May 2, 2018
The recent announcement that girls can join the Boy Scouts, and that the organization will remove the word "Boy" from its title is a troubling sign that boys can no longer have places to congregate amongst themselves.
Is this good for the country at large?
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I was shocked and saddened to hear the recent news that the venerable Boy Scouts of America (BSA), of which I spent during my formative years, and had become an Eagle Scout, has now made the announcement that girls can join the historic organization. While I am supportive of inclusion in certain instances, I strongly believe that having organizations for young boys and men to have a place to meet, learn from each other, acquire life skills, is a good thing. That the organization is no longer a haven for those individuals to grow together makes me sad. I started as a Cub Scout with my friends from elementary school, and many of our fathers volunteered their time. It was a wonderful period for me. I looked forward to Cub Scout meetings because I got to hang out with my friends and learn new skills, and ways to improve myself. Some of those friends followed me into the Boy Scouts, and I had similar experiences, which included hiking 25 miles in the Sierra Nevada mountains, sleeping under the stars, and attending cookouts, canoeing down the Colorado River, and camping on Catalina Island's Cherry Valley. I loved those times, precisely because I bonded with my friends and father. Even though many of my friends eventually stopping going to meetings and traveling, I stuck it out, because I learned so much and gained skills with various merit badges (such as Aviation, Emergency Preparedness, and Archery to name a few), some of whom were taught by dedicated Scout leaders.
I am confused as to why the organization would do this, especially since there is already a healthy place for girls who want similar experiences called, wait for it...The Girl Scouts! Young girls an women can enjoy the same types of camping, traveling and hiking that the boys have, and they sell delicious cookies to boot! The Girl Scouts even put out an official statement of opposition to this measure and provided their own reasoning for the Boy Scouts to open such a decision. The Girl Scouts do not believe that this will help the BSA but hurt itself and the Girl Scouts themselves.
So, what was the primary reason? It could be social media pressure, due to years of controversial decisions such as banning gay scout leaders and transgender individuals, which led to reversing those bans. This led to churches to stop sponsoring scout troops, including the Church of Latter Day Saints, which provides a large share of buildings for scout troops to use. The Mormons have a significant percentage of Scouting participants, and this was a major blow to the Boy Scouts of America. In fact, just recently, the Church of Latter Day Saints has made it official, that after December 31, 2019, the LDS church will remove itself from the Boy Scouts of America and create their own Mormon-centered organization for its members.
I think the reason that the organization opened the movement to girls is that with a large number of churches removing themselves from participating in the Boy Scouts, the organization had no choice but to find new members and entities that would be open to sponsoring scout troops. Over 90% of young boys do not participate in the scouting experience so this measure could be a desperate attempt to stay relevant and keep the movement going.
This move by the BSA has been met with howls of anger, opposition and disgust by conservative commentators such as Tucker Carlson and Greg Gutfeld of Fox News, and Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA. Others, such as myself, are saddened by this decision. I feel that boys and young men are losing opportunities to spend time with their peers and older adult role models. There are ample times for boys and young men to spend time with girls, including at school events and social organizations. I don't know why the BSA chose to do this. Perhaps there was enormous pressure from women's groups, plus various social media platforms, which did their best over the years to bully and pressure the organization to include girls. I am perplexed by their efforts since the Girl Scouts provide the same opportunities for young girls who get to engage their peers in the same learning environments. It could be the part of the methods of the feminist movement which seeks to engage in conflict with organizations that cater to solely boys and young men and force these organizations to remove obstacles to any girls who want to participate. Even though there is a similar organization for young women, I think the greater prize was forcing an organization that caters to young boys and men to finally allow girls to participate. Especially when feminists have created places for women only to meet, network and engage in women-specific activism.
So, what feminists label as "inclusivity" is actually access to anything they envy, while at the same time, protecting women-only organizations for "safe spaces" for females to congregate and spend time with each other. That is not inclusivity, but hypocrisy. I do not support the decision of the Boy Scouts of America on this. It is a sad day indeed.
