Here are three topics - none related - that have astonished me in the past two days.
KKK
Back in December 2005, I posted a snippet of a Fox WGHP story on the recruiting efforts of the Ku Klux Klan. It seemed that the KKK - the most dangerous hate and violence filled group in the history of our country - had been distributing recruiting flyers in local Greensboro neighborhoods:
People found the fliers in a north western Greensboro neighborhood. One of the three pages wishes the community a happy holiday there’s also an application to join the Klan for $35. The first requirement is to be a white Christian practicing racial integrity. None of the materials had a local contact. Only the Klan’s website, a Harrison, Arkansas phone number and an address for the Klan’s international headquarters. People in the neighborhood say they’re more disturbed than shocked that the KKK would choose to bring their message of white supremacy to their front doors.
Yesterday, I received a comment on that post from an individual named “Jane.” In short, she said we should be more open-minded to the group:
up, I stepped up to the plate…AND JOINED them. Take some time and educate yourself. Read read read and you will see that a lot of whats said and what you hear are NOT what this organization is about. Yes, it is comprised of WHITE Christian people…but how is that any different than some of the BLACK groups out there…we have BLACK History month, do we have WHITE History month?? etc
Astonishing. Really… I’m put aback. It takes an astonishingly large amount of prejudice and ignorance to make a statement like Jane’s. Jane, the KKK is comprised of “white Christians” because the hate everyone else. What we hear about the organization is the exact truth. The KKK is an evil organization whose history is full of murder, rape, close-to-fatal injury and the use of God’s most holy Name to condemn, exclude and de-humanize millions of people.
Boy Scouts
Two days ago, I ran across a blog post written by a former Boy Scout who is now openly gay. The topic of the day was the impending eviction the Philadelphia Boy Scout council will face because they have refused to disavow the group’s discriminatory membership policy on gay youth and adults. That is where my fellow gay Scout messes up. He is, perhaps, unaware that the Boy Scout policy affects not only gay adults seeking to be Scout leaders, but also gay youth seeking to become or remain Scout members.
Here’s his take:
As a gay former scout I have to say that I wish the city had left this issue alone. I don’t like discrimination of any kind, but I also know what a great experience Boy Scouts was for me as a kid. I had a horrible relationship with my stepfather growing up and I hated being around him. In scouts I was exposed to men I could look up to and admire. Not allowing gays to act as Scout leaders does bother me, but not enough to do something that makes the Scouts less accessible to boys around the country.
Lets focus on gay marriage, gay adoption, the prosecution of hate crimes of every kind, and then, and only then, can we look at the scouting issue again - if we still have the energy.
As a scout in Florida in Boy Scout Troop 626, I knew I was gay, and I kept it to myself. The benefits of being a scout, for me, far out weighed the drawbacks (I’m don’t think there actually were any drawbacks) involved in staying in the closet. What thirteen year old will improve their life by coming out? Kids can be vicious at that age, but knowing two young men who are active in scouts, Corey and Thomas, I have to say that scouting has certainly not made them bigots. These are wonderful guys who are smart, capable, funny, and caring. If the scouts, under the current system, can turn out kids like that, then this is not a high priority issue for me.
I have to give him credit and respect. He does say, “The benefits of being a scout, for me, far out weighed the drawbacks… involved in staying the closet.” He also relates how he never felt there were any “drawbacks” to being closeted. As a fellow Scout and a gay man, I’ll respect his own life journey and experience. That does not mean, however, that I will not politely disagree.
The Boy Scout policy is something to be fought because it affects youth, as well as adults. In my fellow Scout’s writing, he does not address the policy as it relates to youth. Thousands of boys are remaining in the closet because they are scared of the reaction that they will receive if other Scouts and Scout leaders should ever know they are gay. I’ve been kicked out because of this policy (at age 14) and I’ve known of too many other youth who have experienced similar dealings with the BSA.
Just recently, in fact, I met a youth in Charlotte who was forced by his father to come out to the Boy Scouts. His father knew that once he came out in the troop, then he’d be kicked out and not allowed to participate any longer. In this instance, the Scout leader played right into the hands of the bigoted father. From both sides, that youth experienced bigotry and prejudice. Unfortunately, the one group of people who should have been standing next to him - to defend him against the ill-wishes of his father - took center stage and played right along with their inherited parts of “Exclusionary un-Boy Scouts veiled behind a meaningless* Scout Law and Oath.”
I’ll always support the Boy Scouts for the real values. I’ll keep working and praying for a day when all boys are able to participate in this wonderful, American experience of child and young adulthood and growing into a man.
Boy Scouts, Part Deux
Remember when I posted about the Berkeley Sea Scouts fighting that city over their publicly-subsidized use of the marina? Well, the main Scouter leading the charge to fight the City of Berkeley’s move to stand up for fairness and equality has now been charged with molestation of four boys.
From h/t Good.As.You:
Yes, that’s right — a longtime Boy Scout leader (seen here) has been hauled in on allegations that he has done the exact thing that they LOVE to say would happen if gays were allowed equal access to the organization.
Pam has more on the topic.
Sin Alert
Beth at Greensboring.com wrote a post on a sickening viral video floating its way around the internet. I’m not going to post a link to it, although a link is present in the comment sections of Beth’s post.
The video shows women eating feces, something the religious right has continuously used to demean and malign LGBT people as a whole. I saw a writer state one time that he had never actually seen or heard of any gay people engaging in many of the acts the religious right says we like to engage in on a regular basis.
I’m wondering why the religious right has not sent out a wave of sin alerts to their followers about this evil practice of a woman eating feces. There is no doubt in my mind that this particular movie - as well as the site from which it originated - are directed solely to heterosexual people. Where now are the cries, the shouts of anger and righteousness?
* - The Scout Law and Oath really aren’t meaningless. In my view, the two statements embody principles and lessons every American boy should learn. However, the Law and Oath become meaningless in the instance of discrimination upheld and committed by Boy Scout leaders. Once this happens, almost every point in the Scout Law and Oath are broken and a fellow Scout is left with no recourse but to leave, and never come back.
Technorati Tags: KKK, Ku Klux Klan, Greensboro, North Carolina, Boy Scouts, Philadelphia, Berkeley, gay Scouts, child molestation, poop, Religious Right, hypocrisy
