Happy Birthday to the Boy Scouts of America!
Adam Brodsky at the New York Post reminds us why we celebrate the Boy Scouts. It’s an organization that teaches boys qualities that are not only valuable in themselves but are essential for American citizens:
…self-reliance, leadership, a sense of duty toward others — that is, a personal obligation to act with integrity and treat others considerately.
Although the Boy Scouts began as a Brit organization, the words of the Scout Oath, as Brodsky notes, are “core threads woven through the American fabric.”
These ideas underlie America’s greatness in unspoken ways. The Scout Oath requires adherents “to do my best to do my duty to God and my country,” “to help other people at all times,” “to keep physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” A Scout, as we all know, is “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”
