A Tale of Two Organizations
Two youth-centered organizations have been in the news lately.
Scouting America, formerly the Boy Scouts of America, made headlines when Secretary of War Pete Hegseth cut ties with the group over its evolving woke policies.
On the other side of the political aisle, Turning Point USA has been growing rapidly since the assassination of its founder, Charlie Kirk.
In a way, Turning Point IS what Scouting America WAS.
As the Boy Scouts, the organization was about as conservative as it could get, promoting belief in God, eschewing homosexuality, and catering only to boys. But societal trends and court action changed all that. Turning Point USA, on the other hand, is all about traditional American values and is working to expand in Texas high schools.
Two organizations – headed in very different directions.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wants no part of Scouting America.
Scouting America seems to have been caught up in the Trump administration’s War on Woke. Since Donald Trump was elected to a second stint in the White House, wokeness, DEI and such have been trending downward. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbot and the State Legislature have worked to kick wokeness out of secondary schools and state-supported colleges and universities.
But wokeness permeates Scouting America. Here’s a short excerpt from Wikipedia detailing some of the changes that seem to incorporate the LGBTQ agenda:
In May 2015, Boy Scouts of America President Robert Gates said it was time to end the ban on gay leaders. Gates said it “cannot be sustained” any longer. On July 10, 2015, the Executive Committee agreed, and referred the matter to the National Executive Board. On July 27, 2015, the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board voted to lift the organization’s blanket ban on openly gay leaders and employees. Local chartering organizations are still permitted to set their own standards based on religious principle for selecting the adult volunteers for their unit.
On January 30, 2017, the organization announced that transgender children who identify as boys would be allowed to enroll in boys-only programs, effective immediately.
So, it’s no surprise that Secretary Hegseth would issue a memo to cut ties between the U.S. Military and Scouting America given the changes over the last decade or so. According to a story in The Hill, the War Secretary is furious that the organization “no longer supports the future of boys,” and is, essentially too woke:
Hegseth is reportedly upset with the group for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. His memo, first reported by NPR, accuses Scouting America — formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America — of attacking boy-friendly spaces and for being “genderless.” The memo has yet to be sent to Congress.
According to the story, Hegseth will pull logistical and medical aid to the National Jamboree, where some 20,000 scouts gather in West Virginia every four years, and will remove permission for the Scouts to meet at military installations.
Meanwhile Turning Point USA is rapidly expanding, especially in Texas.
An assassin’s bullet took out Charlie Kirk, but made his organization more famous and much more influential.
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In Texas, the left-wing online newspaper the Texas Tribune, ran a story about how Texas education Commissioner Mike Morath met with a high TP-USA official about creating chapters in all the state’s high schools.
While the Tribune seemed miffed at the idea, the meeting between Morath and Turning Point’s Senior Director Josh Thifault took place in Austin to discuss a partnership. The Tribune refereed to TP-USA as a “right-wing group,” which, in the context of the story, did not seem to be a compliment. Indeed, the Tribune made it a point to mention that some people see the organization as a hate group:
Since the Sept. 10 killing of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk — the Turning Point USA founder [Charlie Kirk] praised by conservatives as a champion of free speech and criticized for comments that many found hateful toward LGBTQ+ Americans, women and people of color — Republicans’ interest in the group has surged. Turning Point USA organizers have said they received tens of thousands of new inquiries about starting local chapters while claiming that students looking to participate in the organization have encountered administrative pushback.
In the same article, the Tribune points out that TP-USA has been condemned by “some students and parents” for pushing back against wokeness in schools:
The organization’s work on college campuses — including a so-called professor watchlist targeting instructors it sees as promoting liberal viewpoints — has also stirred tension as faculty members say they have faced harassment from conservatives. Petitions calling for the removal of Turning Point USA chapters in public schools across the country have emerged more recently, with some students and parents condemning the national group for what they describe as “racist, homophobic, and sexist hate speech on college campuses across America.”
The article ends with an opinion from Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, that Turning Point USA is divisive and inappropriate for K-12 schools. Imagine that! A teachers’ union not liking a conservative group promoting the very same values that Texas espoused in public schools for generations – stuff like marriage between a man and a woman, and the fact that there are two sexes. How dare they!
Which of these organizations is better suited to help young people become good citizens?
For the record, I’ll state that I used to be a big fan of the Boy Scouts of America. I began to waver amid the controversies over gay scout leaders. And now, the political correctness movement has forced the Scouts to adjust to evolving sexual and societal trends. LGBTQ is in, and so are girls, forcing a name change. The original point of the Scouts being for boys, while girls had their own organization, is out the window.
On the other hand, Turning Point USA doesn’t care at all about being PC. It’s late founder, Charlie Kirk, became famous debating left-wing indoctrinated students at major universities. Kirk embraced traditional and biblical values, and was well-schooled in them, despite not having a college degree.
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Kirk could see that, as political correctness became a force and as the diversity movement gained steam, America was becoming weaker. All this inclusion was driving us apart. Men were marrying men and women marrying women and that was doing damage to the traditional family. Making everything about race was promoting grievance and separation.
Charlie asked student to “prove me wrong,” and they never did. Since his death, I have watched dozens of these mini-debate on campuses across America. Charlie was always smiling, always friendly, and always logical. I never saw anything that seemed remotely racist, white supremacist, or hateful in any way in his comments.
Video: Charlie Kirk debates a student over race (notice how optimistic Charlie Kirk was)
Here’s the oft-used quote from Charlie that seems to make left-wing heads explode, because the answer is obvious and they cannot deny it:
“What can I do as a white man that you cannot do as a black man?
The answer to that, of course, is: NOTHING. And that little piece of truth explodes all the race myths that seem to be indoctrinated into these students. Charlie’s question said, in an economy of words, more that most long op-ed columns. The question ended most of the race-based debates that he was involved in.
Video: Charlie debates a “queer” student
Systemic racism in America may (or may not) be taught in schools, but black people have the same rights as anyone else, and most companies love to hire qualified black people. Why wouldn’t they?
Would you rather our young people learn from Scouting America or from Turning Point USA?
Yeah, me too. The messages sent by these two organizations are crystal clear. One is politically correct, woke, and has had its original platform neutered.
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The other one promotes the same values that made western civilization great: marriage between a man and a woman, having children and raising them to be good citizens, biblical values such as reverence for human life, and so on. Those values served us well for 10,000 years or more.
I’ll stand with Pete Hegseth on this one. Scouting America is not the same as the Boy Scouts of America. Those halcyon days are over. Thank God for Charlie Kirk and for Turning Point USA.
Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based author, broadcaster, and songwriter. Follow his podcast at https://www.PlanetLogic.us. Check out his author’s page at https://www.Amazon.com/author/lynnwoolley.
Order books direct from Lynn at https://PlanetLogicPress.Square.Site.
Email Lynn at lwoolley9189@gmail.com.
WARNING: This book contains no references to race or sexual preference. It’s just a fun story.
