Was this the day the Boy Scouts of America died?
Old adage: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. More pointedly: When you depend on volunteers, don’t piss off the volunteers. Case in point, the former interim CEO of Reddit one Ellen Pao, from Wired [1]:
Reddit interim CEO Ellen Pao resigned today after facing an all-out revolt on the site in the wake of the firing of a popular employee. Steve Huffman, Reddit’s original CEO and co-founder of the site a decade ago, is taking over the job as permanent CEO ( according to Huffman), effective immediately.
Reddit’s business model depended on hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers supporting the company. Pao seemed intent of alienating the volunteer base of her then company. Now Pao is out and Reddit is shaky.
Pao went toe to toe with reality and reality won. Now Bob Gates, is attempting the same trick, from CBS News [2]:
NEW YORK — The Boy Scouts of America on Monday ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders [3], while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.
The new policy, aimed at easing a controversy that has embroiled the Boy Scouts for years [4], takes effect immediately. It was approved by the BSA’s National Executive Board on a 45-12 vote during a closed-to-the-media teleconference.
“For far too long, this issue has divided and distracted us,” said the BSA’s president, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “Now it’s time to unite behind our shared belief in the extraordinary power of Scouting to be a force for good.”
Religious groups supported Scouting because it helped build the moral character which reflected the church’s core belief. Gates is willing alter the Boy Scout’s core beliefs, but yet hope that this army of volunteer supporters will somehow abandon their deeply held moral convictions. Good luck with that Bobby. One can not promote what is good by turning a blind eye to what is evil.
Anthony Kennedy may believe that individual Americans will cede to an anointed authority figure the power to deem what that individual believes to be moral. Alas, Gates will no more succeed than Kennedy will.
Another example, Kate [5]offers a reminder that even leftists are smart enough to know a line not to crossed, from Blazing Cat Fur [6]:
Swedish “Far-Right” Plans Gay Pride Parade Through Muslim Areas; Leftists and Gay Rights Groups Decry the Parade as Racist
Lucky for Gates, Mormons are not violent.