Poofs of MotherJones
2015-09-27 00:46:07 UTC
And they've been replaced by a Christian alternative.
Poor Boy Scouts. Earlier this year, their leadership made a
fairly dramatic change in policy to allow gay people to become
troop leaders, following on the heels of last year's decision to
stop kicking out gay Scouts. The move to end discrimination has
cost the organization some members and donations from religious
groups that were outraged about the change. But it's also
suffered smaller, pettier indignitieslike its banishment from
this weekend's Values Voter Summit, the premier political
conference for evangelical Christians.
The DC summit, organized by the conservative Family Research
Council Action, is headlined by no fewer than seven GOP
presidential candidates. For many years, the Boy Scouts have had
a place of honor at the event, presenting the American flag as
the color guard. This year, though, the Scouts are nowhere to be
found. In their place are boys from Trail Life USA, the outdoor
adventure and character development group created last year as a
Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts. Joining them were
American Heritage Girls, the religious alternative to the Girl
Scouts.
Trail Life was founded by a religious-right activist from
Florida, associated with James Dobson's Focus on the Family, who
was active fighting the Boy Scout policy change. The group's
official policy on gays says:
We believe that homosexuality is sinful and immoral, as is any
sexual activity outside of the sanctity of marriage between a
Man and a Woman. Consistent with this belief, we have specific
policies that address membership and sin in both youth and adult
members.
Trail Life also excludes Mormons and Jews because they don't
subscribe to the group's particular theology.
A spokeswoman for the summit's organizers didn't respond to a
request for comment. But Trail Life CEO Mark Hancock, at his
booth in the convention hall, said his group was invited to
replace the Boy Scouts color guard because of "the direction the
Boy Scouts have taken. They think we're a better fit." Asked
specifically if it was because of the acceptance of gays,
Hancock demurred, saying it was simply the Boy Scouts' "general
departure from their traditional values" that prompted their
exclusion.
Kim Luckabaugh, the DC-area coordinator for the more established
American Heritage Girls, said her group replaced the Boy Scouts
at the conference last year, when Trail Life was just getting
off the ground, because "we are aligned ministerially. We are
aligned in our values." She says the FRC organizers have "been
very kind and gracious to us."
The booting of the Boy Scouts from the event isn't all that
surprising. The Family Research Council, which sponsors the
Values Voter Summit, has been an ardent opponent of the Boy
Scouts' acceptance of gays. Earlier this year, FRC head Tony
Perkins lamented that the Boy Scouts were moving "away from
their moral standard of being morally straight and clean and
moving into open homosexuality." He claimed that both the Boy
Scouts and Girls Scouts "are done" as organizations because of
their acceptance of gays.
A regular speaker at the event, Mat Staver, with the legal group
Liberty Counsel, said last month that the change in policy at
the Boy Scouts meant that "you are going to have all kinds of
sexual molestation. This is a playground for pedophiles to go
and have all these boys as objects of their lust. This is
insane, and we need to literally abandon the Scouts because the
Scouts, unfortunately, have abandoned us."
The Values Voter Summit has long been a hotbed of anti-gay
activism, but this year, organizers are going to great lengths
to honor people who've personally discriminated against LGBT
people, such as Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who refused to follow
the Supreme Court edict and issue marriage licenses to gay and
lesbian couples; a florist who dissed her friend and refused to
do flowers for his gay wedding; and a pair of bakers who refused
to make a cake for a lesbian couple's wedding. The organizers'
exclusion of the Boy Scouts seems only fitting, but perhaps
they've done them a favor: The boys will be spared from
associating with people who will be remembered on the wrong side
of history.
Comments:
Satch of Bridgend 18 hours ago
My God! They look like a bunch of Nazis! Or are they Russian?
11 ReplyShare
Avatar
1Pokey4 Satch of Bridgend 13 hours ago
Nazis for Christ! That's the big difference.
15 ReplyShare
Avatar
belseth 1Pokey4 9 hours ago
The Nazis claimed to be a Christian movement. People tend to
forget that particular aspect of Nazi Germany.
15 ReplyShare
Avatar
yankee dandee belseth 8 hours ago
People have no knowledge about WW2 because they don't care--it's
all about burgers and beer with their marijuana.
ReplyShare
Avatar
Liz yankee dandee 5 hours ago
Do you speak from experience?
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
ydnas639 yankee dandee 3 hours ago
uh . . . can there be onion rings, too?
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
Mike Meagher yankee dandee 3 hours ago
Sorry dude: i'm a docent at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front
National Historical Park in Richmond CA, a vegan, a wine drinker
and a pot smoker.
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
Edward Mumpster yankee dandee 2 hours ago
I prefer mountain dew with my meat and pot, otherwise I fall
aslee...
1 ReplyShare
Avatar
didactic1 yankee dandee 2 hours ago
And they are all going into "IT". Great idea. When the climate
collapses, no electricity, water or food. I guess some of the
rednecks might have an advantage. Oh. And knowing how to use an
AR15 and a few shotguns might help too. Like "gun control" is
like the LAST thing you want with what's goin' down.
ReplyShare
Avatar
d-Democrat belseth 7 hours ago
No . . . they replaced it with their own religion, Nazism . . .
for example, "Gott" was replaced with "Got" . . . particularly
amoung the SS.
ReplyShare
Avatar
Kyler Phoenix d-Democrat 2 hours ago
No, they were Christians.
1 ReplyShare
Avatar
didactic1 belseth 2 hours ago
No they were a pagan or neo pagan movement.
ReplyShare
Avatar
dagobarbz didactic1 2 hours ago
Nope. Gott mit uns means exactly what it says. But they DID
dress it up with pagan trappings to capture followers' Inner
Odin.
But no, despite the occultism and paganism, they were at core
just another flavor of asshole Christian.
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
didactic1 dagobarbz an hour ago
They were pagan.
ReplyShare
Avatar
jmtaylor700 didactic1 an hour ago
So you're argument is that 64 million Germans quit the Christian
Church and joined a pagan movement.
And boy did they raise all those old Christian Churches... oh,
never mind, that was the Allies that bombed all those old German
Churches that the Nazi's apparently glorified.
The usual right wing trappings - take an outlier and declare it
the brand for the whole so that they continue their life of
irresponsibility here on earth
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
dagobarbz belseth 2 hours ago
Gott mit uns, baby!
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
clemans 1Pokey4 4 hours ago
these parents abuse their children, handicap them, and teach
them to embrace ignorance, and have hate in their hearts.....and
there isn't anything that society can do to protect those poor
kids. As a parent this is so very sad.
3 ReplyShare
Avatar
didactic1 1Pokey4 2 hours ago
Nazis were very gay.
ReplyShare
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/09/boy-scouts-no-longer-
welcome-anti-gay-political-gathering?google_editors_picks=true
Poor Boy Scouts. Earlier this year, their leadership made a
fairly dramatic change in policy to allow gay people to become
troop leaders, following on the heels of last year's decision to
stop kicking out gay Scouts. The move to end discrimination has
cost the organization some members and donations from religious
groups that were outraged about the change. But it's also
suffered smaller, pettier indignitieslike its banishment from
this weekend's Values Voter Summit, the premier political
conference for evangelical Christians.
The DC summit, organized by the conservative Family Research
Council Action, is headlined by no fewer than seven GOP
presidential candidates. For many years, the Boy Scouts have had
a place of honor at the event, presenting the American flag as
the color guard. This year, though, the Scouts are nowhere to be
found. In their place are boys from Trail Life USA, the outdoor
adventure and character development group created last year as a
Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts. Joining them were
American Heritage Girls, the religious alternative to the Girl
Scouts.
Trail Life was founded by a religious-right activist from
Florida, associated with James Dobson's Focus on the Family, who
was active fighting the Boy Scout policy change. The group's
official policy on gays says:
We believe that homosexuality is sinful and immoral, as is any
sexual activity outside of the sanctity of marriage between a
Man and a Woman. Consistent with this belief, we have specific
policies that address membership and sin in both youth and adult
members.
Trail Life also excludes Mormons and Jews because they don't
subscribe to the group's particular theology.
A spokeswoman for the summit's organizers didn't respond to a
request for comment. But Trail Life CEO Mark Hancock, at his
booth in the convention hall, said his group was invited to
replace the Boy Scouts color guard because of "the direction the
Boy Scouts have taken. They think we're a better fit." Asked
specifically if it was because of the acceptance of gays,
Hancock demurred, saying it was simply the Boy Scouts' "general
departure from their traditional values" that prompted their
exclusion.
Kim Luckabaugh, the DC-area coordinator for the more established
American Heritage Girls, said her group replaced the Boy Scouts
at the conference last year, when Trail Life was just getting
off the ground, because "we are aligned ministerially. We are
aligned in our values." She says the FRC organizers have "been
very kind and gracious to us."
The booting of the Boy Scouts from the event isn't all that
surprising. The Family Research Council, which sponsors the
Values Voter Summit, has been an ardent opponent of the Boy
Scouts' acceptance of gays. Earlier this year, FRC head Tony
Perkins lamented that the Boy Scouts were moving "away from
their moral standard of being morally straight and clean and
moving into open homosexuality." He claimed that both the Boy
Scouts and Girls Scouts "are done" as organizations because of
their acceptance of gays.
A regular speaker at the event, Mat Staver, with the legal group
Liberty Counsel, said last month that the change in policy at
the Boy Scouts meant that "you are going to have all kinds of
sexual molestation. This is a playground for pedophiles to go
and have all these boys as objects of their lust. This is
insane, and we need to literally abandon the Scouts because the
Scouts, unfortunately, have abandoned us."
The Values Voter Summit has long been a hotbed of anti-gay
activism, but this year, organizers are going to great lengths
to honor people who've personally discriminated against LGBT
people, such as Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who refused to follow
the Supreme Court edict and issue marriage licenses to gay and
lesbian couples; a florist who dissed her friend and refused to
do flowers for his gay wedding; and a pair of bakers who refused
to make a cake for a lesbian couple's wedding. The organizers'
exclusion of the Boy Scouts seems only fitting, but perhaps
they've done them a favor: The boys will be spared from
associating with people who will be remembered on the wrong side
of history.
Comments:
Satch of Bridgend 18 hours ago
My God! They look like a bunch of Nazis! Or are they Russian?
11 ReplyShare
Avatar
1Pokey4 Satch of Bridgend 13 hours ago
Nazis for Christ! That's the big difference.
15 ReplyShare
Avatar
belseth 1Pokey4 9 hours ago
The Nazis claimed to be a Christian movement. People tend to
forget that particular aspect of Nazi Germany.
15 ReplyShare
Avatar
yankee dandee belseth 8 hours ago
People have no knowledge about WW2 because they don't care--it's
all about burgers and beer with their marijuana.
ReplyShare
Avatar
Liz yankee dandee 5 hours ago
Do you speak from experience?
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
ydnas639 yankee dandee 3 hours ago
uh . . . can there be onion rings, too?
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
Mike Meagher yankee dandee 3 hours ago
Sorry dude: i'm a docent at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front
National Historical Park in Richmond CA, a vegan, a wine drinker
and a pot smoker.
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
Edward Mumpster yankee dandee 2 hours ago
I prefer mountain dew with my meat and pot, otherwise I fall
aslee...
1 ReplyShare
Avatar
didactic1 yankee dandee 2 hours ago
And they are all going into "IT". Great idea. When the climate
collapses, no electricity, water or food. I guess some of the
rednecks might have an advantage. Oh. And knowing how to use an
AR15 and a few shotguns might help too. Like "gun control" is
like the LAST thing you want with what's goin' down.
ReplyShare
Avatar
d-Democrat belseth 7 hours ago
No . . . they replaced it with their own religion, Nazism . . .
for example, "Gott" was replaced with "Got" . . . particularly
amoung the SS.
ReplyShare
Avatar
Kyler Phoenix d-Democrat 2 hours ago
No, they were Christians.
1 ReplyShare
Avatar
didactic1 belseth 2 hours ago
No they were a pagan or neo pagan movement.
ReplyShare
Avatar
dagobarbz didactic1 2 hours ago
Nope. Gott mit uns means exactly what it says. But they DID
dress it up with pagan trappings to capture followers' Inner
Odin.
But no, despite the occultism and paganism, they were at core
just another flavor of asshole Christian.
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
didactic1 dagobarbz an hour ago
They were pagan.
ReplyShare
Avatar
jmtaylor700 didactic1 an hour ago
So you're argument is that 64 million Germans quit the Christian
Church and joined a pagan movement.
And boy did they raise all those old Christian Churches... oh,
never mind, that was the Allies that bombed all those old German
Churches that the Nazi's apparently glorified.
The usual right wing trappings - take an outlier and declare it
the brand for the whole so that they continue their life of
irresponsibility here on earth
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
dagobarbz belseth 2 hours ago
Gott mit uns, baby!
2 ReplyShare
Avatar
clemans 1Pokey4 4 hours ago
these parents abuse their children, handicap them, and teach
them to embrace ignorance, and have hate in their hearts.....and
there isn't anything that society can do to protect those poor
kids. As a parent this is so very sad.
3 ReplyShare
Avatar
didactic1 1Pokey4 2 hours ago
Nazis were very gay.
ReplyShare
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/09/boy-scouts-no-longer-
welcome-anti-gay-political-gathering?google_editors_picks=true