Remember the good old days, when Expendables 2 star Chuck Norris was just a meme? Well, recent years have seen the Walker, Texas Ranger star begin to unleash a whole new brand of Norrisisms unto the world. Norris has taken it upon himself to decry the efforts of James Turley, Ernst & Young CEO and board member of the Boy Scouts of America, to open the latter organization to the welcoming of homosexual children and scout leaders. Earlier in June, Turley released a statement vocalizing his intentions to fight the BSA policy of excluding gay members. Norris published an article on Ammoland.com that not only strongly implies a negative perspective on the homosexual community, but also expresses several conspiracy theories regarding the “agendas” of Turley and President Barack Obama.

Norris illustrates Turley’s connections to Obama (having been invited to the first family’s state dinner in March, having been nominated to the president’s Export Council in 2010) as reason to suspect that he is acting on behalf of the “pro-gay Obama administration,” probing the reader wit the recurring hypothetical question, “Is it a coincidence?” In fact, it is not a coincidence: the two men have opted for a personal and professional relationship quite certainly because of their aligned values, the belief in human equality being not the least important of the lot. But Norris instead suggests that “perks and favors” are what motivated Turley to express his opposition to the standing Boy Scouts policy. Norris even mentions Vladimir Putin as being potentially in the mix.

One of the most outlandish portions of the article is the following paragraph:”Is it a coincidence, too, that on March 3, 2009, Obama became the honorary president of the BSA — a position proudly and publicly held and highlighted by all presidents since President William Howard Taft in 1910 — but that Obama’s induction was held behind closed doors in the Oval Office with seven or so Boy Scouts present and absolutely nothing noted in the White House daily briefing or any other official communication?”It seems over the top to assume that Norris is actually insinuating that something sordid went on between Obama and the young boys in question, but it certainly reads that way.

Norris claims that the BSA’s “century-old” standing policy simply advocates a “pro-traditional family stance,” but it is Turley who is working on behalf of the idea of family. What the phrase “traditional family” should indicate is love, trust, and acceptance, not discrimination and alienation, as is what Norris is really fighting for. There is no concrete threat posed by the welcoming of homosexuals into the Boy Scouts of America. The only foreseeable results include allowing today’s youth to learn more actively that gay children are no different than heterosexual children, and for those very gay children to experience the same joys and character-building exercises that the Boy Scouts of America has afforded to children for generations.