Look which companies dumping Boy Scouts

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Corporate donors quitting or directing cash to 'tolerant' BSA programs

Major corporations that have donated to the Boy Scouts of America in recent years are largely remaining quiet ahead of the highly anticipated vote Wednesday on the organization’s policy on homosexuals, but some have made it clear their money will go only to groups that don’t discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

In 2010, the latest year for which figures are available, the top donors to the Scouts, listed in descending order according to amount, were Intel, Emerson, Verizon, 3M, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Pfizer, Valero, UPS, U.S. Bank, Eli Lilly and Co., GE, Monsanto, Medtronic, PNC, Nationwide, Abbott, General Mills, Alcoa, Caterpillar, Illinois Tool Works, Allstate and Dow Chemical.

As WND reported last week, a major drop in corporate funding came last September after a gay-rights blogger for the Huffington Post published a collaborative report that named the donors and chastised them for violating their own policy of not discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

Since the September report, Intel, UPS and Merck are among the corporations that have declared they have stopping funding the BSA.

The homosexual-rights group Scouting for All lists some of the corporations that have refused t.... They include IBM, Levi Strauss and Company, J.P. Morgan, American Airlines, Medtronic, Portland General Gas and Electric, Hewlett Packard, Textron, Fleet Bank, CVS/Pharmacy Stores and Carrier Corp.

At the time of the September report, shipping giant UPS, which gave $167,000 to the Scouts in 2010, insisted the “gay” policy would not impact its donations. But after a petition drive that month by another homosexual-rights group, Scouts for Equality, UPS changed its mind.

Scouts for Equality now lists UPS, Merck and Intel as corporate spo.... Among the public figures who support the group’s aims, along with President Obama, are 2012 Republican presidential nomine... and Washington state Republican gubernatorial nominee Rob McKenna.

Scouting for All also has a list of companies that donate to nation... and/or having a matching gifts program for employees who donate to the Scouts. But the list is not up-to-date, as it includes UPS. Scouting for All urges supporters to boycott the listed companies.

UPS spokeswoman Kristen A. Petrella, the international public relations manager, told WND Monday that UPS had no comment in response to questions about how the vote by the Scouts executive board Wednesday might affect the corporation’s position toward the BSA.

SIGN WND’S PETITION TO KEEP THE BOY SCOUTS MORAL.

General Mills spokeswoman Kris Patton told WND her corporation’s foundation funds local Boy Scout organizations that sign an “affirmation of nondiscrimination” but does not contribute to the national organization.

“As a longstanding practice, organizations we support must sign an affirmation of nondiscrimination as a standard part of our grant-making process.”

The Verizon Foundation, which donated more than $300,000 to the Scouts in 2010, did not respond directly to questions submitted by WND.

More than 70,000 have signed an online petition asking Verizon to stop funding the Scouts.

Spokeswoman Ellen Yu offered only a statement to WND, saying the Verizon Foundation “does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national or ethnic origin or physical disability.”

“As a company with a highly diverse workforce serving an equally diverse set of customers, Verizon through its foundation supports a wide range of programs through direct and matching grants that benefit diverse communities, including minorities, veterans, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender and others,” the statement said. “The Verizon Foundation expects all of its grant recipients to comply with all applicable laws, including those governing tax-exempt status and non-discrimination laws.”

Jim Nawrocki, a vice president for communications for the Wells Fargo Foundation, told WND the banking giant was aware of the Wednesday vote but had no comment.

However, he said the foundation’s “position with respect to the Boy Scouts of America has been, and continues to be, that we support the Boy Scouts and the good work they do for our communities, but we do not fund general Boy Scout operations or programs.”

“This is consistent with our commitment to diversity and inclusion and our opposition to discrimination,” he said.

Under the Scouts national organization are nearly 300 regional councils that oversee some 116,000 local troops. The proposed new policy, announced last week, would allow local scouting organizations to set their own leadership and membership rules.

The Boy Scouts’ National Council and its local councils receive grants from foundations. The National Council says it uses its funds for development of program materials and resources; infrastructure support for local councils such as maintaining membership database and reporting functions; development of professional and volunteer training materials; and salaries and benefits for employees.

According to its website, BSA reported revenue of $201.5 million in 2011, including $61 million in contributions and bequests.

Nawrocki said that while Wells Fargo does not fund general Boy Scout operations and programs, it does fund the Scouts’ Learning for Life and Exploring programs, which have explicit non-discrimination policies.

Learning for Life is a pre-kindergarten-through-grade-12 program that provides character education, “bullying prevention” and related “life skills training.”

Exploring provides mentoring, internship and community service opportunities for 14- to 20-year-olds.

“We have carefully reviewed the eligibility requirements for these two programs to ensure that they do not exclude participants and volunteers,” the Wells Fargo spokesman said. “We have no plans to stop this funding. At the local level, we believe our local business leaders make the best possible decisions for their communities and can choose to support any scout programs that meet our commitment to diversity.”

About 70 percent of local scouting troops are sponsored by churches, which contribute funding along with facilities and other resources. The biggest supporter is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons.

LDS officials have declined to comment on the Wednesday vote. But when the Scouts policy was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2000, an LDS attorney wrote that the Mormon church would “withdraw from Scouting if it were compelled to accept openly homosexual Scout leaders.”

The second biggest church supporter of Scouting, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, also has declined to comment ahead of the vote.

But the Southern Baptist Convention has urged congregations to pray that board members will retain the Scouts policy.

Frank S. Page, head of the convention’s executive committee, said if the policy is changed, he expects an exodus from the Scouts.

“I think there are a lot of parents and students who will make the decision to look for other organizations that are more in line with the principles that they espouse,” he said, according to NBC News.

WND reported yesterday that many Scout leaders, from the national organization to the troop level, have said they will resign if the proposed policy is passed.

‘Our core beliefs’

The September report posted by the Huffington Post was published in collaboration with The American Independent. It called out Intel, UPS, United Way, Merck and others for contributing to an organization with a stated policy of banning homosexuals from membership.

The report came less than two months after the BSA affirmed its policy at the conclusion of a two-year examination of the issue by a committee of volunteers convened by national BSA leaders.

Along with UPS, Intel cut off its funding to the Scouts after the report. In December, Merck issued a statement saying it could not “continue to provide support to an organization with a policy that is contrary to one of our core beliefs.”

“We remain ready and willing to re-consider our funding position in the event that the BSA were to revise its policy,” the statement said.

The American Interest report said 23 of the top 50 corporate foundations, ranked by the Foundation Center in terms of total charitable giving, gave at least $10,000 each to the Boy Scouts in 2010.

Combined, they donated about $3.6 million.

Meanwhile, two prominent board members – including an adviser to the Obama White House – have stated their intent to change the policy, Randall Stephenson of AT&T, who is next in line to become BSA national chairman, and James Turley of Ernst & Young.

Last June, Turley vowed he “will work from within to seek a change” to the BSA policy.

“As I have done in leading Ernst & Young to being a most inclusive organization, I intend to continue to work from within the BSA board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress,” Turley said.

Stephenson has been praised for publicly opposing the Boy Scouts’ policy and explained he would remain on the board, which he’s in line to lead in 2014, because he could have more influence.

Turley was nominated to President Obama’s Export Council in 2010, and has been a promoter of Obama’s economic policy.

Turley and his wife, Lynne, were guests at a state dinner hosted by President Obama for British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House last March.

Battle stations

As with previous U.S. presidents going back to President William Howard Taft in 1910, Obama became the honorary president of the BSA shortly after taking office in 2009.

In a Super Bowl pre-game interview Sunday with CBS’s Scott Pelley, Obama affirmed the Boy Scouts should be open to “gays.”

“I think that my attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life,” he said.

Obama called the Scouts “a great institution” that is “promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives, and I think nobody should be barred from that.”

The FRC’s Peter Sprigg discussed the Boy Scouts on CNN: http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/look-which-companies-dumping-boy-scouts/...

The White House said last August that Obama opposed the organization’s ban.

In contrast, in a speech to a group of Scouts in Texas Saturday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican presidential candidate last year, urged the organization to not change its policy.

“Hopefully the board will follow their historic position of keeping the Scouts strongly supportive of the values that make scouting this very important and impactful organization,” Perry said, according to the Associated Press.

An Eagle Scout, Perry wrote a book in 2008 titled “On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For.”

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said in an email Monday to supporters that thousands of Americans have contacted the BSA’s national office and board members, urging them “not to cave-in to homosexual activists and corporations which have been threatening the organization’s funding.”

Perkins said BSA leaders “have no doubt realized that their proposed decision might alienate more than it appeases.”

FRC and 41 other allied organizations Monday released a half-page national advertisement in USA Today calling for the Scouts to “stand strong.”

“Every American who believes in freedom of thought and religious liberty should be alarmed by the attacks upon the Boy Scouts, who have had core convictions about morality for 100 years,” the ad said. “Every Scout takes an oath to keep himself ‘morally straight.’ The Boy Scouts have every right to include sexual conduct in how they define that term.”

“Join your voice with ours in sending a message that the organization should model the conviction it has espoused for over a century – that timeless values really are timeless, and don’t change because of threats from corporations and homosexual activists.”

Meanwhile, homosexual-rights activist George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu in the Star Trek TV series, is urging opponents of the Scouts policy to hit their “BATTLESTATIONS!” and “flood” the lines at BSA headquarters with thousands of calls.

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

HOT PETITION!  Defend DOMA & Constitutional Amendment defining Marriage between One Man, One Woman. Select, sign, WE WILL FAX your petition to 435 Congressmen & 100 Senators.  We delivered 105,000 fax petitions. Can you help reach 150,000? Boy Scout victory?  2,500 Chaplains sue Obama to protect marriage. Take action! YOU scored a temporary victory this week, after thousands of Christian phone calls forced a liberal board of directors to postpone their vote to homose xualize the Boy Scouts.   Watch my 1-minute TV commentary on the Boy Scouts issue, here--> Not only did the Scouts board postpone their vote until May, they will allow all 1400 members of their regional boards vote on the next policy!  (We're very confident Christians will prevail.)   In other news, leaders of 2500+ military chaplains joined a lawsuit to protect the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, opposing President Obama's effort to abrogate federal law.  The Chaplains Alliance for Religious Liberty filed a briefing with the U.S. Supreme Court. Why then, is President Obama extending military health care benefits and commissary shopping privileges to unmarried homose xual partners?  More on this tomorrow. Let's take action, and fax a petition to all 100 Senators, demanding they protect DOMA. Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) Boy Scouts may invite homose xual troop leaders?  Take action... There are rumblings from the Boy Scout community, that public pressure may force them to welcome openly homose xual "leaders" to lead their troops.  I have several concerns: 1.  Boy Scouts would violate their religious mission and pledge of duty to God. 2.  Boys would become targets of homose xual recruiting of boys on camping trips. 3.  Pedophiles have been kicked out, now they shall be welcomed. 4.  Religious groups will flee in mass exodus, starting with Southern Baptists. 5.  Children will be violated, and Scouting will be destroyed. Please call the Boy Scouts of America at 972-580-2000 and tell them to stand firm in their moral values, respect the right of parents to discuss these sexual topics with their children, and stop homose xuals from taking over the Boy Scouts! Then let's remind Congress they must defend traditional marriage.  Sign our petition... Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) Victory!  House votes to defend Traditional Marriage in Court We have another victory to report.  After YOU helped fax over 100,000 petitions to Congress in 2012, the new Congress just voted to FUND the legal defense of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act in court.  In a 228-196 vote, almost all Republicans voted to do what President Obama refuses to do, enforce the law defining marriage as one man plus one woman. The homose xual newspaper Washington Blade complained:   "Republicans will take the extraordinary measure of including an authorization of their efforts to defend DOMA in the Rules of the House of Representatives and by doing so, continue to spend taxpayer funds, already adding up to $1.7 million, in their attempts to defend this [ ... ] law in federal courts and the Supreme Court.” The move is exactly what we asked Congress for, and just in time as two traditional marriage cases will soon be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.  (Details below.)   Let's take a stand for traditional marriage = one man + one woman, this time by petitioning all 100 Senators to follow the example of the House... Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) Forget SCOTUS.  Congress "evolving" on homose xual "marriage."  Take action. While I am encouraged the conservative-leaning Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has taken up two homose xual 'marriage' cases for 2013 (California Prop 8 and federal 'marriage' DOMA benefits cases), I am alarmed that two news stories here and here suggest the U.S. Congress is "evolving" to the left and may soon vote on whether to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).    If President Obama can strong-arm Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on the fiscal-cliff talks, how soon before Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) forces a vote, or adds a poison-pill amendment to homose xualize marriage?  ABC News reports: "Back then, about 31 percent of the country supported same-sex marriage, and not one state allowed it. Today, 51 percent of Americans support it, and it's legal in nine states and the District of Columbia." Strangely both liberals and conservatives agree, if the SCOTUS uphold DOMA, then the only way to repeal DOMA will be through an Act of Congress, which Obama seeks. ABC reports before Obama endorsed gay 'marriage,'  "he had directed his Justice Department to stop defending DOMA in court, believing that the issue belonged to the states.  As such, House Republican leaders tapped lawyer Paul Clement to defend the law.   "Edward Whelan, president of the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, is careful to separate the legal debate regarding DOMA from the change in public opinion. "The constitutional status of DOMA shouldn't be affected at all by any change in public opinion on same-sex marriage," the DOMA supporter says. "Supporters of same-sex marriage are free to try to revise DOMA legislatively."  [This from a conservative.] [Dr. Chaps comment:  Revise DOMA legislatively?  Don't think they won't try.  We MUST continue to petition Congress, 1) to defend DOMA in court, and 2) to defeat repeal efforts.] Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) Chaplain quotes Jesus, gets 3 death threats from angry homose xuals Friends, I need your prayers and support this week.  Three times this week I received death threats from angry homosexuals saying "You're going to hang, Nazi!" and "You're going to burn in hell, you disgusting, fake Christian, Nazi.  You know nothing about Jesus.   You're a disgusting parasitic Nazi.  You're going to burn in hell."  I have posted a recording of one angry lady here. The violent woman did not leave her name or phone number, so I can't yet trace the calls, which occur daily at 2 or 3pm for three days in a row.  This isn't the first time either.  I usually ignore anonymous emails, but I get dozens of such threats every year. What did I do to deserve such "love" and "tolerance" from their community?  As a Chaplain, I quoted Jesus Christ and the Bible (Matthew 7 and Romans 1) in a TV interview that is now going viral in over 40 pro-homose xual blogs, listed here, including The Advocate.  My video interview with David Pakman is posted on YouTube and has gone viral with 5,000 hits in the first 24 hours.   Standing up for Jesus and traditional marriage can cause suffering.  Who will stand with me?  If you're able to please donate to our non-profit ministry this week, (from which I've never taken a penny of salary since I founded this in 1999), please donate here.   Then please sign our petition to Congress again, for traditional marriage: Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) Breaking:  Appeals Court: "Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional."  Take action! As if our founding fathers wrote sod omy protections into the Constitution, the liberal 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to force homose xual 'marriage' benefits upon the federal government, perhaps in all 50 states, striking down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Reuters reports:  "A U.S. appeals court in New York on Thursday ruled that a U.S. law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman unconstitutionally denies federal benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples. "The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is now the second federal appeals court to reject part of the Defense of Marriage Act. It upheld a lower court ruling that had found a central part of the law unconstitutional. "Appeals in several cases are currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, which could choose to take up the issue in its current term. "Two members of a three-judge panel ruled in favor of Edith Windsor, an 83-year-old [lesbian] who argued that the law discriminates against gay couples in violation of the U.S. Constitution. "They found that gays and lesbians are entitled to heightened protection from the courts, based on the history of discrimination the group has suffered. "Homosexuals are not in a position to adequately protect themselves from the discriminatory wishes of the majoritarian public," Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote for the majority. [Dr. Chaps' comment:  Now lesbians get homose xual "bonus pay" from YOUR taxes.  Who thinks President Obama or AG Eric Holder will help appeal this to the Supreme Court?  THEY WON'T.  That's why we MUST petition Congress to defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, and appeal NOW to the Supreme Court.] Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) Obama forces homose xual "marriage" at Supreme Court It wasn't enough that President Obama's campaign web-site replaced the 9/11 memorial with a "gay flag" and fundraising appeals to homosexuals, but more importantly... Now Obama's Department of Injustice and Attorney General Eric Holder have violated federal law by appealing two more homose xual "marriage" cases to the Supreme Court.  (That makes 4 total.) Reuters reports:  "The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to consider two additional legal challenges to a federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman, after submitting similar cases for review in July." "The two petitions filed by the department urge the high court to consider at least one gay marriage case in the near future to determine whether Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates legally married same-sex couples' rights by treating them differently than heterosexual couples." In other words, Obama wants YOUR tax-payer dollars redistributed as "sod omite bonus pay" for unmarried couples who violate the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.  And DOJ spends your tax dollars sending federal lawyers to defend this?   We must continue to petition Congress to defend traditional marriage.  Let's fax all 435. Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) Court enforces Homose xual Bonus Pay & "Marriage" upon 4 States and the USA The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled to enforce homose xual 'marriage' upon the federal government and four states, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampsire, Rhode Island, (and Puerto Rico).  Read ruling here. In a 3-0 ground breaking decision, WSJ reports (with a nice summary and select quotes from the bad ruling):  "Judge Michael Boudin, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush, authored the unanimous decision. He was joined by Judge Sandra Lynch,a Clinton appointee, and Chief Judge Juan Torruella, a Reagan appointee." The judges struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional under the 10th and 14th Amendments.  "Congress’ denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples lawfully married in Massachusetts has not been adequately supported by any permissible federal interest," they wrote (as if the founding fathers wanted homose xual federal benefits?) Sadly, neither the 10th Amendment nor the 14th Amendment authorize "homose xual bonus pay" with your federal tax dollars as this court imagines.  The 10th Amendment protects states rights, but would never enforce a non-existent Massachusetts case-law (written by left-wing judges and enforced by then Governor Mitt Romney) upon a federal agency such as the U.S. Post Office.  The 14th Amendment protects equality based upon race, but never promotes voluntary choice of immoral sexual preference. Judicial activism has run overboard.  It's time for Congress to pass a Constitutional Amendment that defines marriage as only valid between one man and one woman, as Jesus defined marriage in Matthew 19.  Please help me petition Congress today... Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) DEMOCRATS IN U.S. SENATE INTRODUCE BILL TO REPEAL 1996 DOMA LAW While the national media covers only the debt crisis, Democrats in the Senate are attacking traditional marriage between one man and one woman, by attempting to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  Not satisfied with homosexualizing the military, or forcing gay "marriage" in states like New York, radical homosexuals testified on Capitol Hill today demanding homosexual "bonus pay" with more than 1,100 federal benefits that reward their acts of sod omy in all 50 states, taxing heterosexuals more to pay homosexuals to engage in immorality.   On Tuesday Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced, and President Obama quickly  endorsed a new bill S.598 to promote homosexual marriage, mislabeled the "Respect for Marriage Act" (RFMA) to end federal law that defines traditional marriage between one man and one woman.  White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday "President Obama is proud to support the Respect for Marriage Act," which disrespects traditional marriage by enforcing homosexual marriage upon all 50 states. His views are no longer "evolving" rather Obama is now fully out of the closet promoting gay marriage nationwide. At last week's hearings 5 pro-homosexual witnesses and just 3 conservatives argued for and against repealing DOMA, and passing RFMA, including 2 high-profile gay activists, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, and Evan Wolfson, founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry. Joining them will be Susan Murray, an activist attorney from Vermont, and complainers Ron Wallen of California and Andrew Sorbo of Connecticut, both of whom were denied homosexual bonus pay, and bonus Social Security checks (funded by heterosexual tax-payers) when their homosexual "marriage" partners died.   Testifying in favor of keeping DOMA intact were pro-marriage heroes Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, and Tom Minnery, senior vice president of government and public policy for Focus on the Family. 44 States have passed laws like DOMA defining marriage between one man and one woman, but if RFMA is passed and the federal DOMA law repealed, all 44 state laws could be in danger of being overturned in court.  Just imagine Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, etc. being forced to issue homosexual "marriage" licenses, or forced to recognize and pay your tax benefits to homosexuals "married" in New York.    Let's take a stand, by petitioning all 100 Senators to defend DOMA, and reject RFMA.   Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!) Friends, our nation will soon endorse homosexual "marriage" in all 50 states, if your Senator doesn't take a stand to defend DOMA, since Obama won't.  Let's take a stand today, and demand Senators defend the 1996 DOMA law in court.

God Bless you, in Jesus' name, Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, PhD For media interviews, select here.

P.S. Time is urgent!  Court cases in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and elsewhere are already failing because Obama and AG Holder refuse to defend the law.  Please sign our petition today!   Prefer to donate by mail?  Please mail paper check or money orders to:   The Pray In Jesus Name Project, PO Box 77077, Colorado Springs, CO  80970. Please select here to SIGN URGENT PETITION to PASS THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT defining marriage between ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.  Vote against S.598 that would repeal DOMA, and protect DOMA in court, and we will auto-fax your petition to all 100 Senators and 435 Congressmen (saving you much time!)

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

'Gay' campaign for Boy Scouts stalls

Board postpones decision on changing century-old policy

A campaign by “gay” activists to open the Boy Scouts of America to homosexuals has stalled, with a decision today by the BSA executive committee meeting in Irving, Texas, to not vote on the proposed policy change until May.

The vote to open the ranks to homosexuality was expected today after the organization said last week it was considering a new policy that would allow local Scouting organizations to establish their own rules for membership. But in the meantime, a tidal wave of opposition surged.

The BSA said in a statement today: “After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy.”

The board in a closed-door meeting, reportedly has decided to form a task force on the issue.

Among critics of the policy change was Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and wrote a book about the Scouts. Another, Jonathan Saenz, president of the Austin-based Texas Values, pointed out that 70 percent of Boy Scout groups are affiliated with churches.

“A lot of those faith groups do not agree with the homosexual lifestyle and will pull out,” he warned.

Only last year, the organization formally reaffirmed its traditional position of banning homosexuals from the ranks. The announcement followed a two-year review of the policy.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right of the organization to exclude homosexuals, because homosexual behavior violates the core values of the private organization.

SIGN WND’S PETITION TO KEEP THE BOY SCOUTS MORAL.

Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, emphasized a “core conviction is a core conviction.”

“A core conviction of the Boy Scouts for over 100 years has been defining being ‘morally straight’ as heterosexual,” he said. “Once you abandon that, you’ve lost your legal protection. Once you say it’s a local option, it’s obviously not a core conviction anymore and you open yourself to litigation.”

A change in policy was guaranteed to lose the organization membersh... A fourth-generation Boy Scout leader, recipient of an award for distinguished leadership and a member of the Southern Region committee as well as an ad hoc member of the national committee, said he’s one of many Scout leaders who will not continue with the organization.

Steve Elwart of Vicksburg, Miss., a 30-year veteran of Scouting, explained to WND that with a model program already in place to protect Scouts from sexual abuse.”

Elwart, a frequent contributor to WND, explained he would resign rather than work under the new policy, because by remaining, he would be “giving tacit agreement to the policy.”

The Boy Scouts of America, a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, was founded in 1910.

“I’m afraid that if the BSA goes down this road, they may preserve some big money, but they will lose not only small contributors but the efforts of thousands of volunteers that do not want to be part of this,” Elwart said.

“They’ll end up with a lot of money but no program.”

As WND reported, the BSA’s new policy proposal coincides with a sudden drop in major corporate funding that began last summer after a “gay”-rights blogger for the Huffington Post published a collaborative report that named the donors and chastised them for violating their own policy of not discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

The Scouts count more than 2.7 million members and more than 1 million volunteers. The Scout troops, which are hosted by churches and other organizations, are organized into districts, based on geographic boundaries, which in turn are grouped into councils. The councils form 26 areas nationwide, which are further grouped into four regions. The BSA national council sets policy, offers national awards and organizes national jamborees.

Elwart said, based on his extensive communication in the past week with Scout leaders nationwide, the BSA national council’s proposal has created a firestorm

“Overwhelmingly, they do not like the change,” Elwart said of his colleagues. “A majority of them are considering retiring.”

Last week, Boy Scouts spokesman Deron Smith, speaking for the national council, said that under the proposed change, BSA members and parents “would be able to choose a local unit which best meets the needs of their families.”

But last July, an 11-member committee of professional scout executives and adult volunteers unanimously concluded after a two-year study that the policy of barring homosexuals should be maintained. The executive committee of the BSA national executive board then an... that while not all board members “may personally agree with this policy, and may choose a different direction for their own organizations, BSA leadership agrees this is the best policy for the organization and supports it for the BSA.”

Elwart thinks the proposed policy’s stipulation that each local unit can decide for themselves whether or not they want to receive homosexuals is not feasible.

“They’re trying to parse their words now,” he said.

The policy runs into trouble, Elwart argued, when local units come together for events such as summer camps and jamborees.

“For parents, even if their unit does not want homosexual Scouts in leadership or in the unit, they would have to isolate themselves from the rest of the Scouting program,” he said.

One practical issue, he said, would be the fact that Scout rules allow married leaders to share a tent on outings.

“Would we now let homosexual members share a tent?” he asked.

WND previously reported that major corporations that have donated to the Boy Scouts of America in recent years largely were quiet ahead of the decision.

In 2010, the latest year for which figures are available, the top donors to the Scouts, listed in descending order according to amount, were Intel, Emerson, Verizon, 3M, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Pfizer, Valero, UPS, U.S. Bank, Eli Lilly and Co., GE, Monsanto, Medtronic, PNC, Nationwide, Abbott, General Mills, Alcoa, Caterpillar, Illinois Tool Works, Allstate and Dow Chemical.

But since September, Intel, UPS and Merck are among the corporations that have declared they have stopping funding the BSA.

The homosexual-rights group Scouting for All lists some of the corporations that have refused t.... They include IBM, Levi Strauss and Company, J.P. Morgan, American Airlines, Medtronic, Portland General Gas and Electric, Hewlett Packard, Textron, Fleet Bank, CVS/Pharmacy Stores and Carrier Corp.

At the time of the September report, shipping giant UPS, which gave $167,000 to the Scouts in 2010, insisted the “gay” policy would not impact its donations. But after a petition drive that month by another homosexual-rights group, Scouts for Equality, UPS changed its mind.

Scouts for Equality then listed UPS, Merck and Intel as corporate s.... Among the public figures who support the group’s aims, along with President Obama, are 2012 Republican presidential nomine... and Washington state Republican gubernatorial nominee Rob McKenna.

Scouting for All also has a list of companies that donate to nation... and/or having a matching gifts program for employees who donate to the Scouts. But the list is not up-to-date, as it includes UPS. Scouting for All urges supporters to boycott the listed companies.

Ahead of the vote, UPS spokeswoman Kristen A. Petrella, the international public relations manager, told WND UPS had no comment.

And General Mills spokeswoman Kris Patton told WND her corporation’s foundation funds local Boy Scout organizations that sign an “affirmation of nondiscrimination” but does not contribute to the national organization.

“As a longstanding practice, organizations we support must sign an affirmation of nondiscrimination as a standard part of our grant-making process.”

Jim Nawrocki, a vice president for communications for the Wells Fargo Foundation, told WND the banking giant was aware of the Wednesday vote but had no comment.

Meanwhile, two prominent board members – including an adviser to the Obama White House – have stated their intent to change the policy, Randall Stephenson of AT&T, who is next in line to become BSA national chairman, and James Turley of Ernst & Young.

Last June, Turley vowed he “will work from within to seek a change” to the BSA policy.

“As I have done in leading Ernst & Young to being a most inclusive organization, I intend to continue to work from within the BSA board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress,” Turley said.

Stephenson has been praised for publicly opposing the Boy Scouts’ policy and explained he would remain on the board, which he’s in line to lead in 2014, because he could have more influence.

Turley was nominated to President Obama’s Export Council in 2010, and has been a promoter of Obama’s economic policy.

Turley and his wife, Lynne, were guests at a state dinner hosted by Obama for British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House last March.

In a Super Bowl pre-game interview Sunday with CBS’s Scott Pelley, Obama affirmed the Boy Scouts should be open to “gays.”

“I think that my attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life,” he said.

Obama called the Scouts “a great institution” that is “promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives, and I think nobody should be barred from that.”

SIGN WND’S PETITION TO KEEP THE BOY SCOUTS MORAL.

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Decision Delayed! Urge AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson to resign his post with Boy Scouts

Use social media tools to make your voice heard!

February 6, 2013

The Boy Scouts of America have just announced it will not make any decision on its membership policy until its annual meeting in May. One of those leading the charge to change the policy to allow homosexuals as leaders is AT&T CEO Randall STephenson.

It seems Stephenson's mission is to destroy the Boy Scouts of America from within. As an executive board member, he is using his corporate influence to bully the BSA into gay assimilation. Now...

It is time for Stephenson to resign from the BSA board.

AT&T has already cut funding to the BSA, a direct personal conflict of interest for Stephenson.

It's reasonable to expect members of the BSA board to lead in a way that exemplifies the very basic values that made the BSA successful. Stephenson has shown he doesn’t. It is time for Stephenson to resign from the BSA board.

The BSA doesn't need his leadership. The BSA doesn't need his company's money...especially with the strings he has attached to it.

At present, Stephenson is set to become the chairman of the BSA board in 2014. Unless he is out, you can expect he will push even harder to force the gay agenda.

It is time for Stephenson to resign from the BSA board.

TAKE ACTION

1. Facebook users: Copy and post this message on the AT&T Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ATT.

ATT CEO Randall Stephenson should resign from the executive board of the Boy Scouts of America. He doesn't espouse their values, he should move on. http://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/SignPetition.asp?id=2000

2. Twitter users: Copy and paste this message to your Twitter account:

@boyscouts @att ATT CEO Stephenson should resign from the BSA Board. He doesn't espouse BSA values. https://bitly.com/Ws7GKK+ #boyscouts #att

3. Not a social media user? Sign our petition to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. We'll deliver the message for you!

Sign our petition to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.

It is very important that you forward this alert to your friends and family members.

Sincerely, Tim Wildmon, President American Family Association

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Lloyd Marcus

---

Deltona, FL

Okay, am I the only Conservative/Christian making a big deal about President Obama invoking gay rights into his inaugural address? http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-invokes-gay-rights-in-...

 

Obama portrayed homosexual's struggle to normalize their behavior which the Bible has declared an abomination to God as equal to the struggles of blacks and women for equality in America.

 

Page one of the liberals' “Silence the Opposition” manual instructs that they gang assault me, calling me a hater of gays. Liberals take every issue to the ultimate extreme to make their opposition appear to be nut cases. For example: If you oppose Obama imperialistically ignoring the Constitution to ban guns, liberals say you are a redneck racist who approves of and are even responsible for mass murder.

 

So, because I reject their super-aggressive bullying push to normalize homosexuality, liberals say I hate gays and seek them harm. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have homosexual longtime friends and family whom I love dearly. God LOVES gays. But, do not demand that I reject my faith by forcing me to declare homosexual behavior “normal”.

 

And make no mistake about it folks, liberals are incrementally moving America towards government mandated normalization of homosexuality. Preachers could find themselves in jail for preaching the Biblical take on homosexuality. In the UK, a preacher was arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/gay-arrests-preacher-homosexu...

 

Given Obama's plan to override the Second Amendment via executive order and his assault on religious freedom by forcing Christians to betray their faith via mandating that they fund abortion services in Obamacare, it would be naïve to assume that this tyrannical president would not criminalize opposition to homosexuality via some new “hate speech” law.

 

In this era of idiot low-info voters, all it will take for King Obama to win mass no-holds-barred approval to sentence preachers to jail-time who speak against homosexuality is for one nut case to say, “God told me to kill homosexuals”.

 

Meanwhile, Christians, black and white, support Obama no-matter-what because whites feel it would be racist and blacks feel it traitorous to oppose, in any way, America's first black president. Dear Lord, help us!

 

Liberals implement absurd, flawed, all or nothing, logic to demonize any opposition to homosexuality. If you disapprove of a friend's kleptomania, does it mean you hate your friend? Of course not. But if you disapprove of a friend's sexual behavior, liberals say you hate your friend and approve of them being abused and even murdered. This is how liberals win issues – vilify/demonize the opposition.

 

Even the liberals' term, “homophobic” implies that those who disagree with homosexuality are mentally ill.

 

For years, liberal teachers have taught elementary students that being homosexual is no different than being left-handed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrZJpt-tGxI Remarkably, we have even allowed public schools to encourage our kids to be “open minded” and try homosexuality before deciding their preferred sexual orientation. These are the same teachers who have a cow when a kid brings a Bible or wears a t-shirt displaying a cross or the US flag to school.

 

Where is the Christian outcry/opposition?

 

Before the election, I wrote articles and did media interviews informing fellow black Christians in particular about Obama's vow to advocate for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiRllRPiij8 I was called an Uncle Tom sellout and a Republican “paid” operative.

 

Well, Obama confirmed my accusations to the world in his inaugural address. So, now what? Does it simply not matter to Christians? To the best of my knowledge, there has been little to no push-back from followers of Christ regarding Obama's unprecedented stated support of the gay agenda. As a matter of fact, I have been hearing a disturbing deceptive new mantra from people of faith, “God is love and He does not care who we love. It's all good.”

 

America's deception and embrace of sin will not end with government mandated normalization of homosexuality. A recent article in a UK newspaper, “The Guardian” suggested that pedophilia is not harmful to kids. http://www.nationalreview.com/human-exceptionalism/337010/normalizi...# Rest assured, this evil deception is coming to America. Liberals will embrace it. Will Christians say, Oh well...God is love?

 

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.” (Matthews 5:13)

 

Brothers and sisters, be salt.

 

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American

Chairman, Conservative Campaign Committee

LloydMarcus.com

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Boy Scout leader charged with sodomizing Scout

Organization faces vote on policy for homosexuals

A former Boy Scout leader has been charged with sodomizing a boy in his troop who was under the age of 13.

News of the indictment Monday by a grand jury in Charlottesville, Va., comes as the Boy Scouts of America faces a vote tomorrow by its executive board that could reverse the iconic organization’s century-old policy of barring homosexuals from its ranks.

David Watkins, 49, was arrested Nov. 28 in Charlottesville, Va., where he works as CEO of Watkins Computer Services. Watkins founded Keswick Troop 1028 in 2002 and was its scoutmaster until 2008.

The abuse took place in 2005, according to court documents, but the victim, now an adult, waited several years before coming forward, reported WHSV-TV in Harrisonburg, Va.

http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=10557&si...

The BSA’s national executive board is expected to vote tomorrow on a proposal that would allow local Scouting organizations to form their own membership rules regarding homosexuals. WND reported yesterday that many Scout leaders, from the national organization to the troop level, have said they will resign if the proposal passes.

As WND reported last week, a major drop in corporate funding came last September after a gay-rights blogger for the Huffington Post published a collaborative report that named the donors and chastised them for violating their own policy of not discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

SIGN WND’S PETITION TO KEEP THE BOY SCOUTS MORAL.

At a Nov. 28 press conference announcing the arrest of Watkins, Albemarle County police said they believed there could be other victims.

“We have received multiple phone calls on the tip line, and now we’re looking into those calls and the information provided,” said Carter Johnson, the public information officer for Albemarle County police department.

The alleged victim, under age 13 at the time of the assault but now an adult, came forward the day before Thanksgiving, police said, according to C-ville.com, a Charlottesville news website.

The BSA’s Stonewall Jackson Area Council released a prepared statement after the arrest.

“The abuse of anyone, especially a child, is intolerable and our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who may be a victim of this type of behavior,” the statement said. ‘The behavior included in these allegations runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands.”

C-ville.com reported the council permanently suspended Watkins from Scouting in June because of allegations of inappropriate behavior outside of the Scouting program.

Charlottesville Police Department didn’t find enough evidence to arrest Watkins, but BSA added Watkins to its Ineligible Volunteer files and banned him from the organization.

In 2010, a former Boy Scout in Portland, Ore., was awarded $18.5 million by a jury 30 years after he claimed he was abused by an assistant scoutmaster.

Timur Dykes confessed to a bishop from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that he had molested Lewis and 16 other scouts, including Lewis. Dykes later was convicted and spent time in prison.

Attorneys for Lewis’ attorneys charged the Boy Scouts organization with recklessness for allowing Dykes to continue working with young scouts.

Kelly Clark, the attorney who represented Lewis and 22 other accusers, released October on the Internet secret records kept by the scouts dubbed the “perversion files.” More than 14,000 pages of allegations over 20 years ranged from indecent exposure to “suspected immoral relations with juveniles.”

More than 1,200 leaders and volunteers were named in the files, and most were expelled after their placement in an Ineligible Volunteer list.

Others slipped back in, however, Clark said at an October press conference announcing the release of the files on his website.

“The problem wasn’t that [the Scouts] weren’t trying to keep the bad guys out. They were,” Clark said. “But you can’t just keep a list. At some point you have an obligation to read what’s going on, and say, ‘What we’re doing isn’t working.’”

Steve Elwart, a 30-year veteran of Scouting, who once served as an area overseer of the youth protection program in the Scouts’ Southern Region, told WND the organization, in response to abuse, has developed a model system to protect Scouts.

Leaders, for example, are no longer allowed to meet alone with a Scout.

For that reason, unlike many, his primary concern is not that pedophiles will infiltrate the organization if the policy is changed.

Calling that issue a “red herring,” his concern is more fundamental.

“Homosexuality is not a value I want to see imparted on my children,” he said. “And a lot of parents feel the same way, that homosexuality is not OK.”

http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/boy-scout-leader-charged-with-sodomizing...

[Gordon Ray Kissinger]