ACLU threat causes Boy Scouts to drop public school ties

[Walt Starr]

FINALLY the double standard ends:

ACLU threat causes Boy Scouts to drop public school ties
Mar 9, 2005
By Jeff Robinson
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The Boy Scouts of America is removing the charters of thousands of scouting units from public schools after an American Civil Liberties Union threat to sue taxpayer-funded institutions that charter BSA units.

The ACLU sent a letter to the Boy Scouts of America in February threatening legal action against public schools and other governmental agencies that charter Boy Scout groups on grounds that their sponsorship amounts to religious discrimination and violates the separation of church and state.

Boy Scouts open their meetings by holding three fingers aloft and repeating an oath in which members vow their allegiance to God and country, resolve to help others and commit to keeping themselves morally straight. Central to the BSA's stated mission is character development and values-based leadership training.

ACLU leaders view these conservative emphases as warrant for legal action, according to documents on the ACLU website.

<snip>

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20306

I know it's a Reichwing source, but the outcome is the same. The Boy Scouts who demanded before court that they could legally discriminate in membership for religious reasons are getting their wish. As of now, they are FINALLY a 100% private organization!

Moral: Be careful what you wish for, you might actually get it!

[bluestateguy]

1. Well this should be enough material for about a week of O'Reilly Factor

Let the carping begin.

[bryant69]

2. Yeah, kind of sad.

At least in my mind. I was a boy scout - an Eagle Scout in fact.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[comsymp]

15. Cool- So was my SO

You may not be surprised to learn that we have differing views on BSA.

Frankly, I see the OP as a good thing.

[FreedomAngel82]

18. It is sad

I was a girl scout and had so much fun with the other girls. It's sad how you have to be a self-proclaimed Christian to join and make it about religious things instead of being unbiased and all that.

[Walt Starr]

20. I was a boy scout, too

But the boy scouts chose to be a 100% private organization which has the right to descriminate based upon religious beliefs, so they got what they asked for.

[VelvetMonkeyWrench]

3. Phyrric victory for the ACLU though

The BSA will adapt and just go on.

The ACLU will be tarred for decades to come with the brush that they went jihad on the boy scouts.

[Bridget Burke]

22. The ACLU has been tarred by worse than homophobic men in shorts.

They'll continue to do their hard work.

The "enemies of the ACLU" list is a sorry group of fools. Too bad the BSA decided to join it. Let's hope they grow up someday.

[Dookus]

27. LOL

The ACLU can take it. They're right. The Boy Scouts are wrong.

[beam me up scottie]

4. About time!

In Vermont, public schools do not allow groups that discriminate to use the school for any reason.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. The Boy Scouts have become a casualty of stubbornness

and bigotry. As far as I'm concerned, after all of this, the parents that are attracted to the Boy Scout program these days aren't the kind of people I would want to associate with. Adult zealots have destroyed whatever good the Boy Scouts had to offer.

[Rann]

6. Wonder how this will affect the Girl Scouts

My daughter has her chapter at school.


She will be very upset if the charter is forced out. Knowing this will be a huge explosion at her school for the Boy scouts, they number in the hundreds there girl scouts about 200.


"Boy Scouts open their meetings by holding three fingers aloft and repeating an oath in which members vow their allegiance to God and country, resolve to help others and commit to keeping themselves morally straight. Central to the BSA's stated mission is character development and values-based leadership training."

Girl Scouts do this also.

[eallen]

9. I've read that the Girl Scouts don't discriminate on a religious basis.

That makes them quite different from the Boy Scouts, in these regards. The Boy Scouts chose to be a quasi-religious organization that rejects boys who are atheist or gay. Now, they are suffering the consequence for that choice.

[Rann]

10. They do the same thing

They do the three finger pledge also

[AllegroRondo]

12. Girl Scouts are completely separate

and dont have the anti-atheist or anti-homosexual problems the Boy Scouts have.

[Walt Starr]

16. The Girl Scouts do not discriminate

and despite the crap spewed in the article, this is about the Bouy Scouts discrimination based upon religion.

Did you know that even though Wiccans believe in a God, they are not allowed in the Boy Scouts?

[MountainLaurel]

24. But they don't believe in THE god

And to these Talibornagains, that's all that matters.

[FreedomAngel82]

19. Yes

I was a girl scout too and remember the pledge. I still have my card and the hand book. ;) We had our meeting at a local baptist church. The church was really huge and had a nice little meeting room, kitchen, gym and this upstairs part around the gym and we'd use that area for our meetings and slumber parties.

[Bridget Burke]

23. From their website....

The Girl Scout Promise

On my honor, I will try:
To serve God* and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law

The Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.

* The word "God" can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on one's spiritual beliefs. When reciting the Girl Scout Promise, it is okay to replace the word "God" with whatever word your spiritual beliefs dictate.

www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_central/promise_law/default.asp

All that & they've got Thin Mints, too!

[eallen]

7. Are more liberal minded folks creating an alternate scouting organization?

I hope so.

[bigtree]

14. Outward Bound

http://www.outwardbound.com/

Through multi-year partnerships with schools across the country, Outward Bound works with educators and students to transform their educational experience. Students gain a better understanding of and excitement for the world around them through high quality curriculum and shared teamwork. Through programs, students and teachers build confidence and mastery in academic subjects and what it means to be a caring and involved human being.

Outward Bound partners with over 125 schools across the country and Puerto Rico. Programs encourage over 30,000 students and 4000 teachers to reach high levels of academic achievement and discover their limitless potential.

find out more >> http://www.outwardbound.com/partnerships.html

[MountainLaurel]

25. Spiral Scouts and Scouting for All

Are two such alternatives. They've been around for a while now, created in response to BSA's bigotry.

http://www.spiralscouts.org/

http://www.scoutingforall.org/

[Scurrilous]

8. My local South Florida Council...

...has an annual Friends of Scouting banquet. In 2004 the guest speaker was Oliver North. This year it was Ann Coulter.

Fuck 'em.

[gollygee]

11. Oh ewwwwwww

that says a lot right there.

:puke:

[sui generis]

13. the funny thing is, that when I was a little atheist homo cub

scout, webelo and boy scout, this was the part I took most seriously: "resolve to help others and commit to keeping themselves morally straight"

Back then as a child, I took "morality" to mean public kindness and charitable acts, fairness, volunteerism, generosity, avoiding pettiness, and other moral challenges that children routinely face.

I did not think of myself as amoral for being an atheist or immoral for being a little queer. Isn't it funny that the very ideas that the boy scouts try to instill that are relevant to boys are exactly what gets lost in this translation?

Adult concepts of morality tied to sexuality and to religious belief have nothing to do with teaching scouts to be good people. Unfortunately, in this case I have to concur with throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. Oh wow

I think these next few years the ACLU are going to be pretty busy.

[seabeyond]

21. i loved girlscouts decades ago, got boys in boyscouts

started being concerned for their safety in different respects but it was tied to the christian school. asked boyscouts administration for a pack that was a non religious pack, lol lol. i was told they told they all were. ooooops, i didnt know. thought all the preachin praying and judgin was just cause out of a christian school

my kids arent doing boyscouts anymore

[Rann]

26. A victory

However it will come with a terrible price, ammo for O'riley to Rush.