Excerpts: Perry on gays, Boy Scouts and ACLU

[fgoodwin]

Excerpts: Perry on gays, Boy Scouts and ACLU

 

 

http://tinyurl.com/yweg7l

 

By W. Gardner Selby

Monday, February 11, 2008, 09:07 AM

 

Gov. Rick Perry gave an interview on his new book on Friday. Our account, viewable here, led a reader to wonder what-in-hey is a No. 2 washtub. "Bizarre," the reader said. (If they're looking for a wash tub pic, try this link. But, I confess, it's not identified as a No. 2 tub.)

 

Meanwhile, some excerpts from Perry's book, which questions the American Civil Liberties Union's efforts to open the Boy Scouts of America to gays and people who don't declare a belief in God:

 

"Only they know, but isn't it odd that the ACLU, which champions First Amendment rights, wants them applied selectively? It seems some of the most intolerant acts occur in the name of tolerance; a paradox that seems to describe much of the ACLU's political agenda."

 

"The point is that Scouting is not the place for sex education. When a gay or lesbian leader makes an issue of his or her sexual preference, it makes it impossible to remove sexual conduct from the Scouting realm."

 

"Scouting will survive as long as it sticks to the virtues and values of the great middle class."

 

[excerpted]

[GernBlansten]

"The point is that Scouting is not the place for sex education. When a gay or lesbian leader makes an issue of his or her sexual preference, it makes it impossible to remove sexual conduct from the Scouting realm."

 

Couldn't that have also been written:

 

"The point is that Scouting is not the place for sex education. When a leader makes an issue of another's sexual preference, it makes it impossible to remove sexual conduct from the Scouting realm."

 

So who is really making the issue sexual preference an issue?

[SM in NJ]

The statement: "The point is that Scouting is not the place for sex education. When a leader makes an issue of another's sexual preference, it makes it impossible to remove sexual conduct from the Scouting realm." is a quote from statements from Gov. Perry. If you read the article, I believe his point really has more to do with what he sees as the ACLU's agenda to impose the beliefs of the minority on everyone else and less to do with anyone individually making an issue of sexual orientation.

 

SMNJ

[CalicoPenn]

What was the name of the ghostwriter again??

[TheScout]

Why do you say that?

[fgoodwin]

Calico asks who ghost-wrote the book for Gov. Perry; according to the blurb below, Perry wrote the book "with" Eric Bearse, Perry's former communications director.

 

Any particular reason you ask?

 

====

 

In first book, Perry criticizes ACLU and defends Boy Scouts

 

 

http://tinyurl.com/2exj2m

 

Proceeds to go to Boy Scouts of America; Perry to start book tour in New York

 

By W. Gardner Selby

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Saturday, February 09, 2008

 

A book by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, published this month, meshes memories of his boyhood in rural West Texas with a fierce portrayal of what he calls indefensible efforts by the American Civil Liberties Union and liberal elites to turn the nation away from traditional values and faith in God.

 

In his book, "On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts are Worth Fighting For," Perry writes that he has a personal tolerance for gay people, and concedes that it may be that a person's sexual inclinations are set by their genes.

 

Perry wrote the book last year with Eric Bearse, who was his communications director through August. It was published by Georgia-based Stroud & Hall Publishers, which specializes in works written from a conservative vantage point.

 

The book's net proceeds are slated to go to the Boy Scouts of America and its legal defense fund; Perry's office said he was not paid an advance and has no personal financial stake in the project.

 

Paul Cates, public education director of the ACLU's New York-based Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, has not read Perry's book. Generally, Cates said, the ACLU doesn't wish to see the Boy Scouts fold. However, the group believes the group's insistence on Scouts declaring a belief in God and its refusal to allow non-believers and gays to participate in or lead Scout troops violates anti-discrimination laws and the Constitution, he said.

 

[excerpted]