Discussion»Questions»Human Behavior» Is The Boy Scouts of America Republican? Trump had the Boy Scouts booing Obama at the Jamboree. Only the GOP would sink that low. Right?
No. Many different factions use/manipulate children in their quests to further political agendas. When a two-year-old child is holding a picket sign at a pro- or anti- abortion rally, or doing a voiceover on the subject of global warming, or wearing a KKK hood, or raising a fist shouting, "down with whitey", it doesn't just stay within the party line that you personally oppose.
Yet again you've allowed blind emotion to cloud your objectiveness and it led to bias in what you post. Trump didn't invent a new wheel here.
This post was edited by Randy D at July 25, 2017 10:29 PM MDT
If a parent hands one of their children a sign espousing some position at a rally they are attending, that's one thing---and probably what they are learning at home anyway. But if the local church takes invites a Christian speaker to their child's Sunday School class and he uses that opportunity to perform a Satanic Mass, that's a little different.
For the past 80 years, presidents have stayed away from politics in their talks to the tens of thousands of Scouts and their families that gather at the event, instead discussing topics like good citizenship and helping others. Trump broke away from that, hitting his favorite bullet points of fake news, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama's legacy.
As Scouts, we were taught never to make our service about politics. Scouts are not supposed to appear in uniform at political events. He made the national gathering of Boy Scouts about himself only [because] he makes everything [about] himself."
Comments by Ted Genoways---Ted Genoways was an Eagle Scout. So was his father. And his son is likely to become one next summer. So when he blasted Donald Trump in a Tweetstorm after the president's speech at the annual National Scout Jamboree, it caught people's attention.
And Randy D, I am appalled at your answer---mostly because I now understand somewhat the mental processes that allow Trump supporters to not only defend but which they use to advocate for their positions.
I am not a Trump supporter. I merely stated fact, I did not say that what Trump did was right or good or positive or better than what anyone else has done. I did not defend Trump.
I used the word 'agenda'. There is an agenda at hand here that continually ignores wrongdoing on other fronts in order to demonize its adversary.
You have every right to be appalled. Thank you for expressing yourself.
Is that caviar on top of that Hollandaise sauce? I sure hope not. I hate fish eggs, been repulsed by them ever since I started using Uncle (Atlas) Mike's salmon eggs as bait for trout. [And the salmon eggs at the sushi bar smell just like Uncle (Atlas) Mike's; gross.]
So you think that all those scouts with elementary or junior high and perhaps even a few years of high school possess the skills to understand and evaluate the performance of a previous president?---Or perhaps if that's the most education you have, you think you're qualified and therefore they must be as well?
So you think all kids are stupid and politically ignorant? With what passes for "curriculum" in the public school system these days I can see why. (We had Civics in the 5th grade in my school, still Cub Scout level, not yet Boy Scout.)
And you seem to be unaware of the Merit Badges that Boy Scouts have to earn these days and what is needed to achieve them.
No, but unless they get political and economic training at a higher level, they are powerless to effectively and accurately judge the value of a given US presidential term---nor are they notably able to know when they are being mislead and manipulated.
And "civics" in 5th grade consists primarily of learning how many senators and representatives there are and why and how many branches of government we have. The discernment necessary to make the best choices in our democracy is something that apparently is only present in slightly over 50% of the people who voted in the last presidential election in the USA.
And it's always dangerous to make assumptions about what I am aware or unaware of---I was a Den leader in Cub Scouts and a Scoutmaster in Boy Scouts.
This post was edited by tom jackson at July 25, 2017 12:37 PM MDT
As to judging the value of a given Presidential term to the country as a whole . . . that's up to history, generally not the individual. And even then . . . the value of Washington's two terms is still being debated by some. In the face of that one can only judge how their personal lives were impacted during any given President's "reign". So those Scouts may well be judging the past President based on a family job loss, maybe a home loss, having to give up some enjoyed activities, switching to poorer quality foods, greater stress on the family . . . So yes, contrary to what you may want to think kids do have a handle on politics from that perspective. Mine certainly did, and continue to.
The 5th grade Civics lessons went well beyond what you imply, at least in my grade school. Sorry if your schooling wasn't better. Unfortunately kids these days are probably not even getting the level that you imply.
And you were a Den Leader and a Scoutmaster? That explains a lot. So begins the indoctrination of the kids . . .
I'd prefer to think that it was not the GOP per se---I prefer to think it was simply that poor excuse for humanity that won the electoral vote being himself.
You make a truly sage point here, Tom. If I understand you correctly, you're not using the broad brush or the sweeping generalization based on the actions of one or the actions of a few.
Are you the same Tom Jackson who took me to task for my having posted a similar viewpoint?
Randy D 