Boy Scouts Of America

Can General John Kelly, New White House Chief Of Staff, Reign In Donald Trump? Unlikely!

Ronald 3 Comments

Wow, what a week!

First, we have Anthony Scaramucci come in as White House Communications Director and then go on a profanity laced tirade, which reminds us so much of Donald Trump, almost like a mini Trump.

No one at the White House had any issue with this misbehavior, including Kelly Anne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and the President, who was reported to be very happy with his attack on Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon.

Soon, Reince Priebus, the White House Chief of Staff, is fired, a week after the firing of Sean Spicer, the White House Press Secretary, eliminating the two major connections to the Republican Establishment and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

Meanwhile, the attack on Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Twitter by President Trump continues, and Sessions just shrugs it off, and only says it is “hurtful”.

The President makes a fool of himself and embarrasses the Boy Scout Jamboree with his political comments, and then tells police officers to be brutal with suspects, a violation of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

Then, Trump appoints General John Kelly, the Secretary of Homeland Security, to be his new White House Chief of Staff, and yesterday, his first day on the job, Kelly fired Scaramucci after only ten days in office, and not yet on the payroll!

The chaos and anarchy is continuing, and one had to wonder whether Kelly can reign in Donald Trump, and his behavior, including his abuse of Twitter.

If Kelly cannot do it, then no one can, clear and simple!

The Trump Presidency has reached a new low, and the calendar schedule for his ultimate downfall has been hastened by what, arguably, has been his worst week in office, although every week has been horrendous!

Religion And Prejudice: Again Evident In Reaction To Boy Scout Decision to Admit Gay Youths

Ronald 11 Comments

The news that the Boy Scouts Of America will allow gay youths as members is a half step, as it still bans gay youths once they reach 18, and gay scout leaders, and that will have to be adjusted over time.

But it is extremely disturbing to see Religion being utilized to promote prejudice, bias, hate and discrimination against gays, as if they choose to be gay!

So we see the Mormon Church, the Catholic Church, and evangelical Christians employing very “Unchristian” values, and also Orthodox Jews and Orthodox Muslims, refusing to recognize how many of each religious group are gay, including some of the protesting leaders, who are “in the closet”, and are true hypocrites!

And it is disturbing that one family, as an example, with five sons, is removing all of them from scouting, as, supposedly, the children asked to be removed, and if that is so, that means they have been taught to hate and to despise gay people, when they will have to cope with plenty of them over a lifetime!

And who can be sure that some of these kids, or others, are secretly gay, and totally paranoid and fearful of being found out, and might cause them to commit suicide because of their guilt and their burden that they know they will NOT be accepted by their own parents and other family members?

This is all very sick and disturbing, but after all, we all know that elements of organized Christianity were infamous for nativism, racism, sexism, and antisemitism in american history! So what else is new?

Fortunately, the number of young people who accept gays is a clear majority and growing, and organized religion is losing adherents rapidly, so when the more devout and older bigots in society pass from the scene, we will have a much more tolerant and open minded society, free of their prejudice, hatred, and bias!

The Boy Scouts, Zach Wahls, And Gay Rights

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The Boys Scouts of America has become the center of controversy for having a policy forbidding gay membership or leadership, and Zach Wahls, son of two lesbian parents but himself straight, has become a leader in the fight to stop discrimination and prejudice in an organization so crucial to boys’ emotional development.

The national organization, which won a Supreme Court case, Boy Scouts Of America V Dale by a 5-4 vote in 2000, allowing discrimination because they are a private group, is now moving toward allowing local chapters to make their own decision, which is some progress, but Wahls is fighting it, as permitting religious groups, which often sponsor Boy Scout chapters, to promote a double standard, where some local groups will allow gays to be participants, while others will not.

Zach Wahls should be seen as a civil rights leader, even though that is not his intention to draw attention to himself. But to have a straight man fight so hard on such a controversial and emotional issue is something worthy of respect, admiration, and praise!

Hopefully, we will soon see another major victory for gay rights, and work against the bullying and mistreatment of young boys at a very vulnerable age.

And it is time for organized religious groups to stop promoting hate and narrow mindedness, with some groups, including the United Church Of Christ, already making progress in that direction!

The Anti Gay Boy Scouts Of America Apparently Has A Child Molestation Problem From Its “Straight” Boy Scout Masters!

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The Boy Scouts of America loves to talk about it being an organization connected to Christianity, although not only Christian boys are allowed in the organization, as for instance, the author, who is Jewish, was a Boy Scout.

But believing in “Christian values”, the Boy Scouts bans any gay boys or scoutmasters that are known to be gay, and this has led to at least one Eagle Scout, now years away from being a Scout, and straight sexually, to return his Eagle Scout medals, in protest against the discrimination and prejudice being practiced by the Boy Scouts of America.

But in the midst of all this ‘principled” stand by the Boy Scouts of America against gays, it turns out there are many instances of so called “straight” Boy Scout masters who are indeed molesting boys in their charge!

Hmmmm! What an example of hypocrisy, but not all that different than the case of the Catholic Church, evangelical Christian groups, and others who profess religiosity, and do not practice what they preach!

The Loss Of Trust In Institutions On Sexual Abuse And The Alarming Reaction Of Many!

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So now we have another institution, organized sports, joining the ranks of the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America, in losing the trust and respect of many Americans, all due to sexual abuse.

It is impossible to fathom why evidence of sexual abuse of minors was not reported promptly to the authorities, whether it was Penn State, the Catholic Church, or the Boy Scouts of America.

But it is even more shocking when many people react in an alarming way, as thousands of Penn State students rioted last night after their icon, coach Joe Paterno, was summarily dismissed for not doling more when he learned of sexual abuse by an assistant football coach nearly ten years ago.

These college students, who were children a short time ago, seemed more concerned about their college football team’s prospects than the harm done to young children by the sexual abuse visited upon them over a period of more than a decade!

What is it that makes young people, and really people of all ages, such sports fanatics that they worship coaches and managers, and see no limits to their maniacal support of sports, which after all, are supposed to be a diversion, not a religion?

There is a severe lack of morality and ethics being displayed, and the Penn State students who marched, demonstrated, and did property damage, should be condemned for their juvenile behavior and inappropriate actions.

College is for academics primarily, but college sports has become too dominant, and the idea that coaches are paid more than the university president is obscene on its face!

If Penn State really cared about this tragedy, they should forfeit the remaining three games and refuse to participate in any post season Bowl games, as an appropriate reaction to the horrific tragedy visited on children by their institution while they stood by and only cared about what is basically a game, not real life!