Dems' cheap shot at scouting

by CalWatchdog Staff | April 16, 2010 9:34 am

This week I read an op-ed written by Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, about how Assembly Democrats defeated Assembly Resolution 119 to honor the Boy Scouts on their 100th Anniversary. Hagman, an Eagle Scout, correctly identified that the Boy Scouts have a rich history of community service and regularly assist the poor and needy through volunteer work and hands-on service.

I am the mother of a son – once a rough and tumble boy and now a young man, who was active in Boy Scouting, from Cub Scouts through Boy Scouts, and earned the Eagle Scout rank. He took scouting very seriously and epitomized the Boy Scout. He is currently a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. This was his dream. It’s certainly not for everyone, but it fits him well, and he works very hard at achieving his goals.

Scouting was a very big part of his life. He loved the challenges; the snow and ice camping, traditional camping, hiking 10,000 foot mountains, trekking many miles deep into camp, setting up camp, breaking down camp, training and teaching the younger scouts, and he appreciated the moral compass the Boy Scouts not only teach but honor.

And while most people do not need the outdoor training and survival skills, the biggest lesson learned from scouting is being able to face physical, mental and emotional challenges and not giving up. Ice camping is not fun. Hiking up a 10,000 foot mountain is not easy. But the accomplishment is the reward, and learning to face the difficulty and overcome the challenges, is a far more important character-building lesson than any self-esteem assembly at school.

I’ve never understood the fuss over Boy Scouting since it’s a private organization and an extracurricular activity. No one is forcing boys and teens into scouting.  Yet scouting has helped so many underprivileged boys stay out of trouble while teaching them lifelong skills and lessons, and learning respect for others. The pride of earning merit badges and achieving ranks cannot ever be replaced with merit pay and seniority.

Recently, Assembly Republicans Martin Garrick and Curt Hagman introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution 119 to honor the Scouts on their 100th Anniversary and recognize California Scouts.

However, in an unprecedented, partisan and mean-spirited move, Assembly Democrats went out of their way to defeat the resolution.  They even attacked the those who carry on the scouting tradition today.

The spirit of the Boy Scouts, founded by Robert Baden-Powell, “is to develop among boys a power of sympathizing with others, and a spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotism.”  Sounds really dangerous, doesn’t it? Perhaps sympathizing with others and self-sacrifice are only authorized in government sanctioned and funded organizations.

The core of scouting is the scout law and oath. The scout handbook is a manual and guide about goodness, and the constant theme is thoughtfulness toward others. I remember sitting through many scout meetings hearing the boys recite, “A scout is “friendly, courteous, kind, cheerful, brave,” based upon Baden-Powell’s own words, “When in difficulty to know which of two things to do, [the scout] must ask himself, ‘Which is my duty?’ that is, ‘Which is best for other people?’ — and do that one.”

Scouting teaches the lost art of traditional manners and even chivalry: A scout is “polite to all, especially to women, children, old people, and the weak and helpless.” Personal integrity is encouraged and taught and becomes a lifelong trait.

At the Eagle Scout ceremony for my son in 2007, his former Scout Master was asked to speak. However as he began to speak about my son’s accomplishments, he mocked his role as president of the Young Republican Club at his high school. Next he chided my son about his acceptance to the Naval Academy, and then he lectured him about being in the military, telling him about the need for pursuing peace and dialogue, instead of fighting. He then told the assembled audience that he was a liberal Democrat — at an Eagle Scout ceremony.

While this was neither the forum nor the audience for a lecture about liberal politics, it was clear that the assault on the Boy Scouts had come full circle.

At a time when extracurricular activities have been slashed in schools, youth programs are disappearing, and gang crime is at a historical high, the liberal assault on the Boy Scouts is particularly egregious. Scouting teaches much more than outdoor skills and manners; scouting often picks up the slack where schools leave off, teaching history, American government and about the Constitution.

One cannot help but ask, why the attack on Boy Scouts? Hagman, astonished by the partisan move by the Democrats wrote, “The analysis of the bill written by Democrat staff — which you can read for yourself here[1] — is far from an even-handed analysis of the resolution but actually one of the most partisan documents I have seen in my time in the Legislature.” It reads in part: “the proposed resolution seeks to put the California Legislature on record commemorating an organization that has long discriminated against individuals because of their sexual orientation or religious views…

Sadly, the gay rights crusade is more important to liberals than allowing boys a healthy extracurricular organization. Not content with forming their own organizations, liberals want to bring down the Boy Scouts instead.

Heather McDonald of City Journal gave some history about the gay agenda assault on scouting: “When Timothy Curran, a homosexual Eagle scout, lost his bid to become a Berkeley, California, scoutmaster—he reportedly wanted to teach kids that there was nothing wrong with the homosexual life—Bay Area institutions sprang into action. Levi Strauss, Wells Fargo, the United Way of San Francisco, and the Bank of America stopped funding the scouts (the Bank of America subsequently restored funding); San Francisco and Oakland schools banned school-day scout programs.”

McDonald concluded, “Scouting does more good in a year than an army of ACLU lawyers has ever done.”

The Boy Scouts do not seek to take away rights from any group. Rather, it’s the activists who want to eradicate America of the Boy Scouts because scouting dares to uphold traditional morals, values, and manners, as well as patriotism and the constitution.

–Katy Grimes

Endnotes:
  1. here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0101-0150/acr_119_cfa_20100412_105650_asm_comm.html

Source URL: https://calwatchdog.com/2010/04/16/new-dems-cheap-shot-at-scouting/