Texas Yankee

As an outgrowth of my personal fitness journey over the past year, I decided to participate in the Commitment Day 5K organized by Lifetime Fitness. The event was originally scheduled to take place in downtown San Antonio, kicking off at the relatively civilized hour of 10:00 a.m., rather than a typical early morning start for such an event. A wise move, I thought, to encourage broader participation on the morning after most folks stay up past midnight to ring in the new year. I signed up and convinced a few friends to join me.

Read more about Commitment Day, details about my personal fitness journey, and some thoughts on the obesity problem we face in a blog post I wrote for the Rivard Report.

When event organizers announced that they were moving the event 16 miles north — outside the 1604 — with a new starting time of 8:30 a.m., we were frustrated and disinclined to participate. Registration for the event opened at 6:30 a.m.! On New Year’s morning? Uh, no. Still committed to the idea of kicking off our New Year’s resolutions on January 1st, however, we decided instead to organize a walk of our own in Southtown and downtown. We dubbed it the “Southtown/Downtown SA New Year’s Day 5K.” (Notice the lyrical, rhyming quality of the name?)  Continue reading →

For those wondering what’s behind the BSA’s continuing ban on LGBT folks, here are some numbers to consider. Bear in mind that the organizations that sponsor the most troops and/or have the greatest enrollment of Scouts exert great influence over national policy.

According to the “2011 Boy Scouts of America Local Council Index,” as of December 31, 2011, 55% of Boy Scouts were registered to a troop chartered by one of the top six faith-based institutional* sponsors of Scouting: Continue reading →

Ladies and Gentlemen:

As an Eagle Scout, the BSA’s continuing ban on the membership of gay and lesbian Scouts and Scouters saddens me beyond measure. The BSA’s position on this matter is a clear violation of its own Declaration of Religious Principles, in which it states that “it is absolutely nonsectarian in its attitude toward … religious training.”

In light of this declaration, how does the BSA reconcile its policy with the teachings of those religious institutions that are welcoming and affirming of all people, including LGBT folk? What of the Scout that belongs to a Unitarian Universalist Church? Or a Presbyterian Church? The Episcopal Church is welcoming and affirming, as is the United Church of Christ. Among the many other welcoming and affirming Christian denominations, there’s even an Association of Welcome and Affirming Baptists. Reform and Reconstructionist Jewish Congregations are accepting of LGBT folk, as are many religions outside the Judeo-Christian tradition. What are the Scouts that belong to any of these churches or religions to make of this policy, which stands in stark contradiction to the teachings of their faiths?  Continue reading →

Statue of Moses Austin at San Antonio City Hall

When visiting San Antonio’s City Hall, one finds a statue of Moses Austin on the gounds there, across the way from the Spanish Governor’s Palace. Moses Austin is a native Connecticut son, born in Durham, Connecticut in 1761. His life’s path took him from Connecticut to Philadelphia to Richmond, Virginia and then to Wythe County, Virginia. After his business there failed, he led the first English American settlement west of the Mississippi, in Missouri.

In 1821, Moses Austin won the first contract to colonize Spanish Texas from Governor Antonio María Martînez, but died before he could carry out his plan. His son, Stephen F. Austin, inherited the contract and carried out his father’s plan, thus becoming “The Father of Texas.” The Austin family name, of course, graces the state’s capital city, and appears in many other place names and institutional names across the state.