I actually have mixed feelings about this.
Clearly, these boys need the benefits of the program, and I'd gladly welcome them in without their parents if I thought it could help.
Alas, as the saying goes in the business...."You can't reach every boy."
With gay Boy Scouts welcome, some walk out.
NBCNEWS.COM - The father of a Cub Scout sat his son on his lap late last week and told him news that tore up both their hearts: The family was leaving the Boy Scouts.
Aaron Butler, the leader of his 8-year-old son Evan's Cub Scout Wolf den in Roseau, Minn., said he didn't explain to his eldest son exactly why they were walking away from an organization they loved so much, but he told NBC News that it was because of last week's controversial decision by the Boy Scouts of America to allow gay youth to participate.
"It was a big disappointment. He cried for about 10 minutes because I told him that Boy Scouts were not honoring their own law," Butler said, referring to the BSA oath that he interpreted as barring gay people. "They say it -- '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,'" he said.
"If the BSA cannot honor its own law, then how can I stay with an organization that just does not care anymore?" he said.
Of course,
my interpretation of the Scout Oath differs somewhat than the homophobe set. I am very glad of this change so far, despite it being only a halfway measure.
And while some folks are quitting, there's probably just as many that will now join. The following was received in my Council office the day after the decision was reached.
"Hello, please send me information on how to enroll our son Henry. Henry will be 7 in August. We support the recent decision to be more inclusive of everyone, and we want to support Scouting.
thanks,
C.