Not everything can be explained, supported or despised politically. In fact, darn few things qualify for that litmus test.[1]
I don’t know how many share my views. By the way, if you are not familiar with my
writings and general attitude, know that I really, really do not care whether I
get a 90% approval rating or a 10%.
Most things should be left alone to succeed or fail based on
their merits, timeliness and efficiency.
That includes most youth programs. To me, that represents the world of Scouting,
represented in the US by Scouting America and the Girl Scouts of America. I’ve been a Scout for 65 years.
A lot of people have the operating system to evaluate every conceivable
thing by their own version of red or blue political litmus paper. Oh, and the people who don’t participate in
politics? Heck with them, they’re fence
sitters. You’re with me or against
me. This is personal!
What a remarkably high-contrast way to live in what is
really a shades-of-color world. And Vishnu
on a rotisserie, what a load of crap.
Let’s first find what Scouts try to live by:
The Scout Oath:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
The Scout Law:
A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous,
kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
Scouting has long been a minor target of people “on the
left.” The fact that we wear a uniform
annoys some folks. But the uniform makes
everyone the same, annoys the Gucci crowd, and lets the youth by their badges
show their progress in the program. The
Scout uniform is about the same as that of a firefighter or paramedic.
There is a reference to a duty to “my country.” A quiet and proper respect for country has
always been a part of the Scouting program the world over. Is has little to do with “nationalism” and
everything to do with pride. Few people
these days see a danger in mere “pride.”
There is a (fairly
weak under the circumstances) duty to God.
(More on this later.) Finally,
there is the promise to “keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and
morally straight.” I don’t know of many
people in favor of keeping yourself physically weak, mentally asleep and
morally corrupt, so what’s the problem?
There are way worse oaths you can take.
I renew my oath every time I go to an organized meeting and I feel
comfortable and “at home: doing so. Now,
if I could live live the Oath perfectly .
. .
Now, some self-identified right-leaning people are targeting
Scouting. The main problem, they say, is
that now Scouting America serves girls. How shocking! It is changed, so they say, it no longer
serves only males, so it is oh-so soft and, well, something that Clint Eastwood
would reject. Oh, it beats me if the
actual Clint Eastwood has any opinion on the subject. He’s just one of the first ones people
mention when talking about “manly men” and the largely passé and occasionally
mythical “toxic masculinity.”
The latest blast comes from Ben Shapiro. He believes that
“everything in society has been feminized.”
Shapiro is a sharp and abrupt individual who is death in a debate. He’s smart, cool, precise and sarcastic. He testifies often to committees in Congress,
and those Congress-folk who challenge him usually have a rough time and come
off second best.
But the “everything feminized” comment is a total mystery. What has been feminized? If he means that men do a tad fewer
dick-measuring contests, maybe he’s right.
But I’ve never heard that as a “manly virtue.’ That’s not femininization, that’s gentlemanly
behavior. The “everything” is
telling. He’s just saying the world’s
going to hell in a handbasket and we need to do [whatever] to keep the world
from sucking even worse. That’s not an
analysis, that’s just pointless bitching.
Shapiro follows by a few months the opinions of our
Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.[2] I kinda liked him as a sort of newscaster, he
seemed bright and happy. He’s definitely
shown a hard edge which, to be fair, a Secretary of War/Defense probably
needs. Louis Johnson, McNamara, Melvin
Laird, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney certainly had that same hard shell, so
that’s not a criticism of Hegseth. Hegseth
expressed his disapproval of the changes in Scouting – mainly that it now
includes girls - citing an abandonment of “masculine virtues” and a retreat
from “boy-friendly spaces.”. He backed
it with a temporary halt in the connection between the military and Scouting.
These guys are truly full of crap. They have turned their political ire on one
of the few youth programs which really works and really rounds a kid out. Scouting is not the equivalent of joining a
youth gang or the Aryan Brotherhood.
Scouting was designed by an English military officer, Robert
Baden-Powell, for a number of reasons.
After the Boy Scouts of America – what Scouting America was named until
2 years ago – was founded, Scouting found a firm basis for a long-term
relationship with the U.S. military.
However, that was not to give boys a particular set of “masculine
virtues” beyond what the boy was taught a home.
Can you possibly imagine a
military home which does NOT have “masculine virtues” leaking from every window
and door no matter if a kid is in Scouting or not? Scouting, for boys from military families,
was to give boys a home, a familiar setting as the children of military
families followed the families around the world. A kid could follow his parent
who was transferred anywhere, and continue his Scouting journey with the same
program, at the same level, and with essentially the same companions.
Obviously, I approve of Scouting or I would not have been involved for most of my
life. Is it perfect, does it fit in with
all my whims?
Of course not. But I
don’t require that everybody drink my particular flavor or Kool-Aid. Perhaps I’m unconventional. I identify myself as a Bull Moose
Progressive, because I believe about 80% of what Theodore Roosevelt said and
believed. And that 80% is the maximum
amount of agreement that you will find in my world. But NOBODY – other than Jesus Christ (feel
free to disagree with me on him because it’s your right and then your problem) nobody is entitled to my devoted, slavish
service. Just because Donald Trump or
Chuck Schumer (and their endless supporters and cronies) do, oppose or support
something is unimportant to me. Does
whatever it is have MERIT compared to the alternatives? Is it TIMELY or do we need to keep it on the
back burn for a while? Does it
accomplish the goals EFFICIENTLY and EFFECTIVELY without undue disruption of
other needs? If it fits those criteria,
it is worth considering, no matter who suggests it; if not, it’s not, no matter
who suggests it. Bill Clinton is the
only president who has actually produced a balanced budget in the past 30
years. Just because a Democrat did it,
would the Republicans reject balancing the budget? I doubt it.
The much debated changes in Scouting are really some
much-delayed mere tinkering with the program.
Most of the changes, including the slightly new name, were a result of
the old BSA program being entirely opened to female youth. Yes, “mere tinkering” – it is the SAME
program. I remember talking to board
members about the need to include females at least 30 years ago and the inevitability
of that change. Obviously,
Scouting was helping develop normal, healthy boys. There was no earthly reason to continue to
exclude girls. Now, I think it came 20 years too late, but I
can’t find my calendar with the rewind button so we have to take what recent
history has given us.
Opening the full program to girls is the natural result of
the startling natural change in traditional gender roles. For example, when I started my law practice
48 years ago, there was ONE female Circuit Court Judge in West Virginia.[3] When I opened in Fairmont, there was a single
female lawyer among the 75 lawyers.[4] Now, most law schools have equal numbers of
male & female students, as do most graduate programs. (STEM programs are running somewhat behind,
but catching up.)
What used to be called pure “masculinity” – because society
mistakenly believed that none of it could possibly apply to girls - is really a set of healthy non-gender related
attitudes . They include confidence
with who you are. They included self-reliance.
They include the ability to take orders and to give orders. Most of all, they include the ability to work
effectively as a member of a team. My
mother was born 100 years ago. Her
generation was prevented by then-society norms from pursuing that. I wish that we could go back and provide my
mom’s generation with greater opportunities.
I know she wished that. But that
calendar with the rewind button has not turned up yet.
Boys used to be taught those virtues in Scouting. “Manliness vs. Self-Reliance?” Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to. Now, both boys and girls have that
opportunity. For the present, these are
presented in all-boys or all-girls troops.
Only recently has Scouting America started experimenting with co-ed
troops. I must admit, I could not with
my current level of training be a adult leader of a co-ed unit. No doubt, mixed groups have some special
needs and problems that need skilled leadership. Heck, I don’t even begin to understand how
teen-age girls’ minds work. Scouting
America is developing that leadership even as we speak. And the safety of the kids is paramount.
The Safety of the Kids:
As some of you may know, the BSA emerged from bankruptcy about a year
ago. That was caused by Scouts who had
been sexually or otherwise abused by adults they had come into contact with in
the Boy Scouts. That this occurred is a shameful thing. It still and will remain a shameful thing that
now drives Scouting to protect kids.
This forms the concrete basis of the absolute commitment of Scouting
America: NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN will
we let evil slip in because we are distracted with the program. The KIDS are the program, they are why we
exist. All people who have contact with children in
Scouting MUST complete a training course and learn and ABSOLUTELY FOLLOW the
rules which ensure child safety, and every adult is continuously monitored. The bankruptcy was only about money. It financially hurt Scouting, but it was
still only money. Money can be
replaced. Kids were hurt. Kids can’t be replaced. We cannot let that happen again.
The Scouting program is based on the outdoors. When Scouting started in the United Kingdom
in the first decade of the 20th Century, more and more boys were
moving to cities and away from the outdoors.
To counter that urbanization, Baden-Powell began returning boys to the
“rough places,” where they could practice self-reliance and learn what were
then vanishing skills. As the years went
by, the rest of the program developed almost organically.
The program was always based on “country.” Every nation which has Scouting has an unashamed
patriotic component. Just as Scouting
America believes in American exceptionalism, Canadian Scouts learn Canadian
exceptionalism; German Scouts learn German exceptionalism; and so it goes with
each country. That includes a generous
helping of respect for other countries.
I visited a summer camp a few years ago.
There was a staff member from Ecuador.
When the American flag was raised, so was the Ecuador flag, which was
given equal homage to the American flag.
That was an important lesson for the kids at camp.
“Duty to God,” to some minds, has sticking points. But it is God as each individual understands
him to be. There are at least 20
separate awards for Protestants of all sorts of sects, awards for Roman
Catholics, for every eastern Catholic church (Polish, Romanian, Russian), for Latter
Day Saints, for Hindus, for Islam, for Sikhs, for Unitarian Universalists, for Jews,
for Jains, for Zoroastrians, for Quakers, and on and on. The teaching of Scouting is to serve God as
YOU understand and let others do so as THEY understand. Don’t you wish that the world would learn
THAT lesson? Remember, this is a program
about kids. They don’t yet have a
crystal-clear vision of the
Creator. Scouting gives them time and
room to see where they fit in this universe of ours.
The Scout is taught outdoor skills, to be a hiker and to be
a camper. If you take a seasoned Scout
and drop them anywhere in the country, I think you’ll find them walking out
healthy and refreshed within a couple of days.
That alone gives a kid confidence.
I can best describe a few of MY miscellaneous experiences in Scouting to
illustrate what a kid might learn and the interests they might develop:
·
They will learn that in the summertime, the
stars make a beautiful blanket to sleep under.
(Last August, I was at our Scout camp, sleeping out in a field under the
clear sky. That was exquisite.)
·
You can study and understand at least 135
separate interests in the many “merit badges” Scouting offers.
·
They learn that in the summer, you take extra
water along. Running out of water in
August on a hot day in a gulch really sucks.
You’ll only do it once.
·
They might learn something I did, the joy of
stars and astronomy.
·
They might develop a super-interest in
ornithology (bird study.) I still
maintain a “life list,” but it still doesn’t include an ivory-billed woodpecker – But I’m still
working on it.
·
When you have a gathering at a campfire, there
are all sorts of impressive things you can do easily to “wow” young kids.
·
In the woods, in snow and zero weather, you CAN
stay warm and eat like royalty. . .
·
. . . particularly if you have a Dutch oven and
know how to use it.
·
Even if you are really afraid of water, you can
learn to swim and enjoy it.
·
You can learn new things, scary things, like
climbing a cable ladder up a cliff, on a belay . . .
·
. . . and you can and will learn to be the one
keeping others safe working the belay.
Now THAT is responsibility.
·
Yes, you CAN start a fire with flint &
steel. After you get good at it, you can
make quite a fancy performance of it.
·
In the early fall in deciduous woods, you can
burrow under newly fallen leaves and be
more comfortable than under a down
blanket.
·
Away from the city, it’s not really just “first
aid,” you are really responsible for somebody health and perhaps life. Some people go on to find a career in
emergency medical services (I was a volunteer and one of the few
lawyer-paramedics in the country; my son
came from Scouting and was and is a pro in emergency medical services and
emergency services).
·
Have you ever stood on a ridge at 11,000 feet
and watched the sun come up over another state?
That’s a Scouting experience.
·
If you know the woods and fields, you will might
go onto fields of boulders left by glaciers, you might camp amond virgin aspen
groves, hike the highest wetlands in North America (that’s in West Virginia),
or camp at historic sites, Valley Forge, Blennerhassett Island.
·
Maybe you’ll find that sandbagging for 12 hours
in the pouring rain will make you quite tired.
In other words, you’ll do as a group unpleasant things that HAVE to be
done.
Scouts advance in various ranks. In the United States, the Eagle Scout is the
highest rank. Not many kids make Eagle,
but everybody is eligible. Scouts advance
not in competition with one another, but to set standards which may be tough, but they are obtainable. In the instance
of a youth with some limited abilities, the standards can be adjusted so that
they get the full benefit that they can of the Scouting experience. But whatever rank you attain, Scouting is
worth it – and fun. (I did not make
Eagle. But I’m still here.)
Boys and now girls
learn separately or together hiking, camping, the environment, the
responsibilities of adulthood, teamwork, sports, nature, the nature of many
professions, arts, crafts, science and on and on. And they help one another learn, because the
“patrol method” is that kids learn from one another with just a little proper
guidance from adults.
And Scouts normally turn out to be good, responsible
adults. About 20 years ago, we had a
board member on our council who had been an FBI agent and was destined to be
the head of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, Otis Cox. Once I asked Otis how many people he had
arrested. He answered that it must be
2,000 or more. I then asked, how many of
them were Scouts? He answered, “None.” Then he added, “That’s why I’m here.”
You can isolate a particular part of any program and spin
your conspiracy theories about it. In
Scouting, conspiracy theories were created about a merit badge called
“Citizenship in Society,” which has since been discontinued because it just
didn’t work, mainly because it was too repetitive with OTHER merit badges. But some viewed it as a harbinger of the
dread diversity, equity and inclusion monster, the old “DEI boogie-man.” How ridiculous.Diversity in Scouting is
already there: Nobody cares where you come from or what your skin color
is. Equity is kind of a weasel word, but
Scouts use it in the sense of being fundamentally fair. And inclusion? Scouts include everyone who is willing to
take the Scout Oath. If all of that
equals “DEI,” then I plead guilty. To
me, it means acceptance, and the ultimate “big tent” organization.
I’m not dissing non-Scouting organizations. Some teach many of the same skills and serve
the same goals. Heck, some are copies of
and based upon Scouting, like the Federation of North American Explorers, the
Seventh Day Adventist Pathfinders or the Assemblies of God Royal Rangers. Copies or not, adopting a triangular neckerchief
is not something you can trademark, so the more the merrier and we will let the
market – or the kids – decide.
The political people really honestly believe their
silliness. All Scouting can do is keep
doing the job and keep – and improve – the services we give to our
children. If at the end of our lives, we
have done that, we have lived a good life.
Mizpah! R[5]
[1] Am
I the only one who is amused by the fact that actual litmus paper turns blue or
red depending on whether you are testing for a base or an acid?
[2] The
change from “Secretary of Defense” to “Secretary of War” was at least
unnecessary and provocative.And odd.
[3]
That was the incomparable Judge Callie Tsapis in the First Circuit, who I had
the honor to appear before in her last years on the bench.
[4]
She has retired and was later the first of my three – all female – partners in
my practice.
[5] You
might note that this screed is written with slightly better grammar and way
fewer typos that my usual output. A fine
lady who I ran an early copy if this by offered to edit it for me. After my heart restarted – I mean, messing
with what I wrote?!?!? – it started to seem like a decent
experiment, so I dear friend Sarah Fox is responsible for putting the “polish”
on this one.
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