Letter to the Editor: Don’t jump on Scouts
BY Raymond North, Bixby
Friday, August 03, 2012
Mike Jones, a Tulsa World associate
editor, takes one-third of a page
(“Scouts honor?” July 22) to take on the
Boy Scouts of America. He is upset because
the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld
the BSA’s right to refuse to allow
gays and lesbians to join its ranks. He
goes on and on about his time when he
was in the Scouts. One summer he even
went to the Boy Scout Jamboree. He
cannot remember where and doesn’t
say when, but in an attempt to be funny
says that it was at least 50 miles away.
He lived in Oklahoma. He goes further
by resigning his commission in the
Scouts if it still exists.
It doesn’t.
The first Boy Scout Jamboree was in
1937 in Washington, D.C., It was to be
in 1935 but was canceled due to a polio
epidemic. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
spoke in front of 27,328 Scouts.
In 1950 as a 15-year-old Scout I attended
the second Boy Scout Jamboree.
Unlike Jones, I will always remember
my jamboree in Valley Forge, Pa. President
Harry S. Truman spoke on June 30
and Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
on the 4th of July led all 47,163 Scouts
in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.
I don’t care what a person’s religion,
color or sexual leanings are. Just don’t
jump on the Boy Scouts. As the Supreme
Court confirmed, it is a battle
you cannot win.
Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to letters@tulsaworld.com.
