CREEDE HINSHAW: Tarnished institutions are worth rebuilding

The news regarding organized religion, the Boy Scouts of America and the relationship between the two has not been good. Sexual exploitation of children — amply demonstrated and proven — is a shocking, indefensible crime and sin.

My sadness over the pain of the victims is deep and heavy. There is no defense of the indefensible. Church and Scouts must confess, repent, make restitution and demonstrate a new spirit going forward. Both institutions are doing so.

I write those preparatory paragraphs out of a profound appreciation of Troop 92 of the Boy Scouts of America in my hometown of Tipton, Ind., in the early 1960s. That appreciation extends to my home church, the West Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Tipton.

I was a Cub Scout, then in Webelos, then in Boy Scouts, and finally in Explorers. I earned my Eagle Scout, was Senior Patrol Leader and earned my God and Country award, which was presented to me by my Scoutmaster one Sunday morning in worship with my parents proudly at my side.

Were things better back then? I hesitate to draw conclusions, but this I know: Our troop leader, Charlie McIntosh, and the other adult men who led, were honorable men, sacrificial leaders committed to making young male teens confident citizens. We camped, we hiked, we earned our merit badges, we respected the natural world, we learned to be faithful, active citizens and leaders.

We met every Wednesday night at the Scout Cabin, a native stone building on the banks of Cicero Creek. In the summertime, after troop meetings, we boys played “capture the flag” until dark. I cannot remember one — even one — negative memory about my Scouting experience.

The same is true about my church. I attended Sunday School and church with my family every week. Our pastor, Norval Lyon, and his associate pastor, David Clark, were kind, honorable, committed representatives of Christ. My Sunday School teachers and youth counselors never once took advantage of any child as far as I know. On Sunday nights, I went to the youth group. We had summer camps, hayrides and church parties. We studied the Bible and sang in choirs. Many of the same boys in Troop 92 were in my Sunday School class at church.

I never wondered who built that stone cabin or who sponsored that troop or what sacrifices the adults in church or scouts made to be my leaders and models. I probably never thanked my leaders and teachers unless prompted by my parents. These strong, trusted institutions (and I add my public education) were natural parts of my formative years: church, scouts, school.

I can never repay the Boy Scouts of America or my childhood church for the experiences they offered, the values they imparted, the community they created and the larger world and realities to which they pointed me. I am a product of an era (1950s to mid-1960s) when church, scouting, education and even patriotism were prominent and healthy, at least in small-town rural Indiana. Such institutions can be rebuilt today. They are worth being re-built and strengthened.