Save the Boy Scouts of America

Lee Ellis

Today's mail sure does deliver a lot of requests for donations. Some are valid; others are thrown away. But the one that grabs my attention each year is the one that wants to give boys a knowledge of personal values and character --- the Boy Scouts of America.

I know this to be true, because almost 70 years ago, I was a Boy Scout and even went to Boy Scout Camp at Woods Hole, Massachusetts each summer. I still remember being a part of the Pine Tree Patrol. Without the training I had during those years, I probably would not be able to write this editorial.

I am sure that my entire life would have been different, because it was through the Boy Scouts that I had to learn about making choices in life, whether it was going through the ordeal of the 14 mile hike (I still remember the words to "Trail the Eagle" which I sung to keep up my courage as I hiked in the hot sun) or the work needed in earning any of the other merit badges. It is the Boy Scout program that teaches boys to develop the skills and moral values they will need to become responsible adults and future leaders.

Their oath is still seared in my memory: "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."

Because of this training, I started to go to a church every Sunday (my parents did not go to a church), and as a boy, sung in a choir, joined the youth group and even became an acolyte. None of this might have happened without having the opportunity to learn the twelve Scout Laws: "A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent." Don't you wish all children, today, could learn and enjoy the advantages of these laws of behavior?

Yet, the ACLU seems to be doing all it can to destroy this wonderful organization, and many leftist politicians have joined this ACLU cause. Why? I suspect it because of the last words of the scout oath. The Left seems to think that Adult Scout Leaders do not, themselves, have to be "morally straight" while training young boys in proper behavior. The Left calls this "discriminatory," and they have persuaded some courts to agree with them. They want the BSA to include "gays, girls and the godless" as members, to throw out some of the scout laws and the oath. Can you imagine these three "Gs" being with the boys together in summer camps, where all have to sleep in bunks in the same barracks and learn from each other?

Years ago, I had to fire a male employee because he had been arrested and jailed for the molesting of young boys while on a company trip. After he got out of jail, I discovered that he had applied for work at different boys' camps as a counselor. Now, no one is saying or implying that all gays or atheists are molesters. But once the gate is opened for anyone to teach young boys, it becomes harder to screen out such people. Protecting young boys and training them for a bright future needs leaders who can "practice what they preach."

In San Diego, public land that had been used for Boy Scout Jamborees has been denied them. The WSJ in March of 2004 wrote, "In a settlement reached earlier this year with the ACLU, San Diego agreed to revoke a Scouts lease for public campgrounds, where the Scouts have had a presence since 1918 and a formal lease since 1957. The city also agreed to pay the ACLU a whopping $950,000 for its efforts."

The WSJ article continued with, "The ACLU contends that leasing the Scouts public lands is tantamount to the public establishment of religion. Silly as that might sound - and the civil rights division of the Justice Department agrees with the Scouts here - the argument received a huge boost when a federal judge decreed that the Scouts are a religious organization and that the leases do raise Establishment Clause concerns, a decision that no doubt led to the city's decision to settle. Never mind that the Scouts have not discriminated against, or even been accused of discriminating against, anyone who has sought to use the campgrounds they maintain. Their real crime is to have won the Supreme Court case involving their First Amendment right not to admit an openly homosexual Scoutmaster. Ever since, a liberal jihad has been launched to strip them of any public association."

I still believe the scout motto that I learned decades ago, "Be Prepared." I am urging all to be prepared for the continuing assaults by those who want to destroy the Judeo-Christian culture that has been an important part of the fabric woven into this mosaic called America by our immigrant forefathers. The Boy Scouts of America must remain an important learning and character-building tool of this culture. Its principles must never be diluted. I hope all former Boy Scouts and their friends and spouses will join in helping this current generation of scouting.

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Lee Ellis is a retired journalist and narrator, formerly with both CBS and Gannett (USA Weekend). He was also a combat veteran of WWII, having fought in the South Pacific invasions. He had the pleasure of interviewing Ronald Reagan as an actor and then later working to help him become Governor of California. At the age of 80, he is keeping busy writing and doing free lance narrations for radio and television. He is an active member of Rotary and the VFW.

indiolee@dc.rr.com