Eva & Dana, the ideas in your posts are the death of diversity. "Be who you
want, but we'll attack your funding if you do" is not tolerance. This a
demand to sublimate your values to ours or we will attempt to erase you.
Efforts to defund the Boy Scouts will fail. The result will not be to deny
them funds, but to push them back to their supporters - mostly the churches
and individuals. It will leave both the boys and the leaders the conviction
that the real goal here is not true diversity, but a uniform shade of grey
with a violent aversion to differentiation among its separate pieces. Any
time we demand a group behave as we wish - and attempt to hurt them both
financially and in membership when they don't - the result is less
diversity.
The opportunity here is not for the Minneapolis schools to help the BSA, but
for the BSA to help the Minneapolis schools. When a kid is involved in local
service projects, it creates a sense of ownership of their own city - civics
- hugely valuable in the fight against gangs and youth vandalism. Throw in
the additional contact with a "safe" adult, and schools should roll out a
red carpet.
Fire at will - the city you hurt is your own.
Rich Chandler - Ward 9
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eva Young
> >Please don't get me wrong: I appreciate and support a
> >good portion of what the Boy Scouts accomplish and
> >stand for. And, since this is a policy issue for the
> >Minneapolis school district, I hope that this forum is
> >a suitable place to discuss this.
>
> The Boy Scouts do alot of good for at risk youth. They also have every
> right to use whatever membership criteria they want. However, folks who
> fund the boy scouts also have a right to determin whether the Boy Scouts
> membership criteria is in conflict with the funder's mission. The Boy
> Scouts of America decided to take this case to the Supreme Court, and the
> Supreme Court decided in their favor. It sounds like the BSA councils
> here in Minnesota are very divided on this issue. I'm curious what would
> happen if an openly gay person applied to be a scout leader in
> Minneapolis? Would the Viking Council prevent that? Anyway, there are
> several school board members on this list--but no one has answered the
> question....what will the all DFL Minneapolis School Board do about this?
> Has this issue been discussed? Will they follow the example of our
> Commander in Chief, and Commander in Chief Wannabe, Al Gore?
>
> >At the same time, many other youth organizations (such
> >as the Girl Scouts--who vow to serve God--and 4-H)
> >have shown the ability to pursue good public deeds and
> >build ethical/moral character without rejecting people
> >on the basis of sexual orientation. I respect the
> >BSA's right to limit its membership: that's their
> >privilege. However, our city should only support
> >those Boy Scout troops that abandon the national
> >organization's chosen path of discrimination.
>
> Scouts Canada also doesn't discriminate. According to an op-ed in the
> Strib, a woman active in the scouts here in Minneapolis tried to affiliate
> her troop with Scouts Canada rather than the BSA--but I guess Scouts
> Canada won't touch it. I wonder if the BSA lawyers went after them.
>
> The other issue is the BSA board has done some fundraising appeals to far
> right lists to get help for their legal case with the Supreme Court. I'm
> sure those within the organization are tired of this issue, and wish that
> the BSA board nationally didn't put themselves into the center of this
> fight.
>
> As I understand it, local BSA councils can pass resolutions on this issue.
> It will be interesting to see what the Viking Council does.
>
> Eva Young - Mpls., MN
