanliness and reverence should be a warning to us all.
The stakes are high.
I guess it’s time to add me to the enemies list. I support the Boy Scouts -- unequivocally, unabashedly, unashamedly. The Boy Scouts personify the kind of world in which I would like to live and raise my family.
If this is the new dividing line in our society, let the barricades be erected. I’m not retreating -- not another inch.