GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America's national leadership will vote Thursday whether to allow openly gay Scoutsin its ranks, a critical and emotionally charged moment for one of the nation's oldest youth organizations and its millions of members.
About 1,400 voting members of BSA's national council are to cast ballots Thursday on a resolution that would end a policy that allows youth Scouts to be excluded based only on sexual orientation. The ban on gay adult leaders would remain in place.
The vote is taking place at a resort in Grapevine, Texas, not far from BSA's headquarters, during the national council's three-day annual meeting. While the meeting was closed to the public, it was closely watched by supporters and opponents of a change. Both sides on Wednesday made a final effort to explain their positions. Gay-rights supporters and others who want the policy changed held a summit at a nearby resort, while opponents held signs on the street next to the entrance and a rally nearby.
The results are expected to be announced shortly after 5 p.m. CDT Thursday.
Both sides have waged an effort resembling a political campaign in the months leading up to Thursday's vote. Supporters of allowing gay scouts used a political consulting firm and targeted about 120 local Scouting councils that they thought were the most competitive — the "swing districts" where they thought votes could be won. Opponents cited Texas code to obtain the names and addresses of voting members from BSA officials so they could send out mailings. They also held rallies across the country on the same day last week.
Scouting was established in 1910 and claims 2.6 million youth members, in addition to thousands of leaders and volunteers. Its board of directors includes executives and community leaders, andPresident Barack Obama is its honorary president.
BSA has faced mounting pressure over its exclusion policy as public opinion toward gays and gay marriage continues to evolve. Obama called on the Scouts to reverse the ban before a national executive board meeting in February, and two high-profile board members — the CEOs of AT&T and Ernst & Young — said they would work from within to change the policy.
The national executive board decided instead to leave the final decision to a vote of the national council, and BSA launched a listening tour of surveys and focus groups. BSA President Wayne Perry called on voters to approve the resolution overturning the ban, in an opinion piece for USA Today published online Wednesday.
Findings that BSA published on its website illustrate the difficult balancing act it faces.
BSA said a majority of "adults in the Scouting community" support the current ban, but a majority of current Boy Scouts and Venture scouts do not, according to the findings. About 48 percent of parents of current Scouts support the policy, down from 57 percent three years ago.
One estimate suggested a policy change could cause as many as 100,000 to 350,000 Scouts to leave. And it could also affect donors — just more than half of local councils reported to BSA that their donors supported the current ban.
Of the more than 100,000 Scouting units in the U.S., 70 percent are chartered by religious institutions. While these sponsors include liberal churches opposed to any ban on gays, some of the largest sponsors are relatively conservative denominations that have previously supported the broad ban — notably the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Southern Baptist churches.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced in April that it supports the new proposal. Leaders of some smaller, conservative denominations have opposed it.
"Ultimately we can't anticipate how people will vote but we do know that the result will not match everyone's personal preference," said Deron Smith, BSA's national spokesman.
The light of the Messiah, when it blazes in the heart, teaches one to dignify all people: “It shall be on that day that the root of Jesse will stand as a sign to the nations, and peoples will seek him, and his consolation shall be dignity (Isaiah 11:10).”
People who identify as gay or lesbian are not able to become heterosexual. While some people of ambivalent sexual orientation are capable of functioning as heterosexuals, those for whom homosexual orientation has become an integral feature of their personal identity are not able to transform into heterosexuals.
The following 2005 statement by the American Psychological Association summarizes the current scientific consensus about sexual orientation and individual volition: Human beings cannot choose their sexual orientation. Sexual orientation emerges for most people in early adolescence or late childhood without any prior sexual experience. The experience of sexual attraction and falling in love is one that individuals experience as outside their conscious control. Although we can choose whether to act on our feelings, psychologists do not consider sexual orientation to be a conscious choice.
The near total failure of advocates of “cure” to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals obviates the halakhic significance of tracing the source of homosexuality. Gay and lesbian people are homosexual and will remain so. Even those who have attempted a “cure” have been unable – in the vast majority of cases – to change their orientation. For the halakhist, therefore, the issue of significance is not the origin of homosexual orientation, but rather the permanence of such an orientation by the time sexuality reaches consciousness.
Whether sexual orientation is determined by nature or nurture or some combination of both does not alter the resultant orientation, whether that orientation is heterosexual, homosexual, or something in between. More:
"Just as religious zealots sometimes ignore the Scriptural context in order to justify their doctrines, so too well meaning Christians occasionally disregard what passages are talking about when they appear to support their positions. Such is the case here." LINK
Toddler Sings in Church -- 'Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It to Heaven'
- Watch More
Celebrity Videos
or
Subscribe
For the Christian, and messianic for that matter, Jesus did not address child-molestation; neither is it one of the Ten Commandments. Neither did Jesus address drug abuse, nor pornography, smoking, spousal abuse, or torture. Does this fact therefore condone such sins and atrocities? Are we to assume therefore that none of these are wrong or sinful? I hope we are not foolish enough to believe that if something is not mentioned in the Bible, then it shouldn't be considered a sin.
One of the Ten Commandments was against "stealing." But stealing did not carry the death sentence. Yet witchcraft (not one of the Ten Commandments) did carry the death sentence (Lev. 20:27). Having sexual intercourse with an animal carried the death sentence for both men and women (Lev. 20:15-16).
Who would suggest to their children that having sex with farm yard animals is now okay since it is not condemned in the New Testament by Jesus, neither is one of the Ten Commandments? When all else fails, try a little common sense and basic morality.
Buggery, sex with animals as it was called, was a principle that was on the books, so to speak, during the early days of colonization of the U.S. As a matter of fact, the Pilgrim’s and Puritans actually have account of said behavior, and punishment thereof, if it met the burden of proof. Mere stories and accusations were not enough.
Leave it to religion to point to what they want to follow from the book, yet ignore the passage immediately before and after the one they are pointing to.
“God hates gays” “You can’t be a homosexual!” It says so in the bible! But, wait, I thought the law was done away with? Pick your stance! You can’t have the law and then not have the law.
Ok, so you want the law.
Picking and choosing. The Christian way.
Listen, there are many people out there today, claiming to be teachers and leaders. They hold wonderful titles such as Dr, Rabbi, Pastor, Reverend, or sometimes a combination of all of some of those titles. Do not take their word for these issues. Do not take my word on these issues. Stop relying on people’s interpretations and twisted translations.
You have been indoctrinated into believing and following those passages which you agree with, and rejecting (by ignoring) those that you don’t agree with. That is the freedom that a Christian boasts about….being free to do whatever. The Christian claims that it is impossible to follow the law of God, meaning the Torah. Then why is it that millions of Torah observant (not idol worshipping real Jews) are keeping the Commandments? Hashem said in Deuteronomy 30, among many other places, that you can keep His laws, and that you should keep His laws.
Just who do you think you are to pick and choose? Do you associate with groups or individuals that have sheer hatred for anyone who doesn’t agree with your particular brand of heresy? Do you associate with supposed “men” of god that speak with vile tongues when saying or even typing things like “homo, gays, and faggots”? Those were popular words in the 80s and 90s in jokes, but even comedians have departed from utter them. There is one group that can’t stop using such words, and they are the Christian pastors. When I say Christian pastor, I’m talking about the Hebrew roots leaders and followers as well, just another denomination of evangelicals. These home-based ministries, educated through youtube videos and phony home bible courses claim to be the way and have the whole truth, and always end their disgraceful drivel with a plea for more money.
Get away from those people. Get away from those so-called ministries. You don’t need to be a part of a religion; you don’t need a membership card. You can have a relationship with the Creator without a middle man and interference. You can have forgiveness by returning to your Father and asking for it. You can get the best meaning of the scripture, being the Tanach, by reading it for yourself.
One of the Ten Commandments was against "stealing." But stealing did not carry the death sentence. Yet witchcraft (not one of the Ten Commandments) did carry the death sentence (Lev. 20:27). Having sexual intercourse with an animal carried the death sentence for both men and women (Lev. 20:15-16).
Who would suggest to their children that having sex with farm yard animals is now okay since it is not condemned in the New Testament by Jesus, neither is one of the Ten Commandments? When all else fails, try a little common sense and basic morality.
Buggery, sex with animals as it was called, was a principle that was on the books, so to speak, during the early days of colonization of the U.S. As a matter of fact, the Pilgrim’s and Puritans actually have account of said behavior, and punishment thereof, if it met the burden of proof. Mere stories and accusations were not enough.
Leave it to religion to point to what they want to follow from the book, yet ignore the passage immediately before and after the one they are pointing to.
“God hates gays” “You can’t be a homosexual!” It says so in the bible! But, wait, I thought the law was done away with? Pick your stance! You can’t have the law and then not have the law.
Ok, so you want the law.
Picking and choosing. The Christian way.
Listen, there are many people out there today, claiming to be teachers and leaders. They hold wonderful titles such as Dr, Rabbi, Pastor, Reverend, or sometimes a combination of all of some of those titles. Do not take their word for these issues. Do not take my word on these issues. Stop relying on people’s interpretations and twisted translations.
You have been indoctrinated into believing and following those passages which you agree with, and rejecting (by ignoring) those that you don’t agree with. That is the freedom that a Christian boasts about….being free to do whatever. The Christian claims that it is impossible to follow the law of God, meaning the Torah. Then why is it that millions of Torah observant (not idol worshipping real Jews) are keeping the Commandments? Hashem said in Deuteronomy 30, among many other places, that you can keep His laws, and that you should keep His laws.
Just who do you think you are to pick and choose? Do you associate with groups or individuals that have sheer hatred for anyone who doesn’t agree with your particular brand of heresy? Do you associate with supposed “men” of god that speak with vile tongues when saying or even typing things like “homo, gays, and faggots”? Those were popular words in the 80s and 90s in jokes, but even comedians have departed from utter them. There is one group that can’t stop using such words, and they are the Christian pastors. When I say Christian pastor, I’m talking about the Hebrew roots leaders and followers as well, just another denomination of evangelicals. These home-based ministries, educated through youtube videos and phony home bible courses claim to be the way and have the whole truth, and always end their disgraceful drivel with a plea for more money.
Get away from those people. Get away from those so-called ministries. You don’t need to be a part of a religion; you don’t need a membership card. You can have a relationship with the Creator without a middle man and interference. You can have forgiveness by returning to your Father and asking for it. You can get the best meaning of the scripture, being the Tanach, by reading it for yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment