The Boy Scouts of America says it prepares young boys for life. But it turns out much of that preparation involves grooming them for sex.
And we now know that its legacy of systemic sexual abuse of boys rivals that of the Catholic Church.
Boy Scouts Settles Sexual Abuse Claims for $2.4 Billion
The Boy Scouts of America has been a fertile plucking ground for pedophiles.
The Boy Scouts are a magnet for men who want to have sexual relations with children. … Pedophiles join the Scouts for a simple reason: it’s where the boys are.
(The Washington Times, May 20, 1991)
But nobody should be surprised. After all, the Catholic Church established the playbook for abusing children centuries ago. “Scout’s Honor!”
The Boy Scouts of America will establish a $2.4 billion fund for those in the organization who were victims of sexual abuse. … [N]ew measures will support survivors and prevent abuse in the future, such as background checks for all staff and volunteers.
(NPR, April 21, 2023)
The Catholic Church collects offerings from followers as an article of religious faith. This, to save their souls. Whereas the Boy Scouts relies on fees, sales, and donations. This, for grown men dressed in shorts to teach boys what any father could.
Incidentally, the Mormon Church was the largest sponsor of the Boy Scouts of America. That suggests Mormons have more in common with Catholics than Mormons would ever confess.
No doubt this is why the Mormon Church ended its sponsorship in 2020.
Boy Scouts banning gays following Church hymnal
The man-boy bonding between Scout leaders and Cub Scouts always struck me as perverse. It seemed structured for sexual abuse. You know, like parents sending little boys for sleepovers at Neverland with Michael Jackson..
The perversity was that the danger was plain for all to see. By contrast, everything about the sexual abuse by pedophile priests was closeted.
But the hypocrisy that prevailed was no less striking. After all, the Boy Scouts made quite a show of banning gay Scout leaders. To its credit, the organization finally lifted this ban in 2015.
But, as with the Catholic Church, this ban was a patent ruse. A fox in the chicken coop claiming to protect them by not allowing any other foxes in comes to mind.
In any event, if there is a God, abusive Scout leaders, like pedophile priests, will rot in jail and then burn in Hell.
In the meantime, here’s a tip for any father who wants his son to hang out in the woods learning survival skills:
- Become your boy’s Scout leader yourself. Cavemen did it. So you can too. Because it’s far better to develop that man-boy bonding the Boy Scouts promotes between father and son.
All that’s left is to debate which is more reprehensible
- that the Boy Scouts so betrayed its vaunted Scout’s honor; or
- that the Catholic Church so perverted its holy mission.
I say a pox on both!