The 2001 Boy Scout National Jamboree Fort A.P. Hill in northern Virginia - Page 7
 The Scout collecting community has had newsletters for years. In 2001 ISCA was the “voice” of Scout collecting. Modern computer graphics and quality printing had brought ISCA a long way from mimeographed newsletters. Jamboree collectors might want older issues of ISCA published in Jamboree years. 2001 is an especially excellent edition. Jim Ellis, the Editor, was on staff, he and knowledgeable experts developed material that is an excellent resource for aggressive Jamboree collectors. ISCA is online at https://scouttrader.org/ |
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 I have repeatedly commented that private issues and “spoof” patches was making collecting more difficult. John Conley Williams was a Texas collector and a well known “dealer”. This is what he had to say in the 2001 ISCA Jamboree issue. The BSA and the Culture Wars  Wikipedia says that The Culture Wars started in the 1970’s, it was a “struggle to define America”. There was no war and few skirmishes. One group was so well organized and funded that it was able to impose its will by intimidation, manipulation and name calling. The BSA saw trouble brewing in the mid-1970’s, God was deemphasized and even camping was in question. At the end of the 1977 Jamboree I comment on what the BSA was trying to do and how it failed. To see where yielding to the demands of your critics leads, look to Canada. The Canadian Scout Associations today has only 57,000 Scouts. |
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After getting everything they wanted elsewhere the critics of
Scouting turned their attention to the BSA in about 2001. The BSA
was woefully unprepared to deal with the savagery and venom of it’s
adversaries. The problems were known as the three G’s. God, Gays and
Girls. The BSA had reworded and watered down God just about
everywhere it could. Many of the fundaments' churches noticed and
dropped Scouting. The 1970’s Handbook deemphasized many Scouting
fundamentals, but the BSA still had the Oath and Law. A ten year old
Webelos might not understand the Oath and Law but a 13 year old
First Class Scout that has recited it dozens of time, “gets it”.
Some of Scouting's traditions can be watered down, but as long as we
have the Patrol method, the Oath and Law we’ll survive. |
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Gays had been involved in Scouting for decades. The BSA policy was
similar to the US Military, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. There has always
been a percentage of young men who arrive at their sexual
orientation in their later teens or early twenties. We’ve always had
Scouts who loved the program, often achieving Eagle to later
identify themselves as Gay. The BSA policy seems to have been as
long as registered Scouters don’t march in the Gay Pride Parade in
only their jockstraps, it was Ok. The BSA was in a difficult
position, many units were sponsored by religious institutions. Who
could have guessed that twenty years later the venerable United
Methodist or Presbyterian Churches would be splitting into factions
or changing their doctrine over Gay membership or that politicians
would have trouble defining what a woman is. Years earlier James West had to deal with a similar situation. In the 1920’s Scouters in the northeast wanted full racial integration of the BSA. West deferred to the individual Councils to decide the question. Some units in the Northeast fully integrated, others didn’t. Although this started an outreach to the African American community and hundreds of troops were organized. African American Scouts received BSA training and million of boys in the south would be Scouts. The modern BSA Council is technically independent, but so closely tied to the National BSA, that independent local action was no longer an option. |
 The BSA never recognized what their critics really wanted. These groups were “enemies” of Scouting. When they saw a scout present the colors at an event their blood boiled and they were full of rage. Some hated America and it’s traditions. Scouts were disinvited from many events. The BSA was still teaching patriotism, citizenship, duty to God and Country, even if in a somewhat watered down form. Jamborees, especially the opening ceremonies were full of patriotic display. The BSA was unfairly identified by it’s enemies. This would become a common tactic used by some groups to destroy their enemies, especially in politics. The political cartoon to the left helps illustrate what the BSA was up against. Twenty years later after the BSA bankruptcy it’s my opinion the BSA still doesn’t realize what our enemies want. If someone says the BSA is racist, it develops a Diversity Merit Badge. In an organization of over two million members, it’s possible that there may be racists, bigots, or homophobes among the millions. Work on expelling them, or change their minds, don’t change the whole structure of the organization to please people that want to see the organization disbanded. |
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| Paul Myers Goshen,
Indiana gimogash@comcast.net |