The Boy Scouts are causing controversy with their decision to rebrand, all in the name of “inclusivity.” On Wednesday, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced that the organization will officially change its name to “Scouting America.”
The BSA explained that this change reflects “the organization’s ongoing commitment to welcome every youth and family in America to experience the benefits of Scouting.” BSA CEO Roger Krone said, “Scouting America provides a welcoming, safe environment where youth can become the best version of themselves by learning from and respecting each other. I encourage everyone to join us and experience the benefits of Scouting.” Although the BSA notes that girls were welcomed into BSA ranks five years ago, the organization’s press release continues to use the term “youth,” instead of “boys and girls.”
In a video, Krone responded to critics of the BSA’s decision, explaining, “Membership is at historic lows. Part of my job is to reduce all the barriers I possibly can for people to accept us as an organization and to join.” He added that the name change “sends this really strong message to everyone in America that they can come to this program, they can bring their authentic self, they can be who they are, and they will be welcomed here.”
Commenting on the news, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said, “The Boy Scouts should have considered the Cicada Scouts for their new name, because they have become nothing more than a hollow shell of what they once were.” He added, “The Boy Scouts will now stand as a [stark] reminder of the cost of moral compromise.”
On Tuesday night’s episode of “Washington Watch,” Perkins expounded, “This was an organization for literally over a century, stood as an entity that helped train the next generation of boys. Its whole purpose when it started was to help boys become men, and eventually soldiers, to be able to defend the values that made Western civilization great.” He added, “It’s not what they are any longer,” warning, “Unfortunately, I actually think it is a [critical] message to the nation of what happens when you reject truth.”
Joseph Backholm, FRC’s senior fellow for Biblical Worldview, commented to The Washington Stand, “Building anything meaningful requires compromise, cooperation, and sacrifice, but modern leftism sees these values as forms of oppression. Progressivism exists to critique and feels justified because everything manmade can be critiqued.” He continued, “The non-stop revolution makes leftism incapable of doing the things necessary to build a sustainable community, organization, university, or corporation, but it is perfectly suited to destroy any of those things through what is, in its most basic form, constant whining.”
Appearing with Perkins on “Washington Watch” on Tuesday night, FRC’s Senior Fellow for Education Studies Meg Kilgannon discussed the danger of eliminating essential distinctions between boys and girls. Frankly, she said, “The nation has come under a great cloud of confusion over [whether] there are boys or girls. And so when children are going to school and saying, ‘You know, I think I might have been born in the wrong body … and the school feels compelled to affirm them in that … obviously there’s something very, very wrong.”
“It is the ultimate attack of demonic forces on the human person, to attack a growing child,” Kilgannon continued. “It’s the very work of adolescents to form your identity, to figure out what are you? What is God’s call on your life? What are you going to be when you grow up? What are you going to do with your life?” She added, “It’s your very core. The fact of whether or not you’re even a male or female, that’s truly debilitating. It doesn’t get much more basic than that.”
In 2013, Boy Scouts leadership voted to undo a longstanding policy barring membership to those who openly identify as homosexual, and moved in 2015 to formally permit openly-gay men to serve as adult leaders. In 2017, Boy Scouts leadership allowed biological girls who identify as transgender to join its ranks, later opening the Boy Scouts to all girls and renaming the organization’s flagship program, “Boy Scouting,” to “Scouting BSA.”
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
Editor’s Note: Losing A Biblical Foundation
Franklin Graham, President of BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse, responded to the decision highlighting the Biblical foundation the Boy Scouts of America was founded upon.
“Talk about losing your way—that’s the Boy Scouts of America,” he wrote. “Their compass doesn’t point north anymore. “They want to be more ‘inclusive,’ so they’re changing their name to Scouting America. That won’t help. Being woke isn’t the need—staying focused and true to what God calls you to do is what’s important.”
“They should’ve just stuck with what they were founded to be 114 years ago,” Graham underscored. “The Boy Scouts Oath says, ‘I will do my best to do my duty to God…’ It’s no surprise that thousands of parents are choosing other options like Trail Life USA which is a great Christ-centered alternative.”
