David Horowitz
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2003

If you said the Boy Scouts of America, you would be dead on the mark. For more than a decade, the left has worked to wear down the Boy Scouts. The spearhead of this effort has been the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has attacked the Scouts in California, Illinois and New Jersey, just to name the states that had particularly high profile cases. To its credit, Boy Scouts of America has stood firm in this firestorm.

Now the Boy Scouts are under attack in Connecticut, and I'm asking for your immediate help to fight back. Boy Scouts of America has asked our legal arm, the Individual Rights Foundation, to come to its defense and stop the state of Connecticut's attempt to discriminate against them. I immediately said, "Yes." My friend, we cannot let them down.

Since 1911, Scouts have accepted members on the basis of this oath:

"On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and country and to obey the Scout Law: To help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."

Given the state of our culture today – the lack of fathers in homes; the disturbing rise in teenage delinquency; the dangerous environment that haunts far too many of our schools – you might think everyone would champion what the Scouts seek to do: shape and guide young boys into citizens and leaders of our nation.

Yet the radical left is doing everything it can to destroy the Scouts, and now the battleground is in Connecticut. Here is the essence of the case and what the Individual Rights Foundation is going to do:

Connecticut says the Scouts' oath discriminates against homosexuals, thus the state can't put the Scouts in its annual fund-raising campaign – a campaign that has included the Scouts for more than 30 years. Does this sound familiar?

When the Scouts were under attack in California, the reasons were twofold. In one case adults who were atheists wanted their boys to be allowed into the Scouts without taking the oath. They claimed the oath violated their civil rights.

In another case, an openly gay man demanded to be a Scout leader. In Illinois, the left sought to ban Scouts from holding meetings on military bases or public schools. And in New Jersey, again, an openly homosexual man wanted to serve as a den leader.

Of course, the common thread running through these battles is the American Civil Liberties Union. Each time, its lawyers use a slightly different tactic. They know the financial resources involved in fighting legal battle after legal battle.

The Boy Scouts are nonprofit. Most packs work hard to raise funds to pay for supplies or summer camps. The Boy Scouts certainly don't have an annual litigation budget of more than $65 million – but the ACLU does.

Ultimately, each courtroom battle is the left's attempt to wear the Scouts down, mentally, emotionally and financially, to make the Scouts abandon their time-honored traditions of respect for God and country.

The U.S. District Court in Connecticut issued a summary ruling that the Scouts were violating that state's Gay Rights law. But Connecticut is using this law to discriminate against the Boy Scouts, to pressure them into changing their criteria for membership!

The Constitution says we have a God-given right to associate with whomever we please. You and I cannot be forced into joining an organization we don't believe in, nor do we have the right to demand an organization to change to meet our desires.

That is why to many Americans the left's war against the Boy Scouts defies common sense. What you and I must do is show them how the ACLU's war against the Scouts is just a step in the left's overall agenda to rot away our way of life. However, this specific case requires urgent action.

That is why I have launched the National Boy Scout Defense Fund. Over the next 30 days we need to raise $21,350 to take two immediate steps:

1. Provide the Scouts with a first-rate legal argument, including research and a "friend of the court brief."

2. Launch a nationwide grassroots effort to defend the Scouts and fully expose the left's motives behind this legal battle in Connecticut. In the past, the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC) has created and paid for newspaper ads in various publications around the nation. If we are able to reach our financial goal, we'll again look at exposing the left through this medium.

I need you to take a stand with me today and help us defend the Boy Scouts. Please go to this page – https://www.donationreport.com/init/controller/ProcessEntryCmd?key=L9Q1W9V3Z3 – and make a credit card contribution of $20, $25, $50, $100, $1,000 or more if possible!

The left's endless attacks – for nearly two decades now – must stop. You and I can help the Scouts draw a line in the sand once and for all. Take a moment now and support CSPC's National Boy Scout Defense Fund. Thank you.

Sincerely,

David Horowitz
President and Founder
Center for the Study of Popular Culture

David Horowitz is a nationally known author, lifelong civil rights activist and founder of the New Left movement in the 1960s. His autobiography, "Radical Son," chronicles his odyssey from radical activism to the current positions he holds.

He has penned numerous other books including "The Politics of Bad Faith," "The Art of Political War" and his latest book, "Uncivil Wars," which chronicles his crusade against intolerance and racial McCarthyism on college campuses last spring.

Since 1988 he has served as president of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, a vehicle group for his campaigns and his online newsmagazine, FrontPageMag.com.

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