Those are the words that begin the Scout Oath. It goes on to speak about doing one's best to live a good life, do what's right, remembering to keep one's mind, body and soul clean and free. Not that it is always going to be attainable. There will be slips, there will be stumbles. Many have and will venture from the path. But that is why it was recited as part of every Scouting event, to remind us, realign us and refocus us.
I've written about the decline of the Boy Scouts program before. Me regurgitating the news stories to you about sexual abuse, corruption, decline of standards and pandering to political correctness is useless. You've likely read it or heard it and if you haven't, Google it.
This post isn't to lament the decline of the Boy Scouts, particularly after they conceded to the feminist activist and allowed girls into the program. No, it's to lament its total and complete irrelevance.
I was a Boy Scout and then a Boy Scout leader. My son is an Eagle Scout. My wife was a Cub Scout leader. My father was a Boy Scout and a leader. The BSA ran in my family blood. It was an organization that I cherished and was proud to be a part of. No longer. I will not be affiliated with such a spineless, and more importantly, toothless entity any longer.
And this will be the last I write or speak of them.
The following sentences will be what proved to me to be the final straw.
Last week, a local teen was shot and killed in the driveway of his home. He had arranged a deal, via Snapchat, to sell $300 worth of THC filled vape cartridges to someone. The buyer came with two other teens, with the intent to rob the young man of his cartridges. This young man was the son of a cop. He was the younger brother of two cops. He decided that it would be a good idea to walk out to the end of his driveway, to do a drug deal, with his father's service revolver. It went bad and in a flash, he was dead.
What does this sad story have to do with the Scouts?
The side story is that the young man that was killed was a Boy Scout. He had just finished his Eagle Scout board of review two weeks ago and was waiting on his Eagle Scout ceremony. This young man was known to me and my wife, his Scout troop volunteered at the local Veteran's Home with us. We watched him over the years grow. He had unlimited potential, was an honor student and very personable.
My issue with this that ties it to the Boy Scouts is my question of where were the mentors to him? Where was the follow up leadership? He had recently started hanging out with what could be considered the 'wrong' crowd, trying to fit in and be a 'bad ass' as his friends said at his wake. Why didn't someone step in? In my day in Scouts, I used 'intrusive leadership' to intervene in the boy's lives when I thought it necessary. Today, the Scouts are bankrupt, more worried about not offending a social justice activist crowd and the adult leaders are too busy patting each other on the back and attending leadership retreats designed to provide medals and awards for adult leaders. Oh, and the majority of Boy Scout leaders today are women. Extrapolate what you will from that, that's a different article.
At this young man's wake, his casket was surrounded by his Scouting memorabilia, he was laid in with his Boy Scout uniform on. His father will be awarded his son's Eagle badge at the funeral. As harsh and as cold as this sounds, I do not agree with that at all. The young man, having reached the age of 17 and the rank of an Eagle Scout, knew what an honorable life entailed, and what consequences for decisions means. He knew what he was doing, and what he was becoming, was not right, not in keeping with the Scout Oath or Laws. Yet, he made those decisions with deadly consequence.
I understand young people will make mistakes, and not always follow the right path. That's how we grow and learn. But my biggest issue of all with this is the lack of leadership and mentoring that let this young man slip through the cracks. And not just his, but 3 other teens that killed him that were also honor students and athletes. Plain and simple, men today are letting our young men down, we are not leading and we are not providing examples to live by and most importantly, providing that intrusive leadership they need.
The results? Well, for one local family, instead of celebrating an Eagle Scout court of honor for their son at the local church, they are burying him.
Men, when will we step up and take the leadership of our young men back from the politically correct, feminist and immoral society and lead like men?
For me, it is today.
Semper Fortis
Chief Chuck
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