Scout's Honor

Once in a while a news story comes along that while tragic, immediately points out how progressives use logic, specific examples, and data to prove their claims, while the Right use scare tactics, stereotypes and fear to push their agenda. One such story broke today.

Back in the late 90’s, one of the hot-button debates in this country involved whether or not the Boy Scouts of America should be allowed to discriminate and ban gay people from their organization, both as troop leaders or Scouts themselves. The argument the Scouts made supporting their discriminatory actions: gay Scout leaders would be tempted to make sexual advances toward the boys in the “platoon.” You know, pedophilia.

Nevermind that if these morons bothered to do one sliver of research, they would have discovered that according to FBI crime statistics, over 90% of grown-ups who are convicted child molesters, were identified as heterosexual in their adult relationships. In other words, Steve, who is married to Suzie, is more likely to molest little Johnny than Frank, who has lived with his “friend” Bob for 37 years.

Enter Boy Scout Director Douglas Smith, who has been with the organization for 39 years. Doug, from all accounts, is a straight, heterosexual man who led the scouts for years toward teamwork, roasting marshmallows, and fag-hating. In other words, your average red-blooded American Scout spokesperson.

I remember a 60 minutes piece some years back airing a story about how the Scout leadership was preventing gays and atheists from joining their private club – the same club who consistently uses public facilities, such as schools, firehouses, armory facilities, etc, to hold their meetings. They were aggravated when the cities asked them to have their private club meetings at private facilities, because groups who discriminate like the Klan, the Aryan Nations, and the entire state of Alabama shouldn’t be allowed to use public facilities. The Scout leadership stood their ground, however, and played the pedophilia card.

The most important lesson one could etch into their closed-mind regarding this case is that when you act on fear – when you act on unfounded stereotypes – when you act on myth, on irrationality - you're actually allowing the real perpetrator, the real harm, and the real problem to enter quietly through the back door. Literally.