{"id":2215,"date":"2017-07-25T19:47:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T23:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=2215"},"modified":"2017-07-25T19:47:21","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T23:47:21","slug":"issue-538-july-25-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2017\/07\/issue-538-july-25-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 538 \u2013 July 25, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

________________________________________
\nMessages have been flying around the Internet ever since President Trump\u2019s speech at the National Scout Jamboree yesterday. The USSSP has received a bunch and I\u2019m sure the BSA has received even more. I\u2019ve received a number also, and the very best one I\u2019ve seen is from a Scouter in my home council: Howard Lee, an Englishman who emigrated to the US a number of years ago and subsequently chose\u2014chose!<\/em>\u2014to become an American citizen.<\/p>\n

Here are his words, as he wrote them to the Scouts and their parents of the troop he serves as Scoutmaster:<\/p>\n

Dear Scouts and parents,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been approached by concerned parents following the president\u2019s speech at the Jamboree yesterday and the audience reaction to it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The BSA has issued a statement: \u201cThe Boy Scouts of America is wholly non-partisan and does not promote any one position, product, service, political candidate or philosophy. The invitation of the sitting U.S. President to visit the National Jamboree is in no way an endorsement of any political party or specific policies.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I think this post by \u201cBryan on Scouting\u201d says it better: \u201cThe Boy Scouts of America might be the most patriotic organization in the U.S. But we don\u2019t endorse any one political party. You could say that rather than being pro-left or pro-right, the Boy Scouts of America is pro-America.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

(The) BSA policy is expressly non-political: \u201cVolunteers and professionals must be alert to situations that would imply that the BSA favors one candidate over another. Strict observance of our long-standing policy against the active participation of uniformed Scouts and leaders in political events is mandatory.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scouting welcomes people from all politics, religions, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, just like America. It is inherently inclusive and respectful, which is why it has been a long tradition that Scouts never boo \u2013 booing is disrespectful.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to be clear, in case anyone else has concerns similar to those shared with me already, that, in (this troop) as in all of Scouting, you are welcome no matter your politics, creed, race, country of origin, or ethnic background.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are about leadership, character, citizenship, service and, of course, fun!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you, Howard. You\u2019ve said this better than I think I ever could.<\/p>\n

Happy Scouting to ALL!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you\u2019d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

[No. 538 \u2013 7\/25\/2017 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2017]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

________________________________________ Messages have been flying around the Internet ever since President Trump\u2019s speech at the National Scout Jamboree yesterday. The USSSP has received a bunch and I\u2019m sure the BSA has received even more. I\u2019ve received a number also, and the very best one I\u2019ve seen is from a Scouter in my home council: Howard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2215"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2221,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215\/revisions\/2221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}