The University of New Hampshire Law Review
Abstract
[Excerpt] “Lieutenant Colonel Oliver L. North’s Foreword to Hans Zeiger’s book Get Off My Honor: The Assault on the Boy Scouts of America warns that one of America’s most trusted institutions, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), is under siege for advancing “what many of us euphemistically call traditional values.
Euphemistically?
North’s choice of words inadvertently reveals what he and many other so-called “social conservatives” obviously know in their hearts—that the BSA’s recent campaign against gay youth and religious liberals is grounded in something other than America’s proudest traditions and values. Hans Zeiger proceeds himself to remove any illusions in this regard—for the book is a spiteful diatribe against the mainstream American values of a pluralistic society that can embrace, honor, and celebrate human diversity.
Zeiger is a student at Hillsdale College and Eagle Scout whose web site brags that the Republican Party once came rather close to having him speak at a national convention. Zeiger’s web site also claims that Newsweek’s publication for college students, Current Magazine, has named Zeiger “the top young religious leader on the nation’s campuses.” While that is not quite true, Current Magazine did call Zeiger “one of the most outspoken young conservative and religious leaders in the country”— noting that “radio legend Rush Limbaugh” has touted Zeiger’s commentary on the air.
…
But Zeiger’s Get Off My Honor is not just a spiteful attack on historically persecuted minorities (such as homosexuals), on civic organizations that embrace human diversity (such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, condemned by Zeiger as “the vehicle for the destruction of thousands of young lives”), on suspect religious minorities (such as atheists and agnostics), and on religious liberals (who prefer a gospel of love and social service over one of divisiveness and damnation). Zeiger objects to the very principles of America’s democratic pluralism that celebrate our diversity and call upon us to recognize and respect our fellow citizens as our equals. Zeiger’s book is a frontal assault on mainstream American values.”
Repository Citation
Eric Alan Isaacson, Assaulting America's Mainstream Values: Hans Zeiger's “Get Off My Honor: The Assault on the Boy Scouts of America”, 5 Pierce L. Rev. 433 (2007), available at http://scholars.unh.edu/unh_lr/vol5/iss3/5