Customer Reviews

On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting for

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

On My Honor Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts are Worth Fighting For is a great book about the Boy Scouts of America. The author Rick Perry, Governor of Texas and an Eagle Scout is donating the proceeds to the Boy Scouts of America legal fund. The book begins with the history of Scouting. The chance meeting of an American businessman in London, England with a British Scout started the chain of events that lead to the founding of the Boy Scouts of America in 1910.
The scouts have been under attack for many years. Rick Perry said the first concentrated effort started in 1970. The attacks are in the form of law suits and court challenges which fall under four different topics. These categories are girls seeking membership in the BSA, duty to God, duty to be morally straight and access to government forums.
The author writes about each example of these attacks and their outcome. One of the cases went to the Supreme Court which the Boy Scouts won. The Boy Scouts usually win, but at a great cost in attorney fees and loss of future donations. The latest attacks are designed to cut off funding and reduce meeting locations.
On the values side of Scouting, the Rick Perry goes into many examples of successful Scouts and how Scouting has helped them. There are statistics that show the effect on a boy's life when he enters and stays with the Scouting program compared to a non-scout. The numbers will surprise you. The author points out that the Scouting handbook is the roadmap for a young boy growing up. Rick Perry writes that single parents in need of a male mentor for their son(s) see the Boy Scouts as an answer.
As you read the book the question comes to mind, Why do so many groups attack the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts have a set of rules much like our military and society, and looks for the greater good of the community. The last question, will Scouting survive? Rick Perry believes it will and I think all 100 million boys who have been Scouts will say strongly agree.
On a personal note Scouting, I am an Eagle Scout and a Cubmaster of Pack 136 and the scouting motto of Be Prepared served me well in Mosul, Iraq. Boy Scouts of America will be 100 years old in 2010 and many celebrations will be held. Let's hope scouting will be around for another 100 years. I am proud of my father an Eagle Scout my mother was a Cub Scout den leader, my wife also was Cub Scout den leader, and my two boys are Boy Scouts. I know the Boy Scouts is worth fighting for.

On My Honor Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts are Worth Fighting For is well worth reading whether you are involved in Boy Scouts or for those that want to learn more about the values and program of Boys Scouts of America.

Be Prepared

MAJ (ret) NJARNG
Eric Shuler

EDITED REVIEW.
As a long time scout and scouter, I have delved into the scouting movement and its history and have a large personal library of both BSA works and books about the BSA.

While this work is well written (much better then Hans Zieger's work), it is flawed by the misinformation given, and to a degree the author's beliefs and biases. The author is entitled to his views, but the misinformation is more problematic. THIS REVIEW DEALS ONLY WITH THE FACTUAL ERRORS OF HIS BOOK, not the 'truths' (his views) that he puts forth.

Some examples.

* Baden-Powell did NOT create scouting to train future soldiers. He created scouting to create better individuals and citizens. As an officer, he was very different from the stereotype of the british solder. His military scouting program was different from the typical drilling/boot camp type of training. In it, small groups of men learned self reliance and independence thru activities and games. B-P thought military training was inappropriate for youth ("drilling is not scouting") and spent a lot of time adapting his scouting program to be appropriate for youth. Even after he established scouting, some critics claimed he was trying to create future soldiers, and formed rival groups like the "Peace Scouts". Other critized B-P for failing to create future soldiers and formed rival groups like the "Empire Scouts".

* William Boyce did not get lost in the fog of London, that is a myth created by James West. Boyce was lost in London (but no fog) and was helped by a scout and later taken to scout HQ. But he did not meet B-P or the like. That's all embellishments and such added by West. Furthermore, Boyce had little involvement with the BSA after it was incorporated. It was others who got involved and saved the org and brought on board James West.

* the information on page 49-50 on the senior scouting programs is full of errors. I've researched this area extensively and have a website on it.

* B-P's wife Olave did NOT start Girl Guides. B-P did before he was married, then turned the program over to his sister Agnes. Olave got involved later. Juliet Low had been involved with the Girl Guides in the UK and brought it to the states, renaming it the Girl Scouts of the USA.

I did like it for its celebration of scouting and its positive values. But I am always annoyed by misinformation given about scouting.

I caveat this commentary my mentioning that I am a current adult Scout leader, and my son is involved in a local Troop. I progressed through Cub Scouts to Bear rank, but did not go beyond that level.

I'm going to go against the grain and give this book a three-star rating, for the reasons explained below:

1. If you are involved in Boy Scouts of America, you are already going to agree with the basic premise of the book at least 80% of the time.

2. The most enlightening sections of the book are those that deal with the legal assault on the BSA. While this information is helpful and insightful, it's also shallow and doesn't address the full depth of this assault. I learned more about the legal assault on the BSA by reading the Wikipedia pages dedicated to this subject, which is very unfortunate.

3. Many of the pages in the book are 'filler' material... photo pages, a long list of colleges that have scholarships for Boy Scouts, etc. Close to 30% of the book is comprised of photos, the appendix on higher education institutions with Scouting-related scholarships, and the index.

4. Chapter 10 is dedicated to a survey that Governor Perry maintains demonstrates that scouting makes a difference in terms of the general attitudes that Scouts/former Scout have with regard to socially-conservative values. The survey does show a difference, but only slightly (often around a 5% difference). I would argue that Scouting does make a difference, but this survey shows that we (as adult leaders) are not doing enough to make a difference if the survey only shows (in many cases) only a 5% difference.

I recommend reading this book, but recommend checking out a library copy or borrowing one. If you send me postage, I will mail my copy to you. Seriously. I'm a bookworm and love my collection of books, but this one is really not worth hanging on to. It's not worth the purchase price, however.

The best thing about the book is that 100% of the profits are donated to BSA (according to the back jacket), otherwise, my rating would be lower.

Sorry, Governor Perry, I support your political position on many issues, but I can't recommend buying this book -- though it's good to skim for anyone interested in the BSA. Even so, it's probably going to reinforce what you already know more that it will provide new information to you.

As a Scoutmaster I found this book outstanding.
It reassured me of why I still need to stay involved. The book provides clear examples that I can use to show my boys why they should be proud to wear the uniform of a Boy Scout.

This book is a tremendous achievement on two levels. One, it is a good history of the Boy Scouts from its inception to the present. The author cites numerous examples of the character building values of this organization. Two, it details the attacks against the Boy Scouts because of the pro-religion, pro-family and pro-country values championed by the Boy Scouts. Having failed in the courts, this anti-Scout coalition made up of Marxists, atheists, deracinated sociopaths, sexual deviates and malcontented feminists have sought to carry on their fight by pressuring local governments and business to boycott and blacklist the Boy Scouts. All too many times they have succeeded, but there are enough decent people to turn around and defeat this unwarranted attack on freedom of association. Buy the book and the profits go not to discrimination, but to the defense of our First Amendment rights.

I try to live by the following principles:

The Scout Oath:
On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

The Scout Law:
A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Cautious, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, & Reverent.

The Scout Motto:
Be Prepared

The Scout Slogan:
Do a good turn daily

For anyone who think our society would be served will by raising children with these principles, I recommend this book.

Joseph Durnal

After receiving On My Honor, Boy Scouts of America, this book has been read voraciously by two individuals. I originally ordered this book for my husband ( his dad was a Boy Scout executive). He read it and passed it to a friend staying with us. We have a "waiting list" for others wanting to read this book!

This book is one of the greatest celebrations of the Boy Scouts ever written. It affirms the link between America's finest youth organization and the public life of the nation.

Of course, recent controversies over the Scout Oath have to do with whether the Scouts can maintain public partnerships, given their determination to maintain an exclusive private membership policy. Gov. Perry addresses this tension well.

First, Gov. Perry on the Boy Scouts as an organization for the public interest: "That the Boy Scouts of America (or any other organization for that matter) would teach social values and reverence for a Creator does not put them at odds with our constitutional principles or the Bill of Rights. More than that, these values build a better society, where people are lifted up because they do not see self-satisfaction as the paramount pursuit" (page 133). Second, Gov. Perry on the Boy Scouts as a private organization: "The Boy Scouts is not the proper intersection for a debate over sexual preference" (page 71).

Even as a private organization, the Boy Scouts of America is one of the most important forces for the public good that exists. Gov. Perry explains why Americans should continue to support the Boy Scouts, especially in this age of political correctness. Perry is blunt in his treatment of the ACLU and other left-wing opponents of traditional Scouting. They attack the Boy Scouts, he says, not just because of sex or religion, but because of their fundamental opposition to the values of the Boy Scouts. The Scouting controversy is nothing less than a battle between virtue and relativism.

As the author of a book about the attacks on the Boy Scouts, I strongly recommend Gov. Perry's book to anyone who cares about the future of Scouting.

Hans Zeiger
Author, Get Off My Honor: The Assault on the Boy Scouts of America

Excellent summary of the situation facing the Boy Scouts.. recommended for all scouters and parents of scouters. I knew that it was happening, but not to this extent.

Great book. Very well written and researched. I strongly recommend to all scouts, scouters and families of scouts. and to all who want america to return to the values that made us great!!!!!!!!!!!