What a ridiculous story this is.
Scouting (like the military, like every other part of life) includes people who are openly gay. That means parents who are leaders and volunteers, and scouts themselves. For the most part, participants act as if those embarrassing prohibitions on people simply being who they are no longer exist. In fact, they will no longer exist for service members as of September 20.
The two women get it exactly right, I think. At some point a quasi-public organization practicing overt discrimination like this finds itself so out of touch with its members and community that its bottom line is affected, and incidents like this only create a humiliating awareness that these policies still exist.
The best part of the story, though – the one that shows the Boy Scouts will be just fine – is this perceptive remark by a friend of the family, after reciting the scout law (a scout should be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, etc.).
“I mean, when the leaders of the troop hear that, how does it feel? Were they loyal to Denise? It certainly wasn’t kind what they’ve done to her,” [Eric] Ianson continued. “It absolutely isn’t brave. The brave thing to do would be to take a stand here and say this isn’t right, this person has been great to our kids and it’s time to stand up for her and be great for her.”
This is an Eagle Scout who has internalized the values of scouting and understood them much better than the reactionary leadership at the top of the hierarchy. The right thing to do is to acknowledge the truth you can see for yourself, and to stand up for your friend. There are many more like him.
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It’s not personal
Students riot Nov. 9, 2011 in State College, PA. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images
The whole sick, sad mess is both repellent and fascinating, but the part that I can’t stop turning over in my mind is this. How does a person walk in on a rape in progress, a rape of a ten year old child, and not, without even thinking about it, intervene to rescue that child? Short of physical intervention, they would at least instinctively yell “hey, stop that!” Wouldn’t they? What is broken inside this guy, and what happened to him that broke it? I can’t understand that absence of reaction. I. Just. Can’t.
All of those – Joe Paterno, the university athletic director, Assistant Coach McQueary – who knew that Sandusky was an active sexual predator, and facilitated his continued access to child victims with their silence, are guilty of a more calculated crime. The calculation was the safety and dignity of those children in exchange for status, position and money. You understand: This team has brought $52.3 million to the school. It’s business, it’s not personal.
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