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Viewpoints
Thursday, February 7, 2013 houstonianonline.com/viewpoints
Boy Scout leaders should ‘be prepared’ to include more
Matt Frazier says BSA should include not only homosexuals but also atheists, agnostics and non-religious members
The Boy Scouts of America announced today it has delayed the decision to lift the ban on homosexuals until May. The BSA has been accepting input from everyone, both members and non-members, on whether they are for or against the ban being reversed. Currently, numbers are not known for which side has larger numbers, but things are looking quite promising. If this passes in May it will be a great step forward from the BSA. However, even if the ban is lifted, Scouting will still not include everyone. In addition to historically excluding homosexuals, the BSA has also had a policy against atheist, agnostic or non-religious members. The BSA’s argument for this is different than the argument for excluding homosexuals. They cite the Scout Oath, which mentions “Duty to God” and the Scout Law, stating “A Scout is Reverent.” The ideology of some nonreligious people is that they are “their own god,” doing the best they
can for themselves and includes non-Christian the benefit of others. religions such as Buddhism, Given the wide range Baha’i, Hinduism and of religions that the Zoroastrianism. BSA accepts, there There is even a religious is no reason that the medal program in the non-religious cannot BSA for many religions, be accepted with including the four their own personal previously mentioned. On philosophies. Deron the path to Eagle, religionSmith, a spokesperson related requirements are for the BSA, said that a rarity, if at all. At most changing the policy campouts and summer MATT FRAZIER toward atheists was not camps there is an optional considered. It makes the Online News Developer religious service held. Some policy change against troops attend it as a whole homosexuals a disappointment as it while others let their members seems like only a baby step to be all decide individually if they wish to inclusive. attend. Many would argue that the BSA It would seem absurd if the BSA is a religious organization therefore really believed that the non-religious excluding non-religious members cannot be good Scouts. The lack of makes sense. In reality, it seems belief in a god or godlike figure does more like religion is hardly a part of not make a human being any less of Scouting. a functioning, moral and upstanding The only religious requirement member of society. is belief in a god or godlike figure. The BSA is all about developing This means that as long as a member the character young boys as they has a religion he is allowed in. This grow older. It simply does not make
sense to say that those without a religion cannot develop character and morals. That can be safely said because plenty of people live their lives and accomplish great things for the world, all without having a religion. George Orwell, Thomas Edison, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe and Hellen Keller were all atheists. Would these people have made great Scouts if the BSA had existed in their time? Absolutely, we know they accomplished great things and lived with high morals in their lives. It can also be safely said that atheists make great Scouts because many of them already are Scouts, some even have achieved the rank of Eagle. Right now they have to keep their beliefs, or lack thereof, hidden because they would be removed from Scouting if the wrong people were to discover them. This probably sounds quite familiar, as it is exactly what homosexuals in Scouting have to do. Hopefully the BSA will make that end in May.
North Korean nuclear tests are nothing but bark TAYLOR LIKENS Staff Reporter Kim Jong Un, ruler of North Korea and Porky Pig look-alike, recently declared a new era aggressiveness against the United States, which he assures us is nothing like any of their past eras of aggressiveness. This time, much to the dismay of the international community, North Korea has taken the first few steps towards walking the walk with a series of nuclear missile tests and blatant threats that their missiles are “aimed at” the United States. Of course this was hardly crazy enough. Not to be outdone by their own past eccentrics, the North Korean media uploaded a video to YouTube that some (me) have called “the infallible masterwork of modern cinema.” The video—which has somehow been misinterpreted as hostile—depicts a Korean man peacefully dreaming of the sweet, fiery destruction of Manhattan Island to the tune of “We Are the World,” featuring visuals from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The video was later removed on account of copyright infringement. On a side note; there was not a single joke in the above paragraph. Look it up. Apparently having forgotten that this is the
sort of charade North Korea pulls just about every other week, many Americans found themselves suddenly nervous at the thought of confrontation with the idiots of the East. Rest assured when making a list of things that are worth fearing, North Korea should probably land somewhere between the Amish and aggressive hamsters. A direct attack on the U.S. is not advisable for a nation whose economic strength and military might is roughly that of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Phrases such as “suicide mission” fail to describe how self-destructive any acts of legitimate hostility would be for North Korea. Be that as it may, the real concern lies not in North Korea itself, but their alliances. A war with North Korea could, on paper, potentially result in the United States butting horns with China. The Korea/China alliance, however, has about as much reliability as anything else built in North Korea. As time passes, it becomes ever more obvious that China would abandon North Korea should push come to shove. In 2010 the notorious Wikileaks released a document detailing China’s willingness to support a unified Korea, under the condition it would be ruled by the South Korean government. The year before, China’s vice foreign minister was quoted as having said that
North Korea behaved like “a spoiled child” to gain American attention. Meanwhile, in light of recent events, Hua Chunying of the Chinese foreign ministry announced that China will “oppose any behavior… not beneficial towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” You see, whether they’re an honest, redblooded American or a godless robo-communist Chinaman, pretty much nobody has much interest in starting a third world war. There isn’t really much for either nation to gain, it’s bad for the global economy and can be hell to get out of the carpet. Not to mention the fact that China and the United States are so economically codependent that a war between them would be as reasonable as siamese twins attempting to murder one another (hilariously). Ultimately not much has actually changed. North Korea isn’t any more insane than it’s ever been and the United States is no more vulnerable to them. North Korea is still just the fat kid hiding atop the jungle gym, wailing across the playground about how his imaginary friends are going to beat us all up one day. I learned a phrase recently and have been waiting for some time to use it. Now I can. Calm yo tits, ladies and gentlemen. Calm yo tits.
Letter to the editor Dear Editor, I am writing in response to Richard McKinney’s February 4 article, “Becoming a Vegetarian: Quitting Cold Turkey.” It is no surprise that Richard would adopt a healthier, more humane diet: According to a study by foodservice provider Bon Appétit, the number of college students who identify themselves as vegetarian has risen by 50 percent since 2005 and the number of vegan students has more than doubled during the same period. Students are horrified to learn that cows have their throats slit while they’re still conscious and that chickens are scalded to death in hot water. It’s simply not the kind of industry that students want to support. In addition to enduring cruelty, farmed animals produce about 130 times as much waste as the entire human population of the United States does. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the runoff from factory farms pollutes our rivers and lakes more than all other industrial sources combined. From the smallest community colleges to the largest state schools, vegan options are everywhere nowadays, as a direct result of student pressure. Dining staff should look to schools such as the University of North Texas, whose all-vegan dining hall, Mean Greens, serves up exciting vegan fare for students. Richard and his fellow students interested in adopting a more compassionate diet should visit peta2.com to request a free vegetarian/vegan starter kit. Sincerely, Kenneth Montville College Campaigns Assistant People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
PAWS UP
Applebee’s commits social media suicide
Morgan Mears says Applebee’s needs to admit its wrong doings
H e l l hath no fury like an Appl e b e e’s scorned. L a s t week an Appl e b e e’s employee, Chelsea Welch, was fired after MORGAN MEARS taking a Staff Reporter photo of a c ustomer’s receipt and putting the image on Reddit. The ex-employee shared the photo because of what was written on the receipt. According to ABC News, Alois Bell, a St. Louis pastor, crossed out the 18 percent gratuity that was included on the receipt due to the size of Bell’s party and instead of placing a different amount in the place for the tip she wrote in a zero and then left a note that said “I give God 10% why do you get 18?” After finding a photo of her receipt online, Bell returned to the same Applebee’s and demanded that the woman who originally served her, as well as the woman
who posted the photo be fired. Applebee’s reportedly fired the employee who posted the photo of the receipt. Even from the point of view of a Christian, the actions that Bell and the St. Louis Applebee’s took were wrong and completely uncalled for. Bell may give God her 10 percent every month as a tithe, but it isn’t supposed to come from someone’s tip. A tithe is when someone takes 10 percent of their income and they give it to a religious group, normally they give the money back to their church. While restaurants may strive to drill the old saying “the customer is always right” into their employees, in this case it just isn’t so. Bell wasn’t right; while the note itself is justifiable, placing a zero on the tip section of the bill was not. As if firing the woman didn’t bring Applebee’s enough embarrassment and criticism, when Internet users took to the restaurant’s Facebook page they were stunned to see that many of their comments that had been deemed “negative” by those in charge of the page had been deleted late the same night that they had been posted.
According to ABC News, around 2 a.m. the Applebee’s Facebook team began removing or “hiding” comments on a status they had posted to try and alleviate some of the harsh worded attacks that were coming their way. They hid comments on the update that could be viewed as negative or comments that described Applebee’s as an uncaring and heartless establishment. After realizing that their comments were being removed, users started replying with sarcastic remarks such as “Anyone else wondering if Applebee’s hired the pastor to delete our comments?” Soon after their comments had been removed many of the users were tagged in a status update from the Applebee’s page. The status went on to say that they valued the users as guests and hoped they would continue to visit their establishment but that they did not know the full story behind the incident and why Ms. Welch was fired. It was a nice gesture but it lost any and all meaning when the same status update was copied and pasted minutes later only with different people tagged in it.
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Most people would stop there, not the Applebee’s social media team. According to rltwordpress.com, Applebee’s then began to reply back to users, and tag them specifically in comments in which the Applebee’s team tried to cover up their mistake in firing Ms. Welch. The media team then commented on how they are deeply upset that the public was upset with them, they were still in the right. The media team then stated that Applebee’s had done no wrong because the Facebook users that were comment on the update did not know the “full story.” Applebee’s list of mistakes continues to grow as the controversy goes on. From firing Welch, to hiding “negative” comments on Facebook, Applebee’s and its social media team seem to have a bit of growing up to do. The only way to end this controversy is to hire Chelsea Welch back to calm the public. The next step would be to fire its media team and hire a completely new one. Applebee’s needs to step up and admit its wrong doings and stop hiding from the issue like a child.
Staff Reporters Morgan Mears Taylor Likens Karmen King Carian Parker Richard McKinney Ashley Prchlik Ryan Bowers Christian Vazquez Audra Berry
PAWS UP to signing day at SHSU. We welcome the new signing class of 2013.
PAWS DOWN
PAWS DOWN to studying all night for an exam you think you failed.
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