Eagle scouts

I've been fascinated by this story.

The Boy Scouts of America recently announced that after a two year review, they have decided to keep and reaffirm their policy of not allowing gay scouts or scoutmasters. Here's an example of what this policy looks like in practice:

You may remember that there was a legal case that reached the Supreme Court a few years back over the issue (Boy Scouts of America v. Dale), and the Court ruled that since the scouts were a private organization, they had the right to determine the rules for their own membership.

Now a fascinating phenomenon is developing: Eagle Scouts are beginning to return their medals in protest. The Eagle scout rank is the highest rank and takes years to earn. About two million men nationwide have earned the honor. NBC news published a story here and a followup here, which includes a video interview with one man who sent his Eagle back. The followup story also included excerpts from emails that scouts had sent NBC news in response to their first story, with arguments both for and against.

Here is a Tumblr account collecting the photographs and letters from Eagle Scouts returning their badges. The letters are very heartfelt and eloquent, and they movingly demonstrate the irony that the men learned something from the process of earning their Eagles and scouting itself that the organization is failing to do: treat all people with kindness and respect. Many cite the scouting law as the authority for why they are taking this step and renouncing their membership with the organization.

I love the way that one man, a pastor, closed his letter enclosing his Eagle:

I return it mindful of what Rev. Martin Luther King wrote in his Letter from Birmingham City Jail: “If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.”

Another site, Return My Eagle, that explains the hows and whys, counts 80 badges that have been returned so far. See their twitter feed here.

*facepalm*

After flailing at Rob for weeks to get him to unearth the tax paperwork from where it had disappeared into his office, I sat down today to prepare a Special Circumstances form, an extra form that Fiona's college requires in order to explain some of the events in our lives in the last year that will affect the size of her financial aid package.

I discovered a honking big error on our taxes.

We're going to have to file an amended return. AND pay money back that we had refunded to us. And then we have to wait several weeks for the IRS paperwork to catch up before we can file an Amended FAFSA. Only then can we file the Special Circumstances form.

I went downstairs and made myself some chocolate microwave cake.

Because, you know, some days it's the only thing you can do.