Core values of the Boy Scouts

Now that the Boy Scouts have accepted the policy of admitting openly gay members, the organization should just focus on all the other aspects of its mission and move on. Forget the debate. The arguments in favor of discrimination against gays are weak and will, we hope, begin to fade away.

That unscrupulous adults can abuse young, immature people whose characters are still very malleable and vulnerable is an important, thoroughly justified concern. Law enforcement authorities, all branches of government, and all law-abiding citizens want to and are obliged to protect the innocent, whose lives can be ruined, or at least seriously impaired, by sexual predators.

Our laws and customs, and the ideals at the foundation of our culture, all oppose violent attacks, including sexual attacks, on innocent people. The protections our nation guarantees its citizens will remain in place in the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts themselves—they already have excellent policies for protecting youth—will see to that. And the leaders and members of their organization have the rest of our law-abiding society to back them up. Abusive behavior from all quarters will remain immoral and illegal.

But most of those who discriminate against gays are not concerned just with behavior; they object to particular sexual preferences: thoughts and emotions. Yet the real problem is neither gay nor straight sexual preferences. Such preferences are not flaws in character but deeply rooted biological facts—simply facts. And those facts are not dangerous. The real problem is abuse. So let us aim to prevent abuse and not harass people for what they think.

Neither government nor commercial or social organizations are able to create policies effectively to control desires. So all the moralizing about sexual preferences ought to be put in the closet. Legislating thought is not the proper mission of civil authorities. In George Orwell's novel '1984', the 'thought police' were effective in controlling not only the actions but also ultimately the ideas of citizens. Such control is accomplished only by crushing the human spirit. And such destruction is not only evil, it is also very difficult to do. Just the expense and impracticality of such a project should be enough to turn us against it.

One argument advanced by those who think that discrimination is appropriate proposes that a gay person will subtly influence other people to adopt the sexual preference for members of the same sex. But sexual preferences are not choices in the same way that preferences for products are. No amount of marketing the 'gay lifestyle' is likely to change the sexual preferences of heterosexuals. Similarly, no amount of marketing the 'straight lifestyle' is likely to change the sexual preferences of gays. Anyway, with public education and with proper oversight of organizations from the outside and from within, communications and conduct come under control very naturally, without the need for overbearing authorities or draconian laws.

The recent attention given the Boy Scouts of America should give the public a reason to explore the many goods the organization offers: rich experiences, opportunities to acquire useful skills and to build the self-confidence that can carry one forward in many areas of life.

The Boy Scouts of America is a great organization. It will endure and should. Its core values remain intact. The lessons it offers its members continue to be profoundly beneficent: respect for nature, our nation and its people, self-reliance, encouragement for learning. It has already exhibited one of the great values: tolerance of diversity. And it has extended that tolerance by a degree. Even so, under its current policy, individual Scouts who are identified as gay would be prohibited from becoming Scout leaders. In time it may allow gays to adopt that role and go on, as all in our society should, to look to the knowledge, intelligence, courage and helpfulness of leaders instead of their sexual preferences, which, we all agree, should never be allowed to cause any harm.