BOOING OF EAGLE SCOUTS IS INEXCUSABLE BEHAVIOR

In response to the booing of Eagle Scouts by delegates at the Democratic National Convention and the demand by gay-rights protesters at the Boy Scouts of America's headquarters in Irving, Texas, that gays be admitted to Scouting, the American Freedom Center has issued the following statement:

Hal Siemer, president of the American Freedom Center and himself a former Scout and assistant Scoutmaster, stated, "The actions of the delegates at the Democratic convention were appalling. I have been both a delegate to political conventions and a Scout. Anyone can be a delegate, but to make Eagle is a truly great achievement. It is reprehensible that the Democratic leadership did not denounce this inexcusable behavior."

Marc Levin, executive vice president of the American Freedom Center, commented:

"The attempt to force the Boy Scouts to admit homosexuals is a dangerous attack on the great American institution of civil society.

"While government entities have an obligation to include all people since they are supported by taxpayer funds, it is fundamental to American democracy that private organizations and private individuals enjoy the right to freedom of association. No one, for example, thinks the NAACP should be forced to admit David Duke. Likewise, no one thinks the government should force us to socialize with every person in our neighborhood.

"At a time when Al Gore is wrapping himself in the flag and praising veterans who died to defend our country and her freedoms, the Democrats appear to endorse police-state tactics by denying private citizen groups their constitutional right of freedom of association. These so called gay-rights activists are seemingly only concerned about their rights and evidently have no respect for the Boy Scouts right of free association. The Scouts, on the other hand, are not attempting to deny the homosexuals their rights. This is a point that is apparently lost on the gay-rights protesters and the Democratic leadership.

"If private organizations are required to include everyone and adhere to every restriction placed on government entities, they essentially become part of the government, losing their individuality and distinctiveness. The great political philosopher Alexis DeTocqueville observed that civil society, ranging from churches to neighborhood associations to grassroots groups, strengthens American democracy by mediating between the individual and the government and facilitating social interaction. If the radical assault on the Boy Scouts prevails, American civil society and its benefits will disappear, leaving only one government monstrosity in the American garden where many flowers once bloomed.

"There also is the issue of the safety of the children. This is not to argue that homosexuals are any more prone to pedophilia than heterosexuals, but how many parents would want to leave a group of underage girls alone in the woods for up to a week with an adult male and no one else around? The gay activists have gone way too far as have the four U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted (unsuccessfully) to impose this unconstitutional requirement on the Scouts. Although it would be a travesty of mammoth proportions if these storm-trooper like tactics succeed, it will pale in comparison to the long-term effects on our society. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader who threatened to bury the United States, will have won the war without having fired a shot."

The American Freedom Center of Houston is a not-for-profit public-policy research and educational center dedicated to educating the public regarding the principles upon which America was founded: freedom, democracy, limited government, individual liberty, free enterprise, and low taxation.