IT SEEMS THAT BADEN- POWELL WAS A RACIST AND A KILLER AND DRAWN TOWARDS HITLER
Baden-Powell was born into privilege and was educated at the finest schools. The areas of moral outrage are these. He was part of the invading British colonial forces plundering Indian and African lands for profit and advantage, and responsible for the unjustifiable slaughter of countless of the indigenous black population. He oversaw the illegal execution of a black leader, betrayed in cold blood. The Matabele chief, Uwini, had been promised safety if he surrendered. Instead Baden-Powell held a kangaroo court in a day, passed sentenced and had him shot, exceeding his military authority. He lost control of his men on a tracking expedition against the Zulus, who went on to murder them. He disobeyed orders and caused many to die, at the unnecessary siege of Mafeking and had to resort to killing the horses for food. He abandoned black and other soldiers under his command at Elands River. He oversaw a paramilitary police force subduing protest in the invaded South Africa involving much slaughter. Chillingly Baden-Powell designed its uniform, which he used as the basis for the Scouting uniform. He responded enthusiastically to a Nazi charm offensive aimed at aligning his movement with the Hitler Youth in the run-up to the Second World War, according to secret MI5 documents. He was wined and dined, in November 1937, by senior Hitler Youth figures, such as Hartmann Lauterbacher, the chief of staff of the Nazi organisation, and Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German ambassador to Britain. Noting approvingly that Lauterbacher, wanted to build strong ties between the British and German youth movements, Baden-Powell spoke in glowing terms of Von Ribbentrop, the senior Nazi who became the architect of Hitler's foreign policy. Baden-Powell, who later read Mein Kampf and praised it is as a "wonderful book", added that Von Ribbentrop had invited him to visit Hitler and he had lifted a ban on Scouts wearing their uniforms while visiting Germany in the hope that British youngsters would head off on visits to the Third Reich. He Spoke out against homosexuality, while it is claimed he was himself a repressed homosexual, who said that men were beautiful to him. If he found that scout leaders had become involved with the children, he would ask them to leave, but not call in the police. His statue should go.
Bear Grylls wrote 'As Scouts, we most certainly do not celebrate Baden-Powell for his failings.' 'We see them and we acknowledge them. And if he were here today we would disagree with him on many things, of that there is no doubt.'
posted by Bishop Jonathan Blake | 1:20 PM
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