[January 13, 2025] One of the most tragic failures of the 20th century is the decline and death of the Boy Scouts of America. Anyone interested can discover a laundry list of reasons for their demise, from their movement away from Christianity to opening up to gays and girls in their organization. I lay the blame solely with the BSA’s upper leadership.
Driven by a corporate culture of profit over teaching boys how to be a good man and a desire to run BSA as a corporate-like enterprise, they missed the point of boy scouting. In doing so, senior scout leaders destroyed one of the most valuable and endearing cultural institutions in America. Their leaders failed America’s boys spectacularly and, at the same time, harmed generations of young boys whose future will not be as bright or valuable as it could be.
As a young lad, I spent a year in the BSA. I remember the skills they taught me, and I used those scouting values throughout my 40 years in the U.S. Army. It made the difference. My son was fortunate enough to make Eagle Scout and Order of the Arrow by 1999. By that time, we could start to see cracks in the organization: profit before all. But at least the organization would fight to keep its Christian values.
After my retirement in 2014, I volunteered in a small but highly energetic Boy Scout Troop. I was happy to see caring, experienced, no-nonsense adult leaders run an exceptional troop again. Most of these boys were from poor rural areas, so money was tight. That was good enough to show them skills at saving money. Progress was slow, but that was acceptable because learning while having fun was our goal.
Yet, on May 27, 2024, the Boy Scouts announced they were changing their names to “Scouting America” to be more inclusive. They had already allowed all-girl troops years before, and several girls earned the scouting’s highest rank, Eagle, in a little over a year. According to scouting standards, this violated their advancement criteria, but no one protested.
Why did the Boy Scouts abandon their old name and stop upholding basic principles of leadership and the fulfillment of Christian values? Starting in 1920, scouting was created to teach the poorest and most needy boys the virtues of patriotism, honesty, courage, and self-reliance. The founders created an organization for boys craving heroism with a code of chivalry, all wrapped with an allure of the great outdoors.
They were taught that masculinity was self-sacrificing and a noble charge to emulate. The spirit of duty and selflessness was at the core of what it meant to be a Boy Scout. For 115 years, the value of an all-boys organization was self-evident to all mature folks. Social pressure began to mount for the Boy Scouts to become more relevant and inclusive. Basic woodcraft skills were replaced by urban survival skills. Scoutmasters became camp counselors.
By the 1990s, a seismic shift began as the Boy Scouts were seen as too patriotic, too wholesome, and way too masculine. Rights groups attacked them to drop their emphasis on boys to include girls, transgender kids, gays, and atheists. The Boy Scouts now were renouncing their original purpose of developing selfless and self-reliant young men.
Now that all this has taken place, now that masculinity is rejected, are boys better off? What about girls? How about society in general? The answer is NO. It turns out that the role of an organization that teaches Boyd their proper role in society was better for everyone, and erasing it was better for no one.
Note: I want to thank Virginia House of Delegates Nick Freitas for his insightful discussions on boy scouting.
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The BSA or Scouts has sold all their tangible assets. They are broke changing their name will do nothing now that they have accepted woke and DEI POLICIES.
The Scouts are 1 lawsuit away from complete collapse. The executive order from the Trump admin will flow to any nonprofit receiving funds from the Feds. The catholic and Lutheran churches will not save the organization from disbanding.
I agree with the article entirely, it’s very obvious that abandoning God, Christian values and accepting the chaos of this world will only lead to ruin.
Due to the woke ideology and DEI offices of so many of our educational institutions, the believers have made any male organization a target. What they have unwittingly done is destroy what is actually good, good for boys and our society. The teaching of manly skills, like being strong, loyal, helpful, courteous, friendly, kind, etc. is the right thing to do, but NO, the feminists and their media lapdogs want to destroy what is good and right and make a mockery of the Boy Scouts. They have infiltrated and undermined the most fundamental of all traits that a boy can have and substituted the feminine in its place. We do already regret this. Solution? Kick out the girls and all women in the organization regardless of their position, disallow gays, and reinstitute religion. That solves the problem. Focus on making boys good men, again.
Excellent point but you know this will not happen. At least for now we need to tread water and wait for the opportune time.
Like others have noted, it is unfortunate for America to be part of the fall of this great institution. But, unlike Gen. Satterfield, I lay the blame on the pro-Marxist woke ideology that pervades our schools and politicians.
This is the case where politics killed a great organization. No lawyer should have volunteered to take on these cases and although Gen. Satterfield blames Boy Scout leaders, the rest of the blame is shared among our dispised lawyer class of ambulance chasers.
This is a great loss and I agree that American Liberals (now better called Progressives) because they love to destroy.
I agree, Desert Cactus.
I couldn’t agree more. I made the rank of Eagle in 1989 and also earned my Ad Altare Dei medal the first one in my troop. Scouting isn’t like it used to be and the liberals have destroyed a great organization. This is why we have a nation that is getting weaker by the day. When I look at scouting history around the world I think of the young boys in Poland during the Russo Polish war of 1919 to 1921 Many of their scouts served in medical, signal and front line positions. Could are young men handle that today. I doubt it. Many combat veterans I have known mentioned the stuff they learned in scouting helped them and in many cases helped them survive.
Stephen, indeed, we are all losers because the Boy Scouts is no longer a place we can trust to inspire and instill manly values in young boys.
Yes sir! Thanks for your personal insights.
Yes, truly sad and so unnecessary unless you want to destroy manhood.
Allowing girls into the Boy Scouts was the last straw that broke the organization. The final pursuit for dollars did them in. The “Scouts America” will limp on into the end of this decade because of the more than 100 years of success but it is doomed to the DEI Woke grave, it is only a matter of time. Now many religious folks, doing the right thing for their children, are creating alternatives that are based, believe it or not, on the old Boy Scout model. How brilliant! They copy the old Boy Scouts to be successful and to teach the boys how to become good men while the old Boy Scouts reject those values and begin to fall apart. Scouting is about learning how to deal with the world. The Boy Scouts was for boys being led by men. Now it’s girls being led by less-than-adequate women. Sad ending for such a great organization that no longer cares about boys.
Yep, exactly and well said. It’s the girls themselves and their liberal moms who have made sure that the Boy Scouts, as an organization, are dead.
The Boy Scout organization was built upon the principles of freedom and Christianity. We gave both of them up without so much as a whisper. There is an obvious lesson and that is never give in to evil, never compromise with evil, but first you must recognize evil where’ve it is and point it out to everyone. That is the way of a virtuous man, the man who is willing to stand ready to do great harm to those who would impose evil upon us. Do not fear.
The fall of the Boy Scouts is a sign of the fall of the American civilizations. And who was behind the fall? Bad leaders. And there were many of them plus a relentless series of attacks by feminists and atheists.
Good point, Mr. Savage. I agree. 👍 America has too many pussy, beta “men” who don’t have the balls to fight for what is right.
“ A Badge of Disgrace: The Fall of the Boy Scouts”
https://www.frc.org/updatearticle/20200218/badge-disgrace#gsc.tab=0
For those who knew the Scouts through their proud and honorable days, the demise has been slow and painful. But this is what comes of throwing up your hands on a century of conviction: irrelevance and, ultimately, insolvency. For 103 of its 110 years, the Boy Scouts were a pillar of principle — not that it was easy. As most of us know, the fight to live out your beliefs in this world can be an exhausting one. The Scouts spent years in court just for the freedom to stick to their moral code. They won — but to the organization’s dismay — the battle didn’t end. Waves of LGBT activists kept coming. The pressure built and built until finally, in 2013, under the leadership of Rex Tillerson, headquarters gave into the lie that compromise would be their salvation. Seven years later, the irony is: there’s nothing left to save.
Great article, Gen. Satterfield. Telling it like it is. 👍
The Boy Scouts have been lowering their advancement standards unofficially for a decade plus to allow less capable boys to get higher in their ranks. This was due to incorporating a more “accepting” atmosphere. The problem ,as I see it, was that they also sacrificed their religious underpinnings. So sad. I’d never allow my son to be part of the Scouting America.
Indeed, Liz. I saw the same thing when I took my boy to see a local troop. We’re out.
This is common, unfortunately. Being a Boy Scout has been in a tradition in my family for generations. No longer.
The Boy Scouts of America was better for everyone in America because it produced boys with the proper values and skills to be good citizens. Now it’s all about girl power and LGBTQI+ love and accepting all How’d that work out for ya?
You ate so right, Gen. Satterfield. The Boy Scouts are now Scouting America to be more inclusive. DEI ideology is what this is. Now they are done! Numbers of boys joining has crashed and I wonder why? When you stop teaching boys about how to be good men, and start telling them that masculinity is bad, boys leave and don’t come back. Good riddance to this new Woke organization. Scouting America is being replaced. Good.
Navy Vet, yep, saying it like it is. I was in the Boy Scouts with adult leaders who had families of their own and had proven to their communities that they were worthy of being in that role, overseeing young boys. Not just anybody could be a scout leader. You had to prove you were a good Christian and now that actually works against you getting to be an adult volunteer. And now where are we.?
You’re on it. I’ve followed this for years. The scouting program is over after 115 years. Liberals killed it.
So sad. And yes it was the woke ideology that destroys everything it touches. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Thank you, Navy Vet. Spot on.