by Ken King

Another month bites the dust as time keeps rolling by and I welcome you back for another column thanks to SOMD.com.  There are so many things I could talk about this month.  We have Mother’s Day right around the corner, we have the Million Mom March with their opponents, the Second Amendment Sisters, we have this month’s survey question about gay Boy Scout leaders, we have an election that seems designed by Hollywood (you know, Gore vs. Bush.  I wonder why some of our comedians haven’t hit upon this mix?), we have the oil spill in the Patuxent, we even had a minor earthquake in Virginia, the list goes on and on.

This month I’ll do something different and touch on several thoughts and not just go with a singular item.  First and foremost, to all of you Mothers out there, I would like to take this opportunity to extend a very joyous and happy Mother’s Day to you.  After all without women like you none of us would be here, you are the life givers.  To my Mom I would like to say that I don’t know what I would do without you.  You’ve tolerated and nurtured me throughout my life.  You’ve helped me through the tough times and shared in the happiness of my life.  You deserve more than just a day; I will be forever in your debt and always have nothing but the greatest love and admiration for you. 

Mother’s Day ought to be interesting for quite a few of you that head up to support your side in the ongoing weapons debate.  Personally, I am for the Second Amendment Sisters and what they stand for.  I’m with you in the beliefs that we don’t need additional laws or stricter controls placed upon the law-abiding citizens.  Your message of enforcing the current laws, giving us the right to protect ourselves and making the criminals do time are the reasonable answers to this issue and I wish you well in your endeavor.  To those on the Million Mom side I offer that you need to think about the consequences of your actions.  If you get legislation passed that impacts the citizen’s ability to protect himself or herself you are giving the criminals the green-light to commit more crimes as they will be the only ones with weapons.  I ask you to think about what it is you are doing as you might be killing more than you are saving. 

The next and final area I will go into is the current survey question about gay Boy Scout leaders.  This one gets me spinning in several directions all at once.  First, I just don’t understand homosexuality and what it is about it that makes people choose this behavior, but who am I, or anyone else for that matter, to judge what makes these people happy.  I also believe fully in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  That is as long as they aren’t forcing themselves or their beliefs on some unsuspecting naïve child while they are pursuing their happiness.  If this scout leader was doing this then I feel that he should be castrated, hung, burned at the stake and then shot.  The remains should be cut up and sent to the four corners of the world.  This type behavior would be repugnant and should face drastic penalty as with any other sex crime against a child.  On the other hand, if he was providing guidance in an acceptable manner and was not influencing the boys in sexual matters what difference does it make as to his sexual orientation.  We Americans are supposed to be compassionate, understanding, and treat each other as equals without regard to a variety of items.  Why can’t sexual orientation be included in that group?  Our military has even accepted this viewpoint with regard to homosexuality (not that I agree with it).  So if it’s good enough for the military why isn’t it good enough for the Boy Scouts of America?

I know, some of you will say that the Boy Scouts of America is a private organization and we can’t share the same views about them as we do with public groups.  Interesting point, but don’t the Boy Scouts enjoy tax-exempt status and by doing so aren’t they bound to treat all as equals.  That by discriminating in who can or cannot be a member, or leader, based on sexual orientation should result in their exempt status being revoked, that they should pay back taxes on all funds previously raised under the exempt status and that they become a true privately funded organization.  If they want to discriminate let them foot the total bill and pay taxes on what they raise.  Then they will be free to teach bigotry to our young boys in any manner that they choose.  As long as they ask for and accept the exempt status they should follow the same rules as other organizations receiving this benefit and they should not discriminate in any form.