The Foundation

"[A] good moral character is the first essential in a man, and that the habits contracted at your age are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character through life. It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous." --George Washington

Faith and Family

2013-06-03-briefTimeless values or PC values?

"The recent decision by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to allow 'openly gay' youth to become members of the Boy Scouts was nothing short of a betrayal -- a betrayal not only of the values scouting has represented for decades but also of the families whose support for the Scouts has spanned generations. ... It's worth noting that the law does NOT require the change in Scouts' policy: the ban on homosexual members was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court, which affirmed the right of the Boy Scouts to remain true to their mission and decide, on a principled basis, who may become a member of their group. How ironic: After years of successful battles to maintain timeless principles, the BSA has fallen by their own hand. ... [A]ll parents should use this sad moment to explain to young people, in particular, that the freedoms we hold dear will not survive if the moral fabric of our country continues to crumble. As those of us who have left scouting and now mourn the death of the BSA, let's bind up our broken hearts and resolve to continue to honor the many leaders, families and churches who worked so hard over the years to build the character of young men through scouting. And to all former scouts -- especially the Eagles -- I urge you to write down your own treasured scouting memories so that you can share with your own kids one day what it was like when the Boy Scouts of America stood for principle and truth. RIP, BSA." --columnist Rebecca Hagelin

Culture

"Score another triumph for modern American culture -- the sexual assault scandal now racking the military. ... The idea of pretending male and female personnel are the same in military terms and deserve the same status is the loopiest idea of our loopiest century, the 20th. ... Sexual assault is what happens when you mix men and women in the same pot, then season it ... with the cultural nonsense of the past 50 years; all the rubbish spoken by men and women alike, and approved by our intellectual/activist caste, about the necessity of ditching moral guidelines and guardrails, letting people operate pretty much the way they want to. Ideas have consequences, ladies and gentlemen of the political establishment. Pour into the intellectual pipeline a lot of nonsense about the oppressiveness of moral codes, and what comes out at the end of the pipeline is -- ta-da! -- 26,000 sexual assaults in the military, made easier, made more logical, by the complaisance of our post-1965 culture in the demise of standards and restraints of all kinds. What you sow, you reap." --columnist William Murchison