|
Date: June 30, 2001 Re: Around the Campfire Update HI FOLKS, THOUGHT THIS MIGHT BE OF INTEREST. TED
From: Around_the_Campfire
Around The Campfire
Dear Friend of Scouting,
What we've been doing
It's been a long time since I wrote to you. It has been an exciting few months since we started Save Our Scouts last September and we've been very busy doing what we said we would do. We've made many new friends in the battle for the Scouts. We've made contributions to Scout Councils in need because of organized attacks on the Boy Scouts and we have written or spoken to hundreds of thousands of people. We've sent paper petitions to more then a hundred thousand people and have received many more signatures in return.
We've visited with members of the Bush Administration and the 107th Congress and have received great encouragement for the goals of Save Our Scouts. We've been invited to speak at a number of events by some great people who support scouting. Mrs. Phyllis Schafly of the Eagle Forum invited us to speak at a meeting in which she introduced us with these words.
"The Left has been waging war against the Boy Scouts for quite a number of years and I just couldn't understand why the conservative movement as a whole didn't take up this fight. Eagle Forum filed an Amicus brief with the Supreme Court on the Boy Scout case which the Boy Scouts won by a narrow 5-4 decision a few months ago. It was a crucial case and I kept looking for somebody to take the leadership in waging the battle in favor of the Boy Scouts and their right to live up to their Boy Scout Oath and accept the members and train the members that they want. I found that person - it's Gavin Grooms! He has founded an organization called Save Our Scouts. This is a terribly important issue for our cause. The Scouts have had to spend an enormous amount of money over the last ten years fighting lawsuits by the atheists, the gays and the feminists."
Mr. Edwin Meese, former President Reagan's Attorney General and now Chairman of the Advisory board of Defend Scouting was in that very receptive audience. As National Chairman of Save Our Scouts, I've been able to communicate our goals in Radio and Television interviews across the nation. As recently as last week I was able to uphold Scout principles on Focus on the Family's national radio show and on Chicago's "drive-time" Sandy Rio Show, which is heard in most of Illinois and Indiana.
We've stayed focused, developed a plan and stuck to it. We've made friends like Christopher Ruddy, President of Newsmax.com, who is pledging his support to Save Our Scouts and Kevin J. Hasson of the Becket Fund For Religious Liberty, who has offered to review legal actions taken against the Boy Scouts and who has offered to take on a case pro-bono for the Scouts. If anyone has a lawsuit involving a religious sponsored Scout troop please contact me right away. Mr. Hasson might be able to help. We have been helpful to offices of Congressmen who contacted us looking for more information which we were able to provide quickly and accurately.
We've Made a Difference!
Why do I tell you about all of these things? Because we want you to know that any contribution you made and the petition you signed did make a real difference. With the help of a very supportive Board and an Advisory Council with people like talk show host Michael Reagan and news analyst Mary Mostert, we've been able to inform millions of people. We are not only working hard, we are getting things done!
We know how busy you are and we haven't cluttered your inbox with a lot of e-mails, but we write to you now to let you know that together we've made a difference, the foundation is laid, we are a nationally known tax-exempt non-profit organization and the time has come to move into high gear. The battle has just begun!
The Anti-Scouts Have Picked up Speed
The recent nationwide showing by PBS of an anti-Scout film called "Scout's Honor," which gave sympathetic treatment to the group behind the attacks on the Scouts, prompts us to speed up our efforts and expand our commitment. Some of the nation's largest school districts, and some United Way groups have labeled the Boy Scouts a "discriminatory" group for maintaining its principles.
There was a time that if people were asked, "What do you think of the Boy Scouts?" every response would be positive. Today, because of the success of often unchallenged anti-Scout propaganda like "Scout's Honor", some will mention "discrimination," "hate" and "out of touch" as their first thoughts about the Boy Scouts.
Throughout Europe Scouting has lost the battle of public perception and has adopted policies contrary to those on which Robert Baden Powell founded the movement - an organization to teach boys duty to God so they would become morally straight and physically fit leaders in their families, neighborhoods, towns and nations. We cannot let that happen in America.
The Next Step
Our next goal is to produce a film that tells the Scout story for distribution throughout the country. This is a massive undertaking and we need your continued support for the Boy Scouts to accomplish it. Hopefully, you are keeping up with our efforts by coming frequently to the Save Our Scouts website at http://www.saveourscouts.org. Also, please help keep us posted on what's happening to scouting in YOUR area by e-mailing me at scouter@saveourscouts.org.
Thanks again for your support and especially to you who are making a monthly commitment in your family or business budget to sustain Save Our Scouts and its goals.
Yours in Scouting,
Gavin Grooms |
|
|