Please Do Not Relax the Boy Scouts' Guidelines | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Here below is a letter that regular contributor Diane Rufino sent to me that she sent to John Akerman of the Boy Scouts of America. Although Diane contributes copiously to BCN in her For Love of God and Country editorials of our publication. Here we have placed her open letter in our Words with the Publisher section.

    If you haven't already heard, the Boy Scouts of America's board will be meeting next week and one of the agenda items is to reconsider lifting the restriction on sexual orientation (including for leaders). They had refused to do this once before and a Gay Rights group sued to challenge their exclusion policy. It went to the Supreme Court. The Boy Scouts of America is a private organization which has the right to organize as it sees fit, in order to achieve the goals it was organized to promote. The Supreme Court upheld its exclusionary policy. Now, without any legal mandate to do so, there is a very good chance that the board will vote next week in favor of lifting that restriction. If you have an opinion on the matter and if you haven't done so already, please take the time to write a short message to the Boy Scouts.

    Please send the message to Mr. John Akerman and to the national center - John.akerman@scouting. org and nationalsupportcenter@scouting.org

    Below is the letter that I sent.

Hello Mr. Akerman,

    My name is Diane Rufino and I wanted to write to ask you to please remain firm in the standards for the Boy Scouts of America. The Supreme Court of the United States upheld your policy to exclude homosexuals and parents would urge you to reflect on the reasons for that policy in the first place. Parents look to the Boy Scouts, not to avoid homosexuals, but because of its time-honored tradition of being an organization to promote good, healthy, and moral qualities in our young boys. There are so many decisions that parents have to make everyday in order to raise their sons in a good wholesome way, but their options are becoming slimmer and slimmer. The public school system no longer instills proper guidelines, television is a cesspool of ideas and morality, and now we hear about the Boy Scouts giving in to the new re-engineering of society. Parents like myself are always looking for opportunities for their sons for to learn the valuable, productive lessons in life, the roles and responsibilities of becoming a man, and the qualities that make men great. These are often learned by modeling after their scout leaders.

    I think the oath that all scouts take and repeat often is exactly what the Boy Scouts promises to them. It promises them the environment to develop those qualities. "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."

    Finally, a scout is not an ordinary boy but one who puts himself out to be a special breed. In a nation where society spits out all kinds of young men, including drop-outs, hoodlums, ones who father illegitimate children, and ones who have no moral compass or direction in life, it is with supreme pride that parents can enroll their sons in such a program and then can celebrate when they become Eagle Scouts.

    Boy Scouts, after all, are "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent." The ones I know are also the most respectful of all young boys.

    Again, this is not an attack on homosexuals. We all have close friends who share that sexual orientation. One of my daughter's best friends is a homosexual and I adore him. I've told him for years that I wish he were my 5th child. I also have a step-sister who is a lesbian. This is not about exclusion. It's about providing an environment that allows children and the parents the peace of mind to pursue the goals of a moral upbringing. It's about a policy that backs up the commitment of the Boy Scouts to produce the kind of boys it says it will.

    Thank you so much for taking the time to read my meager thoughts on the matter,

    Most Sincerely,

    Diane Rufino
     Mother of 4, Attorney and former science geek