In the July 25 edition of the Lewiston Tribune, editorial writer Tom Henderson takes me to task for supporting the Boy Scout policy which prohibits homosexuals from serving as Scoutmasters.
Along the way, he castigates the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts for protesting the decision by the city of Philadelphia to throw the council out of its publicly owned headquarters unless it changes its stance on this matter.
The Cradle of Liberty Council has occupied office space in Philadelphia since 1928 and provides vital services to more than 40,000 young men and boys, for which inner-city mothers are particularly grateful.
Despite a 2000 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the right of the Boy Scouts to exclude homosexuals from serving as Scoutmasters, Philadelphia officials insist on accusing the BSA of discrimination.
Legislation passed last year will allow the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to withhold up to $62 million if the city carries out its plan to evict the Scouts.
What is happening to the Boy Scouts in Philadelphia and elsewhere graphically illustrates why those who care about the family and religious liberty must resist the advance of the homosexual agenda.
For though gay activists claim to be all about tolerance, they quickly become ruthlessly intolerant towards anyone who disagrees with their agenda. [DMC: Fisher is well aware of the “intolerant tolerant”—which we call Intoleristas]
Once policies are enacted which endorse or legitimize homosexual conduct, these policies almost immediately are used to threaten, intimidate, silence and punish anyone who would dare to publicly advocate the time-honored sexual standards of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
The plain truth is that if Mr. Henderson is as tolerant as he claims to be, he should be defending the Scouts rather than condemning them. After all, if we're supposed to show tolerance to everyone, aren't the Scouts as entitled to it as anyone else? [DMC: no, they only tolerate those whom they agree with. But, then, that’s not toleration, is it?]
If only those who happen to embrace a morally permissive orthodoxy are shown tolerance, we don't have tolerance at all but a kind of grim tyranny and repression that sounds more like the Spanish Inquisition than anything else.
And if Tom is into diversity as much as he claims to be, he should be celebrating the Scouts rather than ostracizing them. After all, isn't their view of sexual behavior a part of the rich tapestry of diversity we're all supposed to be so fond of?
If there's no place in his world view for proponents of traditional sexual morality, what kind of diversity is that?
It's odd that such vocal proponents of diversity have such a hard time with those who actually demonstrate it. [DMC: As we’ve said before—they only push for diversity until they actually get a little bit of it.]
Unfortunately for another part of Mr. Henderson's argument, research appearing in publications such as "The Archives of Sexual Behavior" and "The Gay Report" reveal that there is a sad but well-established link between homosexuality and pedophilia.
Although all-too-common news stories of teachers molesting students demonstrate that heterosexuals can be sexual abusers every bit as much as homosexuals, approximately one-third of all sex crimes against children are committed by homosexuals even though they represent less than 3 percent of the population.
In other words, although heterosexuals outnumber homosexuals by a ratio of 33 to 1, homosexual pedophiles commit one in every three child sex offenses.
Commenting on the elevated rate at which homosexual men molest boys, Dr. Timothy Dailey of the Family Research Council says,
"Despite efforts by homosexual activists to distance the gay lifestyle from pedophilia, there remains a disturbing connection between the two.
"This is because, by definition, male homosexuals are sexually attracted to other males. While many homosexuals may not seek young sexual partners, the evidence indicates that disproportionate numbers of gay men seek adolescent males or boys as sexual partners."
The Boy Scout policy of prohibiting homosexuals from serving as Scoutmasters is perfectly rational for any number of reasons. They should be applauded rather than castigated for doing everything in their power to protect teenage boys from sexual predators and to provide them with good role models.
Perhaps the Scouts are reading their manual a bit more carefully than Mr. Henderson thinks.