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Attack Against Boy Scouts is an Assault Against Freedom
By Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition
WASHINGTON, DC, August 30, 2000 (WebToday)-- Last week's nationwide protest against the Boy Scouts by homosexual groups like PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), Scouting for All, and GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), is a chilling reminder of how fragile our freedoms are in this country.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the Boy Scouts have the First Amendment right of "freedom of association" to exclude homosexuals. Organizations have the constitutional right to set their own membership standards-and this freedom should not be violated. In the view of Boy Scout leaders, persons who engage in anal or oral sodomy are not "morally straight."
This court decision has apparently energized the militant homosexual movement to destroy the Boy Scouts if it doesn't welcome homosexuals into its ranks. The homosexuals apparently have enough funding to set up a nationwide network of Scouting for All chapters to attack the Scouts. Why don't they just start their own homosexual scouting group-instead of assaulting an organization that views homosexuality as violating the Scout's Oath that members should be morally straight? No, the goal is to force everyone-even young boys-to embrace homosexuality as normal.
The Boy Scouts is facing a serious challenge from these militants. Liberal news commentators are routinely attacking the Scouts for their lack of "humanity" in accepting homosexual teens into the organization.
Corporations like Chase Manhattan Bank have dropped funding because the Scouts exclude homosexuals. The United Way is dropping funding as well. Some cities are even going so far as to deny the Scouts the right to meet in public places. The American Civil Liberties Union, a group committed to the spread of sexual perversion, has sued San Diego to get it to drop its lease of park lands to the Scouts.
This multi-pronged effort is clear: Either the Boy Scouts violate its own standards to invite homosexuals into its ranks or homosexuals will destroy it. So much for diversity and freedom of conscience in our culture.
A recent PFLAG and Scouting for All protest against the Boy Scouts in Toledo, Ohio, clearly shows why the Boy Scouts is opposed to having homosexuals in its ranks. The leader of the Toledo chapter of PFLAG is John Hemstreet who is an alcoholic, former priest and a convicted child molester. Hemstreet is also a former Scout leader who claims that he never molested any boys while he was a leader. His claim is not reassuring. He is now trying to get the local United Way to cut off funding to the Boy Scouts.
Perhaps the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA, a pedophile network) has more in common with PFLAG than we had ever imagined. How many more Hemstreets are running PFLAG chapters? When our TVC office in Washington, D.C. contacted PFLAG's national headquarters to see if they did background checks on their chapter leaders, the PFLAG communications director hung up on us. What dirty little secret is PFLAG hiding? And will PFLAG's leadership eject Hemstreet from his position? Or is PFLAG so "inclusive" as to welcome a child molester into its ranks?
In their unrelenting assault against the Scouts, PFLAG and Scouting for All have found a willing dupe in California Congressman Lynn Woolsey. She is now attempting to get federal legislation passed that will revoke the Boy Scouts ' federal charter-a charter it has held since 1916.
It's bad enough that homosexuals and lesbian delegates to the Democratic National Convention booed Eagle Scouts who led a Color Guard during opening ceremonies. Now these intolerant radicals want to shred the Boy Scouts federal charter. What's next?
Do we really want groups like PFLAG determining national policies for the Boy Scouts? Do we want homosexual child molesters like Hemstreet bunking with impressionable young boys on camping trips? Shouldn't the Boy Scouts protect boys from such men?
We must vigorously support the Boy Scouts in its courageous stand against the homosexualization of their organization. And we must lay to rest this absurd notion that a group has no right to exclude individuals it considers immoral from its ranks. Would we allow a male pornography addict to become a Girl Scout leader? Would we allow a known drug pusher to run a teen center? We have a duty to reject individuals who pose a threat to the morality and safety of children. We cannot allow freedom of association to be destroyed by homosexual militants. Freedom is too valuable to be compromised by the likes of convicted child molester John Hemstreet.
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