Faded and Tarnished

The Colonel has had eagles pinned on his uniform twice in his life.

The last time toward the end of his career in the Marine Corps; the first thirty years earlier, toward the end of his time in the Boy Scouts of America.  

The walls in the Colonel's office are covered in memorabilia, plaques, flags, certificates, and photos from his time in the Corps -- but none is more dear to him than the smallest and least significant looking.

On the wall behind him as he types this missive, in a tiny frame, is the certificate attesting to his achievement of Eagle rank in the Scouts.  

The certificate bears the signature of the President at the time, Richard M. Nixon.

In a cutout in the matting next to the certificate is the Eagle ribbon and pendant that was pinned to the Colonel's scout uniform over forty years ago. The ribbon is a bit faded and the eagle pendant somewhat tarnished with time -- a shadow of the glorious award for which the Colonel was, and still is, as proud of accepting as any promotion or medal he received in the Corps.

And so it is with the Boy Scouts of America, today.  By the Colonel's estimation, Scouting is a far cry from the organization to which he belonged in his youth.

Mind you, this is no screed on the recent decision by the Boy Scouts of America to allow boys who profess to be homosexual.

Frankly, that decision was a forgone conclusion, given the Scouts' decades-long slide in standards, and reorientation from a rustic training ground for gentlemen to an urban survival laboratory.

In the process of "modernizing," Scouting lost its bearings.

The Colonel can still proudly recite the twelve points of the Scout Law:

"A scout is:

Trustworthy,

Loyal,

Helpful,

Friendly,

Courteous,

Kind,

Obedient, 

Cheerful,

Thrifty,

Brave,

Clean,

and

Reverent"

He has tried to continue to live his life by the Scout Oath:

"On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight."

A homosexual lifestyle is incompatible with the Scout Law and Oath.  And so is a lifestyle full of heterosexual sin and other forms of dissipation.

The Colonel is no homophobe.  If he is any kind of "phobe" it's a sin - a - phobe.

The Colonel fears sin, because it so easily entangles him and diverts his eyes from Jesus' teaching.  The Colonel takes no pride in admitting that he has violated every single one of God's Commandments -- either in thought or deed.  The Colonel ain't no saint -- except by the marvelous grace of God through Jesus.

But, the Colonel keeps trying to maintain the standards.

When the Colonel was active in Scouting, he was fortunate to have adult leaders who held him, and his peers, strictly accountable to every point of the Law and each of the standards in the Oath recited at every assembly of two or more.

Every point of the Law and every standard of the Oath meant something. 

Being a Boy Scout meant something.

Unfortunately, the Colonel believes it no longer does.

But, the Colonel's opinion of the current status of Scouting didn't change with the recent decision.

The Colonel's opinion changed a long time ago, when Scouting's internal compass fell captive to the magnetic allure of the false religions of pacifism, feminism, progressivism, and political correctness.