Nicholsclan.com : a dimension of mind...

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Well, my inspiration to write has been waning lately. I won't bore you with all the excuses, but I do have a bit of a rant to get off my chest. What with the Bush administration doing a good job self-destructing, I'm not so inclined to be on that bandwagon, but the Boy Scouts are always fair game.

So... I get an e-mail from the Troop Chaplin (yes, there is one) of the troop my son has been occasionally attending, but hasn't yet officially joined. The note is asking me to complete the "parent's guide exercises" at the from of the scout guidebook as that is a requirement for all new scouts. Sounds harmless.

So... I dig up the book and find the section and discover that it is entirely focused on child abuse. Talk to your son, make him aware of what abuse is, how to handle it, how to guard against it, etc. Okay, always a reasonable precaution for a child. But it still strikes me as odd that this is a prerequisite to scouting.

So... I read on and discover that while neglect, physical, and emotional abuse get a quick once-over, sexual abuse garners most of the attention. I can't help but think it's odd that this wholesome Christian organization which is all about honor and trust and clean living is fixated on sexual child abuse.

So... I get to the exercises. They are all focused on scouts being sexually abused by older scouts or scout leaders. Ahhh... the light goes on. This wholesome Christian organization is simply girding itself against the pedophiles it expects to find in its ranks with enough frequency to make this prerequisite learning.

So to recap... the Boy Scouts exclude atheists and homosexuals because they cannot grow into the best kind of citizen. But pedophiles... they can join and they'll just put out a pamphlet.