Scouts: "be prepared" for attacks: the ACLU and other "liberals" are filing numerous lawsuits against the Boy Scouts in an attempt to force the Scouts to retreat from a moral stand.

In the narrow but decisive 2000 victory in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Scouts cannot be forced to accept homosexuals as members and leaders. One would have thought the Scouts could put their legal battles behind them and get on with the pressing mission of preparing boys for service to God and country.

But the harassment continues. The Boy Scouts have been booed at the Democratic National Convention, stripped of United Way funding in some parts of the country, and sometimes denied the opportunity to use school facilities for their meetings.

Most recently, to settle a lawsuit brought against the United States by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Armed Forces agreed not to sponsor Boy Scout troops on bases and posts across the country.

As a Scout and as a soldier, I am deeply troubled by this slap against the Boy Scouts of America. I joined Cub Scouts in 1953, graduated into Boy Scouts and became an Eagle in 1960 at the age of 14, and continued to work with Boy Scouts and Explorers throughout my high school years.

When I reported for active duty with the Air Force in 1971, one of my earliest assignments was to serve as advisor to an Explorer Post at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. I have also helped both of my sons advance through Scouting.

Scouting taught me the basic virtues of discipline, industry, courage, and integrity. Scouting prepared me to be a man and a military officer. America's military capability, as well as America's moral virtue, will be greatly impaired if this partnership between the Boy Scouts and the armed forces is dissolved. And the Scouts do not deserve this kind of harassment. They have simply stood firm for what they know is right.

The Armed Forces Surrenders

The Armed Forces has, in essence, given up on its defense of what is right, capitulated to an aggressor, and agreed to terms. However, the capitulation should not he exaggerated. To be accurate, the settlement provides that the armed forces will not sponsor Boy Scout troops. It does not prohibit Boy Scout troops from meeting in areas of the base where other organizations are allowed to meet, and it does not prohibit individual military personnel from serving as Boy Scout leaders in an unofficial capacity. And the ACLU brought this lawsuit on the theory that military sponsorship violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because the Boy Scouts teach a belief in God. Officially at least, the Scouts' refusal to accept homosexuals was not the issue in this case.

Nevertheless, the settlement is one more milestone in a never-ending effort by the Left to take this fine organization that has traditionally represented the best of boyhood and recast it as a bigoted band of pariahs and "homophobes."

And the effort will not end here. Scouting For All, an organization dedicated to forcing the Scouts to admit atheists and homosexuals, wants Scouting to be open to everyone (except those who want godly and moral training for their children). In an October 18, 2004 memo, Brian Wesley of Scouting For All predicted the November settlement and added that "At that time, Scouting For All will press for the termination of these remaining 8,000+ government charters from public schools, police & fire departments, park & recreation departments, and towns."

The Left's crusade to marginalize the Boy Scouts is errant for several reasons. First, this nation was founded on, as Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," for God the Creator is the Source of our unalienable rights. George Washington, who as president of the Constitutional Convention and as U.S. president when the Bill of Rights was adopted probably understood the First Amendment better than does the ACLU, declared in a National Day of Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789 that "it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor." Military sponsorship of a youth organization that similarly acknowledges God hardly can be a First Amendment violation.

Second, the Boy Scouts of America is not just another organization. Chartered by Congress in 1916, the Scouts have trained millions of young men in the ideals and habits of American manhood. Its emphasis on preparedness, outdoor survival skills, rank and achievement, and the wearing of the uniform with pride, have prepared countless young men to be good soldiers and sailors in the defense of our country. The advanced scouting program for youths age 14-20, called the Explorers, has special posts called Sea Explorers and Aviation Explorers which play an integral role in preparing young people for careers in the Navy and Air Force. The U.S. Coast Guard Public Affairs Manual provides that "'Commands at all levels must cooperate fully with the Naval Sea Cadet Corps (NSCC) and the Boy Scouts of America Explorers program." The manual further states:

   The Coast Guard also has a long
   tradition of supporting Scouting. Of
   the three basic BSA programs, the
   Explorers (especially Sea Explorers)
   are old enough to reap many benefits
   from the Coast Guard.

Third, the armed forces themselves have come under similar attack because of their own policies concerning homosexual conduct, and many universities have refused to allow military recruiters on campus because the armed forces discriminate against homosexuals, thus denying their own students the opportunity to interview on campus with military recruiters. In response, Congress in the mid-1990s passed the Solomon Amendment, which provides that universities which deny access to military recruiters will lose their federal funding. However, in a 2-1 decision on November 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Cir cult ruled that the Solomon Amendment is unconstitutional. That decision is likely to be appealed.

The Fight Goes On

The battle is far from over. On December 4, 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 391-3 to commend the Boy Scouts and to condemn legal efforts to sever government ties to the group because of its belief in God.

Back in the year 2000, the U.S. Interior Department distributed a memorandum seeking information on whether federal agencies that work with the Boy Scouts violate the Clinton administration's executive order banning discrimination against homosexuals by federal agencies. In response, the governor of Texas declared on August 31, 2000:

   I am troubled by this memo appearing
   to suggest that the Clinton-Gore
   administration might sever the federal
   government's long-standing relationship
   with the Boy Scouts of America....
   I hope that President Clinton
   and Vice President Gore respect the
   role the Boy Scouts play in our society
   and will not allow them to be shut
   out of federal lands....

We may hope the former governor of Texas, now Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, will remember the wisdom of these words.

John Eidsmoe is a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel who currently serves as Cohmel, Headquarters Judge Advocate, and Deputy Chaplain with the Alabama State Defense Force.