In addition to which, where is the empirical and/or anecdotal evidence that the presence of enhanced penalties for the commission of “hate crimes” has prevented any of the acts for which it was written?

They have a nearly-unique Federal Charter—which I think only the American Red Cross being the other—and the President of the United States it’s their titular president. And that Federal Charter in-part is why they traditionally had access to so-many US Military facilities, equipment and Army/ Natl. Guard support. Scouting was seen at the Federal-level as integral to the National Defense and civil defense efforts for decades and enjoyed auxiliary status as-such.

Up until after Vietnam, the Military opinion was that Scouting benefitted military preparedness and civil defense. Having Boy Scouts trained in First Aid, woodcraft and field craft saved the Army several weeks of valuable Basic Training in case of war, and most Boy Scouts were taught how to use a rifle in the old-days courtesy of free surplus ammunition from the Army and the Corps. And Scouts have always played a role in natural disaster preparedness and recovery.

Most of this was lost in the last two or three decades when the Urban Liberals, and then the Evangelical Fundamentalists took-over the Scouting Movement’s national leadership when they moved BSA HQ to Texas from New Jersey.

When I was in Scouting in the 60s thru 80s, several of our active leaders I suspected were gay…and I know several of the professional leaders at the District level were. And they would have killed and left a child-predator’s entails hanging from a tree if they harmed a boy. Back then Scouting was the “safe place” away from the bullies and a judging-society—in the company or boys and men who cared for and about you and your development. You learned to be an individual and a team-player. To be confident in the woods, to not be afraid of being alone in the Dark, to make your won decisions and live with the consequences, to save lives, to make fires and shelter, to serve the community.

Then Natl. Policy and the Handbook changed and suddenly “adults” became the enemy. Fending off bears looking for food became “fending off the Scoutmaster. Life-saving first-aid became drug awareness education, and they stopped going into the Woods.

Time to go back to Theodore Roosevelt, Dan Beard and Sir Robert Baden-Powell and start all over again.

Hate crime laws…punish perps…not only for the act, but acting upon their beliefs.

Punishing people for acting on their beliefs: That is the leftie wet dream…as we see today, in Obama’s IRS scandal.

I would rather just punish people for their acts – those of their acts which are objectively bad – and leave it at that.

Not to mention, I strongly doubt shouting “Jesus Loves You” was a thing 800 years ago.

And not to mention, a great part of why the Crusades happened was because of hundreds of years – *hundreds of years*, at that time already – of religiously-motivated Muslim invasion, butchery, and piracy inflicted on Europe. Europeans felt it was necessary for them to finally go on the offense, if they were to have any peace from it at home. Expressing it through their own religious institutions was the style/culture of the time, and no worse than what the Muslims had been about for centuries.

Lefties like to leave those parts out.

I am of two minds. I agree with SA about the BSA being the latest victim of attacking freedom of association and the Left’s totalitarianism and lust for cultural conquest. On that ground, no gays.

But if women have been involved in this org for the last 40 years as scoutmasters, etc. what’s to lose? It’s already been feminized and made generic. So who cares?

VTK > do you have examples of innocent people?

Hmmm…where to begin???

RE: comment 88

Whether or not the BSA allows openly gay members should be left up to the BSA, but I think anyone who, like B. Daniel, claims to be libertarian should support the BSA keeping it’s gay ban as a way of supporting freedom of association and opposing the Left’s totalitarianism and lust for cultural conquest. But B. Daniel, like most gay conservatives here, is gay first, conservative/libertarian second, and he supports the Left’s position on gay issues–and most other social/sexual issues–because his sexuality is fundamental to his worldview. He just won’t admit it.

What I’m trying to determine is why one innocent person’s death is somehow more heinous than another’s?

After all…

What possible difference, at [that] point, does it make?!?!?

I disagree with your statement that all violent crime is hate crime. I don’t think that an armed robber hates his victim when he/she kills them in the process of the robbery.

Oy vey.

So if I read you correctly, the murderer is able to become such absent any animosity towards those who get in his way and find themselves dead?

How about rape? Certainly that’s a hate crime, given that the sick f*cks who commit it hate women.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

Do you deny that hate crimes are committed?

Absolutely not, for all violent crime is “hate” crime.

Am I wrong in observing that the taking of some lives is more offensive to you than others?

my point is that someone who goes into a bank with a gun and kills someone is committing a violent crime. A violent crime that is not a hate crime. Simply stated, not all violent crime is a hate crime.

I’m far less disturbed by your clinging bitterly to victimhood than I am by your apparent assertion that the murder of some innocents are more offensive to you than others.

Moral relativism. It isn’t just for sociopaths anymore.

Vince is all about having a “conversation.”

To a leftist progressive, “conversation” is a word meaning “Shut up while I lecture you about how wrong you are.”

See also, “Teachable Moment”

Or is it OK to fight back invaders, but only if they are the same race and religion as you are. If their skin is a different color, and if they follow a different religion and they invade your country and slaughter your people, I guess you’re supposed to just “take one for the team.”

Wouldn’t want to be called a “H8R.”