By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources (www.originalsources.com)
September, 15, 2000
On August 21st, I wrote an article about a group of people booing the Eagle Scouts at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. I had waited several days to see if there was going to be a high level apology for that outrageous behavior from either Al Gore or Joseph Leiberman. No apology was offered those Scouts for the treatment they were given, as they presented the U.S. Flag.
In the last three weeks a number of people have wondered just where Al Gore, who reportedly was once a boy scout, stands on this growing controversy. I think I just found found the answer. A letter from Al Gore to Steve Cozza, who founded "Scouting for All", tells us clearly where Gore stands.
Scouting for All, organized in Rep. Lynn Woolsey's district, inspired the bill she sponsored which, if passed, would have rescinded the Boy Scout's Federal Charter. In fact, shortly after the Supreme Court Decision affirming the Scouts right to maintain their "morally straight" standards, Woolsey said that Cozza was a "one of those brave people" who organized a "national campaign to change the Boy Scouts Policy."
The bill Woolsey introduced, co-sponsored by ten other Democrats, was defeated Tuesday 362 to 11, with 51 Democrats and 1 Republican voting "Present" rather than supporting the Scouts.
In a letter posted September 12, 2000 on the Scouting for All website, Al Gore praises Cozza for his "efforts against discrimination." He wrote:
Is this why we haven't heard a word from Al Gore in defense of those Scouts who were booed at the Democratic Convention that nominated him as their candidate for president? Exactly what are the "gay and lesbian rights" that Gore is espousing and where did they come from?
THE VICE PRESIDENT
WASHINGTONNovember 8, 1999
Mr. Steven Cozza
(Address)Dear Steven,
Thank you for writing to me. I am especially encouraged when I read letters from young Americans, like you, who have an interest in solving problems associated with such issues as gay and lesbian rights.
Like other members of society, gay and lesbian citizens work, pay taxes, contribute to their communities, and obey the law. Like other members of our society, they merit equal protection and freedom from discrimination. I am personally and publicly committed to the principles of equality for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation. I believe that people should be judged by their conduct and by their contributions to society, not by their sexual status. In the years to come, I hope you will continue to have an interest in the challenges facing the United States. Your education is very important not only to yourself, but also to your community and our country.
Once again, thank you for writing and for all of your efforts against discrimination. I wish you every success in the future.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Al Gore
A "right" is a principle that is either natural, legal or prescriptive. What natural, legal or prescriptive principle exists in homosexuality that overrides the Scouts constitutional right to associate with those of their own choice? Freedom, according to the principles on which this nation was founded, is a God given right. Who gave homosexuals the "right" to force the Boy Scouts of America to abandon the moral code they have taught for nearly 100 years?
Cozza also posted a Christian Science Monitor article which states:
"Three months after the Boy Scouts of America won a US Supreme Court ruling permitting the private group to exclude homosexuals as scoutmasters, gay-rights groups across the nation are working to paint the 6 million-strong organization as a bastion of bigots undeserving of community support."While the campaign is applying pressure in a few areas, it is still too early to determine whether the effort will substantially undercut the Boy Scouts' ability to raise funds, recruit new members, and maintain its once-universal image as a wholesome training ground for future leaders.
"If successful, the campaign could force up to 1 million Boy Scouts in 19,000 troops, who meet in public schools or community centers, to find private, nongovernmental sponsors or disband. The remaining 65 percent of troops are sponsored by religious organizations."
If the homosexuals win their 20 year battle to force the Boy Scouts of America to abandon what Scott Cozza claims is discrimination against "people who are gay and atheists," what organization that chooses to service the needs of selected others will be safe from those "anti-discrimination" laws? If the Scouts can be forced through the support of people like Al Gore to abandon their right to choose, because of laws against "discrimination" based on race, color, creed, sex, age, and sexual orientation, then there can be NO group based on those criteria.
No group can be organized around one sex - such as Girl Scouts, Women's Shelters, Men's Shelters, Women, (i.e. the National Organization for Women), or race, (i.e. the NAACP for "colored people", or the United Negro College Fund), or age, (i.e. the AARP for those over the age of 50), or creed, (i.e. Catholic Charities (which are partially financed by the United Way), or the Jewish War Veterans, which have a Charter granted by the federal government. No Church, synagogue or mosque could be allowed, since they all, with this new definition of "discrimination" violate anti-discrimination laws. ALL of them, like the Boy Scouts, are organized around a principle that takes for granted their unalienable right to exclude others for moral or practical reasons.
Another posting on Cozza's website, clearly enunciates this new principle. A letter from Terry O'Neill states:
"Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush is trying to make a campaign issue out of the Justice Department's investigation into whether federal agencies may provide a variety of free perquisites (use of national parklands, etc.) to BSA without violating an executive order barring government freebies to groups that discriminate on the basis of religious belief and sexual orientation, among other categories. Gov. Bush is no doubt holding up the specter of innocent young people falling into the clutches of predatory and deviant Scoutmasters."What is really going on is that BSA has a harsh and rigid policy of exclusion that applies mostly to adolescent boys who are at a difficult stage in life and making a self-discovery that will make the entirety of their lives far more difficult than the norm. BSA tells them that they are no good and, if they identify themselves or are found out, not wanted. And now, under the authority of the Dale decision, that policy deprives them of any kind of positive adult role model."
What will happen after the fall election if Al Gore is elected and Clinton's June 28, 2000 Executive Order making "sexual orientation" a "protected right" stands? If America chooses the notion that it's OK for young people to "fall into the clutches of predatory and deviant Scoutmasters" as the writer of the letter puts it, exactly how would any organization for children be allowed to choose leaders that won't guide them into, for example, a homosexual lifestyle that is almost guaranteed to shorten their life-span by as much as 30 years? (The average life-span of an American homosexual is 41 years.) If age is a "protected right" under anti-discrimination laws, as defined by Cozza and others, on what basis can laws against sex with young children be declared enforceable? Don't all laws against pedophilia assume that it is OK to have a different kind of sexual law for children than for adults? Isn't that discrimination based on age, as being newly defined by homosexual groups such as Lambda and their allies in such groups as those who hope to establish the International Criminal Court under United Nations jurisdiction?
Folks, the day appears to have come that the prophet Isaiah warned us about when there would be those "that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness" who would "justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him." (Isaiah 5:20-23)
If America allows a group demanding that the Boy Scouts of America open its doors to homosexuals and atheists to get away with it, and chooses a leader who believes that such a policy is a commitment "to the principles of equality for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation" as Al Gore has said, we will have rewarded the wickedness of homosexuals and taken away the righteousness of the Boy Scouts of America.
To comment: mmostert@originalsources.com
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