Support For Scouts – It’s About Time
Posted on July 23, 2005
And here it is:
Frist: Standing Up For The Boy Scouts
by Sen. Bill Frist
posted July 21, 2005Just hours ago, I introduced an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill … “Support Our Scouts Act of 2005.”
Earlier this month, an appeals court judge declared Pentagon support for the Boy Scouts of America major gathering – the National Scout Jamboree – unconstitutional.
Why?
Well, in the words of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — who petitioned the court: the Scouts require members to “privately exercise their religious faith as directed by their families and religious advisors.”
That, they argued, was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (separation of church and state).
Sadly, the court agreed.
You’re probably wondering what takes place at the National Scout Jamboree … just what it is that had the ACLU so aghast.
An American tradition, the National Scout Jamboree is a gathering of over 40,000 people — scouts, moms and dads — at Ft. A.P. Hill in Virginia (a military base). They come together every four years and learn important skills, such as canoeing, leathercraft, land navigation, first aid, and survival skills.
They also come together to celebrate their bedrock values. They talk about patriotism; they talk about public service; they talk about conservation; they talk about civic virtue; and they talk about faith.
No specific denomination, mind you, but rather the mere acknowledgment of a higher power.
That was enough to set the ACLU attack machine in motion; they put this venerable organization in their crosshairs.
Once again, the ACLU sued the Boy Scouts of America.
This is an organization — the Boy Scouts of America — whose motto reads (in part): “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country …”
They gather – as I once did, as my three sons did, as more than 40 members of the United States Senate and 150 members of the House of Representatives did – to talk about principles.
Principles like honesty, integrity, and character.
My friends, the Boy Scouts of America produce good kids … the true leaders of tomorrow.
They’ve been doing it proudly since 1910.
And it’s a sad day when we need to enact legislation to enable them to keep doing it … particularly at a time when we face such unprecedented challenges at home and abroad.
As they say, America’s greatness is determined by our goodness.
Well, let me tell you, these kids are as good as it gets. They make us proud.
And we need to stand up for them.
My amendment does the following:
It makes clear that the Congress regards the Boy Scouts of America to be a “youth organization,” not a religious organization.
It asserts the view of Congress that government support of the National Scout Jamboree (by the Defense Department) helps with the training of our armed forces.
It removes ANY DOUBT that federal agencies may welcome Scouts to hold meetings and go camping on federal property.
I believe this amendment will receive broad, bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House, and that it will pass this year.
And I hope you will join me in standing up for the Boy Scouts of America by calling your Senators and Representatives and asking them to support the “Support Our Scouts Act of 2005.”
As for me, I hope to proudly be among those attending their annual Jamboree next week.
Bill Frist, M.D.
Senate Majority Leader
Real leadership. Something the left lacks. I applaud Senator Frist for his courage in confronting these liberal activist judges by doing a legislative end run around them.
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14 Responses to “Support For Scouts – It’s About Time”
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Great news and great post Grib
I just noticed, I repeated a thread. Oh well, people could use the reminder.
I was gonna say Gribb, that I had an almost identical post…oh well.
I support the amendment though not Frist or the statement that the LEft lacks leadership. I think we have good leaders in Harry Reid and Joe Lieberman. I am exruciatingly upset with some of the others, usually downright angry at Boxer and often Durbin, but I believe we have some fine Senators. Face it: most Senators (and Representatives) suck outright irregardless to political affiliation. Speaking of parties, I found a great website documenting Americans main and third political parties. http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm
Harry Reid??? Joseph, are you serious? Your party DOES lack leadership. That’s not saying you don’t have a moderate senator or two, but that you lack moderate “leadership.” Your party needs to be taken back away from the socialist. The right keeps telling the left exactly what they need to do, but the left shrugs it off. The left lacks leadership to take their party back.
Amen to Senator Frist. The ACLU is completley backwards on this issue. They choose to support NAMBLA over the boy scouts! Additionally, the left does lack good leadership and that is obvious. Just read my most recent post (http://frustratedphilosophers.blogspot.com/2005/07/liberals-now-protest-at-funerals.html) to see how one liberal Senator protets at one soldier’s funeral. Also Dean, John Kerry, Bill Clinton, and many more are examples of horrible liberal leadership. Great Post!
Sorry that was one liberal Lt. Governor not Senator my mistake.
Heck yeah! I’m an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor Member and ANYONE that tells me the Boy Scouts don’t deserve to gather in our country is gonna get one hell of a broken nose.
Frist is a politician. He’s adept at appealing to a majoritarian view. He’s perhaps not quite so concerned with the rights of minorities.
As Frist (and James) correctly observe, most Scouts are good kids, doing good stuff. But they fail to note that most atheists and agnostics are good kids, doing good stuff, too. When government discriminates in favor of some people and against others on the basis of religion, well, for better or worse the Founders seemed to think that this was something we should avoid.
Think of it this way: Most whites are good people, too. But if a whites-only organization wanted to gain access to government property that wasn’t offered to other organizations, you can bet that a lawsuit would result. Would you object to such a suit?
Also, the ACLU seems like a poor choice of whipping-boy here. The COURTS concluded that the practice was illegal; shouldn’t you be venting your spleen about them?
Sure….ahem, the judicial branch sucks too.
But this goes to the heart of this entire blog. What exactly does the ACLU do that offends you? They talk. Unlike James here, they don’t even threaten to break anyone’s nose; they just talk. They talk to the media, they talk to the courts. But they’re completely impotent; all they have it talk.
In contrast, government has power. In particular, the courts have the power to tell the ACLU that their positions are ridiculous, or at least unsupported by facts or law. And they have the power to do the opposite, and impose those views on the rest of us.
In short, I believe in free speech. I believe that everyone – the Christian Coalition, the National Rifle Association, the ACLU, my mom – has the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It doesn’t matter how nutty mom is, she still has that right. But if a court started AGREEING with mom, that would be a problem, just as if the court started making nutty decisions supported by the Christian Coalition, the NRA, the ACLU, or even on its own initiative.
I support your right to bitch, too. You disagree with the ACLU, and are saying so; good for you. But don’t delude yourself that the ACLU has any other power than the power you have: the power to bitch. Courts, and the legislature, and the executive, the Constitution – that’s where the power lies. They seem like more appropriate targets for your (and my) wrath.
Nobody really…hmmm another nameless troll huh. I would address the content of your comment IF you had the eggs to put out your opinions for others to inspect. But as my normal policy is to not address individuals who shield their identity or keep from the public eye anything that they may have authored, your opinion does not matter here.
It is obvious that you do no read here often. It is obvious that you haven’t a clue as to what kind of organization the ACLU actually is. You have no idea about the terrorist tacticts of this Anti-American organization. And you clearly haven’t a clue as to the history of this Terrorist Organization.
Thing is… We do. And WE have printed the answers to the very questions that you have raised in the past. So… before you receive a debatable response, I suggest you go through the archives. Educate yourself on the actual issues. And stop hiding under a generic name. Post a link to your website.
Don’t troll… it’s rude.
There are 6 additional comments from you in the que. And as far as I am concerned, they will not be approved. But I will print this:
Name: nobody.really | Email: naruccc@yahoo.com | URI: | IP: 156.99.95.1 I can get more info on you Mr. nobody. Should I?
Yikes!
I certainly apologize if I have offended you; no offense was intended. Admittedly I’m a newbie here, and I have been posting a lot. (Surprise, surprise, I’m procrastinating at work.) Please do NOT post old comments from me in your que. Again, being a newbie, I had tried to post comments with hyperlinks and when they didn’t appear I would just modify them and send them again. Eventually, I just stripped out the hyperlinks, and the messages posted. I didn’t realize that you quarantined messages with hypelinks. Live and learn.
As you may surmise, I’m not a web master myself, and have not had to learn about these administrative details. Also, I have no web site to refer you to; sorry!
You are again correct that I know nothing about the ACLU’s terrorist activities. Certainly this is news to me. How do I get to your archives? (Feel free to contact me offline, if that would be more appropriate.)
Civil liberties have always been an interest of mine, so I find your site very engaging. I haven’t agreed with all of it – but that’s what makes it interesting!
Very nice blog. It is very helpful. http://www.bignews.com