Re: homos and god haters
Erkki Lietzen (lietzen@UTU.FI)
Thu, 25 Nov 1993 23:31:46 +0200
> (Mick Napier) that bugs the life out of me. As has been pointed out
> many times, the BSA is a private organization and can accept or deny
> membership as it sees fit. It isn't a government program or a
> quasi-government program that can be bullied into submission by the PC
> crowd; it is PRIVATE. Membership is voluntary if you agree to follow
> the principals. To force the BSA to accept everyone and anyone is like
> (as someone else responded on rec.scouting) trying to shut down the local
> synagogue because it doesn't offer Christian Bible studies.
> I hope that the discussions here on SCOUTS-L never drop to the level
> of this repost. It just hit one of my hot buttons because I don't like
> Bruce
> Bruce B. Harper Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0433
> ==Assistant Webelos Den Leader, Pack 56, Blacksburg==
> BHARPER@VTVM1 (BITNET) or BHARPER@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU (Internet)
>
Dear Bruce!
When you say that BSA is a private organization it is true. But if you are
acting against the sprit and meaning of INTERNATIONAL scouting ideals, you
can no longer call yourself a SCOUTING organization. Internationally scouting
includes ALL kind of different countries and cultures and all different boys
and girls should have the opportunity to join in scouting movement. In Fin-
land BSA attitude would never be accepted in the Finnish Scouting Movement.
We have scouts who are no members in any religion or who are gay or lesbian
scouts or scoutmasters in and out of the closet. I am one example of a living
non-religious gay scoutmaster out of the closet.
I am not saying that there isin't some kind of discrimination from indiviual
scouts but the official scouting movement doesn't have any kind of dricimi-
nating policies. Everybody is welcome but ofcourse they are expected to
respect the ideals of scouting. In fact the Finnish scouting ideals include
the principal of accepting oneself and developing ones personality. This is
very important for strait AND gay youths and it includes ones sexual orienta-
tion as one part of personality.
The fact has been, is, and will be that there are ALWAYS gay people in the
scouting movement as there are in other parts of the society. We only have
to accept that fact. Tolerence makes scouting a much more powerful tool in
the society than narrowmindedness if we want to make a difference in the
world.
BTW when I read Tim Jeals book Baden-Powell (maybe the most relyable biograph
about BB's life) it is quite clear for me as a gay man that BB also was a
repressed homosexual. Jeal suggests that too (pp. 75-109).
For me this is also a human rights question. In Scandinavia and in many other
European countries that kind of BSA discrimination against gays (or religion/no
religion) would never be possible. Thank God for that!
:) Erkki
PS. Please forgive my English.
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
