It was only four days ago that President Donald Trump spoke to 40,000 boys and young men at the annual Boy Scout Jamboree. The inappropriateness of his remarks outraged many parents of scouts, as well as former scouts. Many news outlets and blogs – including here at TVoverMind – also wrote commentary on what occurred and why it was so upsetting. On July 27th The Boy Scouts of America apologized for Trump’s speech. The official online apology was written by Michael Surbaugh, the organization’s Chief Scout Executive.
I would encourage everyone read the piece in its entirety. Many news reports have focused on the lines expressing regret for the “the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree.” However, what Mr. Surbaugh has written is about much more than that. His first order of business was to remind people what the Boy Scouts are really about. Here is just a small part of what he wrote.
The 2017 National Jamboree has showcased and furthered the Scouting mission by combining adventure and leadership development to give youth life-changing experiences. Scouts from Alaska met Scouts from Alabama; Scouts from New Mexico met those from New York, and American youth met youth from 59 other countries.
Over the course of ten days, Scouts have taken part in adventures, learned new skills, made new and lasting friendships and completed over 200 community service projects that offered 100,000 hours of service to the community by young men and women eager to do the right thing for the right reasons.
Why The Boy Scouts of America Apologized for Trump’s Speech
What is powerful about the entire letter is how, without overtly saying it, it negates the values espoused and represented by President Trump. It also reminds us all about what it means to have a duty to our country.
As part of our program’s duty to country, we teach youth to become active citizens, to participate in their government, respect the variety of perspectives and to stand up for individual rights.
Few will argue the importance of teaching values and responsibility to our youth – not only right from wrong, but specific positive values such as fairness, courage, honor and respect for others.
These values are a polar opposite of what President Trump has displayed in his behavior or in many of his policies. They likewise were absent in his speech to The Boy Scouts of America.
This is why The Boy Scouts of America apologized for Trump’s speech. It was the President’s appalling behavior that forced them to reiterate to their members – and to the world – what values they hold dear. They realized it wasn’t enough to point out that in their tradition of being non-partisan every U.S. President was invited to speak at the Jamboree.
One of the reasons that such a tradition was easy to maintain is that prior to President Trump “fairness, courage, honor and respect for others” were values we all expected the President of the United States to – at the very least – publicly demonstrate. It was an automatic part of being, “presidential.” Those values associated with the office of the president lined up with those of the Boy Scouts. Now…they don’t. (The very next day, President Trump had an election rally where he claimed that being presidential wasn’t important.)
The Wrap Up
A boy scout does not believe that belittling those you disagree with is okay. Nor do they suggest the goals one should have in life are about hanging out with, “the hot people” with lots of money. The Boy Scouts of America have strived to teach a respect for all people. Over time it has gradually evolved into a group that embraces boys of every race, creed, and sexual orientation. In short, they are not about building walls.
Unfortunately, today basic American ideals like liberty and justice for all and the golden rule have become seen as Democrat vs. Republican beliefs. They are not. Likewise, there was no political reason for this apology. The Boy Scouts of America apologized for Trump’s speech simply because of what it means to be a boy scout.
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