In 1893, a frail Jewish boy landed at Ellis Island.
He recognized that the new land was without the brutal Russian pogroms that threatened the life of his family in the old country.
The new country was one of free expression and religious liberty.
That little boy became Irving Berlin, arguably the greatest composer of American song.
Just watch the film "White Christmas" if you disagree.
Fast forward to Monday last week, when the United Way of Greater Cleveland announced it would discontinue support for the Boy Scouts.
The United Way has trouble with the Scouts' stated policy prohibiting openly gay Scout leaders and members.
Let's clarify something. The Scouts don't ban gays from joining.
Most members are age 12 or younger.
The Scouts say that what individuals do privately is none of their business and leaders can freely live their chosen lifestyle at home.
It's the equivalent of the "Don't ask don't tell" policy adopted by the United States military until Barack the Brilliant discovered the importance of the homosexual vote.
The real intolerance here is maintained by United Way because they are unwilling to tolerate the idea that some organizations actually live by a moral code.
The Boy Scouts of America have the temerity to believe that the gay lifestyle should not be injected into scouting life.
Forget the fact that an objective statistical analysis shows that gay men are much more likely to be infected with diseases such as AIDS.
In America, organizations such as the Boy Scouts have a protected right to espouse moral positions like this even if we don't agree with them.
The United States Supreme court recently ruled in favor of the Scouts on this question.
Whether the gay tendency has been engendered in the individual from birth or somehow developed over time, the Boy Scouts are like the Catholic Church and millions of Americans who recently showed support for the traditional family by filling up on Chick-fil-A.
Irving Berlin believed deeply in the principal of freedom of expression and he believed in the moral concepts embodied by the Boy Scouts of America.
In 1940, Irving Berlin directed that the royalties from the song "God Bless America" go to the Boy Scouts.
Every time that song is played in public, the Boy Scouts' cash register rings.
They have had their challenges over the last several years, some of which include Scoutmasters committing sexual abuse.
They have taken corrective measures.
The Boy Scouts have changed with the times and membership is on the upswing as a result.
But one thing they have not changed.
They have refused to back down as it relates to their moral principals.
I like that.
I also used to like contributing to United Way.
Not anymore.
If you support the Boy Scouts and their right to take a moral stance, let United Way know.
That little boy who escaped the anti-Semitism of Russia knew something about freedom.
Sing it proudly, Scouts.
God Bless America.
The Boy Scouts (and yourself) believe that practicing a "moral code" of refusing any openly gay leaders will solve the problem of sexual abuse within the organization. This is basically implying that all openly gay men WILL rape young boys so the only solution is to refuse gay leaders. The Boy Scouts are isolating and shunning a specific group of individuals because of one bad seed. If the Catholic Church practiced this same "moral code" and singled out a group of individuals based on the many sexual abuse scandals in the past several years, there would be no male priests.
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