Tom Finneran: Eagle Scouts
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Friday, May 23, 2014
Tom Finneran, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™
I’m desperate for respite. Respite from the lunacy of the world, respite from Boko Haram, respite from the electronic bombardment of our senses, and respite from the vile products of Hollywood. Perhaps these are the gripes of an old man but I don’t think so… notwithstanding one’s age, one has to be virtually deaf and blind not to suffer through the crude daily vulgarity and violence of our times. These are not good signs for our society, our culture, or our country.
Then, just as you feel yourself drowning in the ocean of moral sewage all around us, comes a ray of light and hope for the future. Boy Scouts. Girl Scouts. Scout leaders.
Full disclosure here - I never participated in Scouting in any way while growing up. When my daughters were younger, my wife Donna and a few other neighborhood Moms were Brownie/ Girl Scout troop leaders. While I was rarely if ever home during the day and early evening, I was aware of the field trips, the crafts, and the activities that these ladies organized for the troop. I loved to listen to the young girls’ recitations of a particular activity that they had enjoyed. It was really neat stuff.
Not quite as frequently as listening to the young girls’ stories, I would be invited to an Eagle Scout’s “Court of Honor”. That was always a true treat and I tried to make every single Eagle ceremony to which I was invited. It was a thrill for me to meet the honoree, to meet the parents and the Scout leaders, and to listen to the particular history of the young man in question. It was always very impressive to meet a young person with the discipline and the determination to earn such an award. To use an old-fashioned word, I found it wholesome.
As I look around our utterly insane planet, I’m gratified by the knowledge that Scout leaders still volunteer and that Scouts continue to take so much pride in their achievements. Our society needs more, much more of both.
Our movies are vile. Our songs are vile. Our television shows parade moral poison. Our culture and our society are dangerously deranged in what they celebrate as well as in what they mock. Even our choices for children’s clothes seem sexualized. So I’ll take wholesome any day of the week.
Read the Scout Oath for a real change of pace from the garbage of Hollywood:
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.
Now cue the sound of Hollywood producers reading the above Oath and dropping to the floor in full swoon, stunned cold by the existence of young people who actually aspire to be good Scouts and good citizens.
And here’s the Scout Law:
A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
Do we not need more, much more of these aspirational appetites? The emphasis is on character and citizenship. The activities are wholesome and healthy. They represent a crucial beachhead against a tide of moral sewage and confusion.
One other thing to admire about the Scouts is the uniform. No it’s not a stunning or startling outfit in any way and that is just the point. It’s plain, it’s basic, it’s practical, and it’s the same for all Scouts everywhere. The uniform hides any differences in social status and, just as a school uniform does, it emphasizes the equality of all Scouts.
As we begin our celebration of Memorial Day weekend, we pause to march with our veterans, to decorate the graves of the fallen, and to remember their splendid service to the nation. While they can no longer speak to us, their deeds demonstrate a fidelity to the principles of Scouting---honor, duty, God, country, kindness, and courage. So here’s to the Scouts young and old, and here’s to America. Long may they stand.
Happy Memorial Day.
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