The Boy Scouts of America put off a decision Wednesday on whether to lift its ban on gay members and leaders, saying the question will be taken up at the organization’s national meeting in May.
“After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy,” Deron Smith, the BSA director of public relations, said in a statement.
Smith said the organization’s national executive board will prepare a resolution for the 1,400 voting members of the national council to consider. The annual meeting will take place in May, 2013, in Grapevine, Texas.
Walking to his car after the delay was announced, board member Jack Furst had very little to say.
“It’s all good,” Furst told The Associated Press before driving away.
The BSA announced last week it was considering allowing troops to decide whether to allow gay membership. That news has placed a spotlight on executive board meetings that began Monday in Irving, Texas, where scouting headquarters is located.
Read More at OfficialWire . By Nomaan Merchant.
Photo Credit: Hoffman Estates, IL (Creative Commons)
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“Just say NO” to the Homosexuals taking over the BSA!
I was awarded my Eagle rank in 1972. My father received his in the 1940s. The BSA is an organization with stated codes of moral conduct. So is the GSA. The BSA has survived for over 100 years because of these codes. Parents of these boys place their faith in these codes. We are talking about a private organization where parents turn their boys over to other like-minded adults who teach, supervise and spend days and nights with while camping out. It is intended to be the safest environment outside of the home for these young boys to learn scouting skills and citizenship qualities. To tell me that I am stereotyping homosexuals because I am of the opinion that openly gay Boy Scout leaders will create additional uncertainty for the boys and for the parents, then your version of the value of gay rights trumps the value of parental rights. If gay rights are deemed more valuable than the rights of the parents, then it is my reasonable opinion that the BSA will no longer be the safest environment for their Boy Scout children outside of their home.
If you aren’t familiar with the Boy Scouts, the organization’s mission and vision statements, along with the Scout Oath and Law are as follows:
BSA Mission Statement: “The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.”
BSA Vision Statement: “The Boy Scouts of America will prepare every eligible youth in America to become a responsible, participating citizen and leader who is guided by the Scout Oath and Law.”
The Scout Oath:
“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.”
The Scout Law: “A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, Reverent”
None of the above suggests that the BSA should amend their mission or vision statements. I trust that the leadership will do the logical thing.
I agree, the BSA is a Proud American tradition and as a Christian I want them to stay the way they are now. But these Homosexuals and their lobby are ruthless & Evil trying to infiltrate any Institution or group in our Society. And the USA was once a proud and Great Country but we have fallen to the ditch Morally and a lot of our problems stem from the break down of GOD & Country. I will continue to speak up and Out against Evil. Abortion & Homosexuality is Evil I will not sugar coat it.
You’re preachin to the choir good buddy. Carry on.
I know, we had a gay fellow in another topic trying every trick he could think of to make us like him and accept their BS, at least if they come in here they will know how I feel.
Eggs-Act-Lee !!!!!
Hoorah, I never achieved the exalted rank of Boy Scout but I tried to live my life as if I had. I did join one of the largest families in the world, it known as the US Military from which I retired after 30+ years of honorable service as an E-6.
I took an oath when I enlisted in 1963 and that oath was not just for my term of enlistment that oath was for the res of my life. For those of us that don’t remember here it is (I’ve included the one for officers as well) : The wordings of the current oath of enlistment and oath for commissioned officers are as follows:
“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).
“I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.” (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)
As I said earlier that oath was for the rest of my life and I’ll go to my grave defending those that can’t defend themselves and even those that won’t. “GOD BLESS THE US OF A and MAY SHE REIGN FOREVER!”
US COMBAT VETERAN: Vietnam ’68 – ’69; Door-gunner, 1st Cavalry Division (AM).
Thanks for your service! For some of us, the oaths we take have meaning. Carry on.