Nearly four months after the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) changed its membership policy to allow openly gay scouts, WND continued its hysterical reaction to the policy change, publishing a column denouncing the organization's leaders for leading the BSA into “the darkness of sin.”
In a September 4 column that drew heavily on the words of Heritage Foundation founder Paul Weyrich, Jeff Rayno suggested that acceptance of LGBT rights is making American culture “an ever-wider sewer.” But for homophobic bigots, all is not lost, Rayno wrote:
The years it would take to correct the damage caused by one vote taken by the BSA this year would be monumental. Deep in the struggle, our young men would be growing up unattended, while parents fight a losing battle to save what was once the Boy Scouts of America. Countless amounts of money would be wasted battling in courts that are growing more and more liberal every day. What is truly needed is a new organization built on solid principles with bylaws that are stronger than those of the BSA which would allow godly families to begin a new chapter.
On Sept. 6 and 7, 2013, a group temporarily named “On My Honor” will meet in Nashville, Tenn., to form such a group. Using the American Heritage Girls as a template for their organization, a new name, logo and branding will take place, as well as the development of new programs that will teach practical life skills with an emphasis on leadership and character. It will be clearly understood by all members that the context for sexual relations is between a man and a woman in the covenant of marriage.
Perhaps this is the beginning of the Weyrich vision. We can change the program of society, but unlike the modern world, the remote control doesn't work. We have to get off the seat and make an effort. It's an investment of time, energy and patience. We will be scolded by those who love the darkness of sin, but the net result will be future culture warriors, our sons, who live in a light brighter than any neon screen. They walk in the truth - the only reality that matters.
On My Honor has become a cause célèbre among right-wing opponents of LGBT equality. Founded by John Stemberger, who believes that “anything that has the word 'gay' on it in our culture ... [is] guaranteed to be inappropriate for kids,” the organization proudly touts its discriminatory practices. Despite its support from extremist corners like WND and Stemberger's fringe background, On My Honor scored a high-profile keynote speaker for its upcoming Nashville convention: Fox News host and notorious anti-gay bigot Mike Huckabee.
Rayno's denunciation of the BSA marks only the latest unhinged WND commentary on the membership policy change. After the BSA adopted the change, WND published columns blasting the move as “pederastic cotton candy,” “rooted in pure evil,” and a guaranteed path to “coerc[ing]” scouts “into homosexual behavior.”