Re: [Winona] united way and boy scouts

[Clayton Templeton]

Thanks to you all for thinking about this and expressing your opinions.  This is a great case of E-democracy at work.    The only point that I can add to this discussion is that it's easy to confuse cases of what's "right" with what's socially acceptable and/or legally just.  Socially acceptable behaviour changes as the population changes.  What's "just" in our country comes down to giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, and treating them with the same fairness, respect, and protection that you would expect to receive yourself.  This is a case where the BSA has not yet realized that what they teach boys to model, based on what is "just," is in conflict with their rules at an organizational level because those rules were made when socially acceptable behaviour was more narrowly defined.   If you have ever read the story of how the Boy Scouts got started, it was in reaction to an act of kindness: an anonymous young boy showed up on a street corner to help a foreign visitor find his way.  The stranger, touched by the genuine spirit of giving by this youth, founded the Scouts.  Did he write in the first draft "no queers allowed?"  I doubt it.  Someone along the way has injected their own agenda out of their own fears and ignorance, polluting the initial intentions of teaching young people to offer assistance and compassion without asking for anything in return.  If you ever found yourself alone in a place where you don't fit in to the scene, such as the BSA founder did, I'd bet it would be nice if a stranger would walk up and offer a hand in kindness.  And I'll bet it would never cross your mind to ask whether they were gay or straight.   The United Way supports the Boy Scouts of America in all of the principles that they teach, just not they governing body.  By discriminating due to sexual preference, the BSA has gone against their own principles and has failed to realize it.  Once the correction has been made within BSA, I'm sure that the United Way would gladly renew their support.  Until then, this is no more than a *peaceful* embargo against a group that has chosen to treat a part of their population as unsavory and unacceptable.   Finally, postings that equate gays and lesbians with criminal parts of society are offensive.  I belong to neither of those groups, but I know that they are our teachers, our co-workers, our relatives, and our leaders.  If you don't agree with homosexual activity, don't engage in it. Peace.   Clay Templeton [EMAIL PROTECTED]