Only one day after what appears to be a politically-motivated shooting at the offices of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization in our nation's capital, any hope that the domestic terror incident or "hate crime" might scare the Left into ratcheting down their recent hateful rhetoric aimed at conservative Christians who oppose gay marriage appears to be a false hope.
The website of The Atlantic magazine today carries an article shocking in its use of incendiary and hateful rhetoric laden with violent imagery, all aimed at the Boys Scouts of America.
The article, by James Hamblin, a medical doctor and an editor for the magazine, attacks the BSA for its policy of not admitting gays as members or leaders. Hamblin also proposes that organizations like the Boy Scouts – a private organization - be forced to bend to the demands of the Left on gay rights based on a dangerous concept that could mean the end of First Amendment freedoms like the freedom of religion, speech and assembly.
"Boy Scouts is an organization that was and is so close to being great. Remember when they had to put Old Yeller down because he got rabies? It's not like he was a bad dog, but he got a brain infection and he tried to eat Travis. He looked the same and wasn't about to die, but the good dog who used to save him from bears and boars just wasn't there anymore. The policy is embarrassing and archaic, sure. … But the real value in speaking against it is that it's dangerous. When a group as massive (2.7 million youth members) and respected as the Boy Scouts makes a move like this, it stands to exacerbate a public health hazard in such a way that we can't just agree to disagree.
Perpetuating a culture where gay teenagers -- who are already commonly battling notions of inferiority and self-hatred -- can be openly and decidedly told they aren't welcome among a preeminent organization that purports to represent and define a standard of behavioral ideals, is dangerous. It's a decided step back in rejecting the culture of gay bullying. We will see more depression, and more suicide. We'll see more discrimination of every sort, and more hatred.
If the BSA won't change, then the burden falls on a just society to take them out behind the barn with whatever sort of shotgun revokes credibility."
Imagine the outrage – justifiable – if the BSA issued a statement demanding gays be taken “behind the barn with whatever sort of shotgun” would convince them to stop being gay.
Hamblin's argument is that the BSA has no right to live by its beliefs because its beliefs make other people uncomfortable. Never mind that the BSA does not teach intolerance, it only asks for others to be tolerant of its beliefs. It does not ask for government to ban gays from camping and cookouts – it only insists on its First Amendment right to associate with people of its choosing.
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