This is one of those issues that really makes me think.Now under normal circumstances my choices would be clear. "Oh you don't deal with people of a certain color/age/sex/religion/sexual identification? Well you also won't deal with me."
But I was a boy scout for years. I loved it, it was great and I learned a lot of things that I find useful today. Sure, I was then, as I am now, an atheist and all my friends (devout friends really) knew it. They asked me if there was a contradiction, beign a boy scout and an athesist. But I never saw it. Eventually it was more than I could tolerate, and I left. But it was not a bad break up. (see I thought they were te crazy ones.)
Today, I look at the situation and really just makes me sad. Not sad in a crying way, just a profound blues or meloncholia that this one more thing from my youth that I thought was one way, but it really was another.
I don't really know what to think.
I was walking into a Wal-Mart last fall and there were some Cub Scouts out in front selling popcorn, like they do every year and like I did 20+ years ago. And then as in now the Cub Scout would ask, "would like to buy some popcorn to support our pack?" and this guy goes off on this little kid about this whole issue. The little guy looked so hurt and was close to tears. For what reason? Can this kid change anything? Was he even aware of what choices adults in his organization have made? No. He knows that scouts was getting together with his buddies, going camping, learning about animals, plants and other cool things to a ten year old. He knowes that if he sells more popcorn they might be able to afford to get rid of that old tent his pack has been using for the last twenty years.
Look. I will suport fully equal rights for everyone, regardless of race, gender, identity, what have you. But I draw the line at children. I don't care what you think of their parent's politics, you NEVER take it out on a child. A simple no thank you would have been fine.
For those not in the know, Cub Scouts are aged 7 to 10.
Will I put my son into scouts? I would like to. But I can't as long as they feel the need to disobey their own creeds. If they can't extend the same basic human decency that will alot to their own god-fearing, straight humans, then, well they can do it with out me or my son.
My dad was one of my scout masters. I told myself, maybe when I was 10 or 11, that one day I would do that for my son. Those were some of my best pre-teen memories.
Again. This whole situation just makes me sad.
Warlock.
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Web Warlock
web.warlock@attbi.com webwarlock@planetadnd.com
Author, the Netbooks of Witches and Warlocks
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I'm ahead of my time. But only by a week.
- Too Much Joy, "I Don't Know"