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Notes
"At John's
Eagle Scout ceremony, we applauded something far greater. The emcee
quipped that the best supporting actor award should go to Debbie Murphy,
John's mother, for all the work she has done to shepherd John through
the scouting maze. This was America at its best. We celebrated values
worth valuing! We talked about a young man giving over 300 hours of
service, of going above and beyond expectations and mentoring other
younger scouts."
Voted off
the Island
The ACLU and homosexual
groups are trying to kick the Boy Scouts off land they’ve used—and spent
millions on—for half a century. Religious-freedom lawyers are planning a
counterattack.
by Candi Cushman
It’s
a typical day at Fiesta Island, a public park in San Diego’s Mission
Bay—gulls are circling overhead and sailboarders are taking advantage of
gusty winds and a blazing sun. Overshadowed by hills crowded with terra
cotta houses and whitewashed churches, the island is home to the Boy
Scouts’ Youth Aquatic Center, where thousands of children come each year
to swim, sail and get hands-on lessons about starfish and sting rays.
But Scoutmaster Larry Ashbacker doesn’t notice the scenery. He’s too
busy coaching members of his troop, No. 362, who’ve eagerly gathered on
the shore. They are rehearsing for one of their most revered events — an
induction ceremony during which Cub Scouts become Boy Scouts and, by the
light of an oceanside fire, pledge to uphold the group’s ethical
principles.
“Remember, this should be seen as a gift, something you’re passing on
from the older brothers to the younger ones,” Ashbacker tells a teenager
who’s received the coveted title of ceremony chief. “You want to
communicate dignity.”
Ashbacker takes this ceremony seriously, he tells Citizen,
because as a pediatrician he’s witnessed unthinkable mental and physical
abuse inflicted on children by morally bankrupt adults and teens. But
when he joined the Boy Scouts’ Desert Pacific Council (DPC) 11 years
ago, he discovered an organization that teaches kids “values proven over
time to work”—most importantly, a “duty to God” and a commitment to stay
“morally straight.”
And that’s why—as the leader of one of the Council’s largest troops,
with almost 200 members—Ashbacker’s determined to pass down those
virtues to another generation.
But if the American Civil Liberties Union and homosexual activists
get their way, the very ground he and his troop are standing on will be
taken from them—unless they surrender the values they’ve gathered to
celebrate. For full article, go
HERE |
