Boy Scouts tell gay leader to take a hike

[Stardreamer]

In theory according to what they espouse (I was a scout master for a brief time) all that is required to have some sort of religious belief to be a scout, it doesn't have to be Judeo-Christian based. There are Muslim scout troops. In practice though even though they claim that, non-christian faiths are welcome, faiths such as Wiccans are subtly (not openly) discriminated against.

 

[Kulindahr]

In theory according to what they espouse (I was a scout master for a brief time) all that is required to have some sort of religious belief to be a scout, it doesn't have to be Judeo-Christian based. There are Muslim scout troops. In practice though even though they claim that, non-christian faiths are welcome, faiths such as Wiccans are subtly (not openly) discriminated against.

I was an assistant Scoutmaster and taught a batch of merit badge classes, and the rule set down here was that there has to be a belief in a singular deity/Creator -- the word is "God", singular, after all. One of the troops I worked with was Roman Catholic... but there was a Buddhist kid in there; another troop was mostly 'Protestant' but had some Deist and Theist kids.

But the Council PTBs said no Hindus, because there wasn't just one God, rather a whole batch of them.

 

[bankside]

Scouting is a worldwide, multicultural movement. We welcome people to membership regardless of gender, race, culture, religious belief, sexual orientation or economic circumstances. Youth members are strongly influenced by the behaviour of adults. We need to be sensitive to the traditions and beliefs of all people and to avoid words or actions which “put down” anybody.

Funny; Scouts Canada has no problem with it, and they spell it out in their Duty of Care. I wonder why a different branch would be behind.

However they have this notion of "Duty to God" which seems totally superfluous.

 

[Just_Believe18]

We're calling the shots now, and raising our own families.

Our kids just won't have anything to do with them. There's better activities out there.

What do you expect from an organization that discriminates against homosexuality but hides pedophiles who continually abuse children?

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6348234n

 

[Kulindahr]

Funny; Scouts Canada has no problem with it, and they spell it out in their Duty of Care. I wonder why a different branch would be behind.

However they have this notion of "Duty to God" which seems totally superfluous.

Maybe troops down here who want to be inclusive should start signing up with Scouts Canada. If we can have BBC America, why not Scouts Canada America?

LOL The initials would be SCA, and that would be confusing (and fun).

 

[Kulindahr]

We're calling the shots now, and raising our own families.

Our kids just won't have anything to do with them. There's better activities out there.

What do you expect from an organization that discriminates against homosexuality but hides pedophiles who continually abuse children?

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6348234n

The hiding business arises out of a bastardization of the Scout Law -- the old "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent" thing -- whereby "even the appearance of impropriety" was to be avoided (yes, I'm citing the morons on the Supreme Court), so they just covered it up. I've known people rather high up in Scouting, and they griped about that whole business, where the important thing is to make sure it looks like the BSA has honor, while abandoning the real thing. I went through some Scout training so I could teach merit badges and work with a couple of troops, back in the late 80s, and even then there was an attitude that the paid hierarchy needed to be more open and honest and stop hiding things. But they instead opted to be more like the Roman Catholic Church.

It's a weird case. The Scouts kept files to supposedly keep dangerous people away from the Scouts, but the files were often disregarded, and quality control was a joke -- leaders who had repeatedly engaged in sexual activities with older scouts were sometimes brought back in after a year or two out, and others who had never so much as touched a Scout inappropriately were banned immediately on someone's request! So on the one hand the files were ignored when leaders thought someone had changed, but used not infrequently merely as a tool of revenge or to bar someone some Scout parent didn't like. More, there's apparently no actual thought behind them, no attempt to see if a leader might be helped and thus brought back in (some incredibly talented and useful people were banned on specious accusations) or on the other hand no effort to inform authorities if someone was really obviously dangerous (like the guy who confessed to molesting 17 Scouts).

 

[Just_Believe18]

^ It's like the Catholic Church. When you sexually oppress people to keep the homosexuals away, you attract the pedophiles instead.

 

[Kulindahr]

^ It's like the Catholic Church. When you sexually oppress people to keep the homosexuals away, you attract the pedophiles instead.

Far too simplistic. Besides, the Boy Scouts hasn't had that policy so long.

My question is why, if they've had their black list, it's been so sloppily applied? used poorly misused?

 

[MercuryJones]

My biggest problem with the Scouts has been their attempt to have it both ways - when it comes to discrimination they are private, but when it comes to funding and accommodation they want to be considered public.

 

[rareboy]

Isn't it time for this organization to finally die out?

 

[Kulindahr]

Isn't it time for this organization to finally die out?

At any rate it's time for United Way to stop calling them "family-friendly" and pull the funding.

I've been looking up area United Way chapters this morning, and sending this to the ones that still support the Scouts:

I noticed something on your web site: you support an organization which strongly contributes to the atmosphere of bullying and hatred that has led to a number of teen suicides in this country recently -- the Boy Scouts of America.

They are NOT a "family friendly" organization, but a bigoted hateful one. If you have any sense of decency, STOP funding them.

I noticed one chapter has pulled its email from its contact page. I REALLY hope that's because they're getting hell from people who really ARE family friendly.