In Berkeley, Calif., the definition of a subversive organization is the Boy Scouts.
And you know why. In politically correct Berkeley, the Boy Scouts are seen, one-dimensionally, as a group that discriminates against homosexuals – not permitting them to serve as scoutmasters.
Last week, as an example of how far extremists in that city will go to pursue their agenda, Berkeley City Hall officially snubbed a group of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who came all the way from Sakai, Japan, to honor their sister city.
The ceremony – in which the Scouts were to present Mayor Shirley Dean with a proclamation from the mayor of Sakai – was to serve as the highlight of the group’s weeklong trip to the United States. But it was called off at the last minute because of the complaints of a homosexual member of the City Council, Kriss Worthington.
Worthington’s argument was that city property should not be used to host an organization that discriminates.
True story. But, get this – especially those of you who believe you can actually appease the demands of extremists like Worthington and the city officials of Berkeley: In Japan, the Boy Scouts have no policy against homosexual scoutmasters. And the Girl Scouts apparently welcome them with open arms.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I fully support the position of the Boy Scouts of America, a private organization that has every right to set its own rules – particularly good rules based on eternal truths and a standard of morality that has survived the tests of time and common sense.
But, it seems to me, if I took the position of Worthington and the Berkeleyites, I would be rolling out the red carpet for Boy Scouts who don’t operate under the policies to which I object.
It seems to me, if I were a homosexual crusader, I would be welcoming Girl Scouts at City Hall – a group that has repudiated the policies to which I object.
Further, it seems to me, if I took the extremely misguided position that the Boy Scouts of America were wrong, I probably wouldn’t take out my political grudge against a group of kids between the ages of 10 and 12 under any circumstances.
But, hey, that’s me. What do I know? I’m a bigot and a homophobe, according to the enlightened likes of Worthington and the Berkeley City Council.
They say the Boy Scouts discriminate against people because of their sexual preferences. Most of us do. I acknowledge it. I married a heterosexual woman, for two reasons:
- My strong sexual preference is for heterosexual women.
- The Bible, the ultimate standard of morality, makes it crystal clear that marriage is only a union between man and woman, and homosexual activity is an abomination.
That’s good enough for me. And that’s good enough for the Boy Scouts of America – though they clearly have other practical reasons for their policies. They believe that it makes sense not to place boys under the stewardship of men who by definition might find those boys sexually attractive and, thus, face temptations.
That is, by the way, discrimination. But we’ve got to get over this idea that discrimination is always a bad thing. In fact, we all discriminate – at least the smartest and most successful of us – every single day. To discriminate means to discern – to show judgment, to make distinctions between, to recognize the difference between. Those are all good things.
Worthington and the Berkeley City Council, however, discriminated against a group of kids – for no good reason. These kids didn’t hurt anyone. They didn’t offend anyone. Nor did the organization they belong to hurt or offend anyone.
So, you tell me, who are the real creeps in this arena? Who are the sick, twisted, demented, deranged, unbalanced, wrongheaded bigots in this play?
Clearly, if anyone is making bad choices here – and, let’s face it, that’s what “discrimination” has come to mean in our culture – it’s the neo-fascists in Berkeley.
Not only that, these nuts in Berkeley wanted to present the Scouts – these little boys and girls – with flyers explaining why they oppose the policies of the Boy Scouts of America. They wanted to politicize this goodwill meeting with the youthful foreign guests.
Wisely, the Scout leaders protected the kids from this distasteful and unwarranted barrage of propaganda. In other words, they exercised discrimination – the good kind.
