A “news brief” from Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink today:
Boy Scout Funding Pulled
The United Way of Miami-Dade County has pulled its yearly grant of $480,000 from the Boy Scouts of South Florida because the Scouts refused to submit their leaders to pro-gay diversity training. Spokesman Gregg Shields said it’s the latest attempt to control the Boy Scouts of America.
“I don’t think sensitivity programs that they talk about is really what the United Way wanted,” Shields said. “I think the United Way and the board want nothing less than for us to walk away from our values. And that’s just not going to happen.”
“Values” is not the word to describe bullying and discrimination against gay youth and highly qualified, professional and “manly” troop leaders.
I continue to believe the Boy Scouts have the right, as a private organization, to set their own membership standards.
Because they are a private religious organization, they are in no way entitled to funding from the government.
And because they are discriminatory, they are in no way entitled to funding from the United Way.
Organizations that choose to discriminate must be willing to take responsibility for their dearth of community values, and accept any consequences for their choices.
The Boy Scouts of South Florida appear unwilling to accept responsibility for their beliefs and actions. What a poor example to set for young men.
You said “The Boy Scouts of South Florida appear unwilling to accept responsibility for their beliefs and actions. What a poor example to set for young men.”
Seems to me they are seting an excellent example for young men by taking responsibility for their beliefs and actions….Cowering and folding to pop culture and political correctness would be a poor example to set imho…
I have stopped funding to the United Way as has the company I own….We used to have 400 employees on United Way autodraft that took an voluntarily assigned amount out of employees individual checks…..I canceled that and explained to my employees that they were free to donate to the United Way but would need to do so on their own and that I would not give them the UW the luxury of using my business as a fund raising source….with our matching program this is over a 100 grand a year that the UW will lose….just our one little business…I have talked to many others who are doing the same….and guess who loses….the children….a few gay folks couldn’t find another private outlet to go camping…millions of children will suffer because of it….
hello,
Let’s see if I get this right: You want to make it harder for your employees to contribute to the United Way because they don’t give to the charity of your choice. And the reason this is the charity of your choice is because they don’t allow gay participants.
OK. That’s fine. We’re all allowed our own biases. For example, I don’t give to the Ku Klux Klan. But that’s just my bias. So I can see how you wouldn’t want to support anyone who insisted on including gay people. That’s your bias.
I completely support the rights of the Boy Scouts to exclude whoever they like (just like the United Way can). I even support your right to make it difficult for your employees to give to help the homeless and needy.
My only objection is when governments steal my money to give to groups from which I am excluded. I say “camp your little hearts out” to the Boy Scouts. Just don’t do it on my dime.
Interestingly, the Boy Scouts membership has been dropping ever since they made a campaign out of excluding gay people. In fact the numbers are dropping so severely that in some states that they are being investigated for fraudulently inflating membership numbers to receive grants.
Hmmmm, maybe parents are deciding that bigotry and fraud are not values that they want to pass on to their kids.
Hello, the ban extends not just to gay people. Atheists and agnostics are excluded also. And there are stories, which may be just legends, of Buddhists and Wiccans not being allowed. The ban on gay people applies to the young scouts as well. Which sure sets up confused young men and boys to be tossed out and humiliated. Not to mention the children of non-believers.
It would be nice to know what company this “hello” fellow works for. I’d like to know, so that I could make sure that I don’t deal with them, or deal with anyone who deals with them. They want to avoid dealing with organizations that eschew dealing with bigots. Well, I’d like to avoid dealing with organizations like his.
Tit-for-tat, as they say.