The BSA continues to slit it's own throat

[seithman]

Imagine being a young boy, sitting with your fellow Boy Scouts at Scout camp, listening to one of your leaders talk about how diverse your troop has become in terms of religious background. He's praising this religious diversity as a good thing. So when asked, you reveal your own religious background, only to be told two days later that you're "

Comments

[dyingfire]

That's not fair. It's a mark of the times that people take things like religion, and make it a mark of membership. Like having a Stretch Armstrong, or being a girl. Is the nation 12?! Really.

[ishinji]

Boy Scouts is "don't ask, don't tell" just like everything else; that bit about "truth" in the oath is as binding as the oath the President swears when taking office - in other words, it's total bullshit. Nice to see that at least the sponsors stepped in with some words of reason. This child will be a lot happier in Spiral Scouts anyway.

[seithman]

While in theory I agree with you, I can only say that it shows how truly sad the times we live in. If we don't consider our own oaths -- our own promises -- to be binding, what hope have we? To me, the keeping of one's word is a -- if not the cornerstone of ethical life. And I don't understand how the BSA can claim to be teaching boys any sort of "values" if they treat the swearing of their own oath with little more than a wink and a nod.

[vintage_voodoo]

The word "diversity" is something I'd like to see die. By pronouncing the differences between us, we still leave open the door for discrimination. If we just accept that most world views are completely normal, we can still function as a society (enter my elitist thought school).

I had a stint with the BSA. I finally dropped out and formed a queercore garage band with some other former members.

[seithman]

Actually, I'd have to disagree with you on the diversity thing. The whole reason many of us pronounce our differences is to fight the tendency towards homogenization. After all, what's one of the first mantras of those who would like to discriminate against others? "Why can't you just be like the rest of us? Why can't you just fit in?"

The truth is, people are different. Ignoring that fact only leads to a sense of isolation and aids the discrimination process.

And besides, how can you accept that most worldviews are completely normal if you don't first admit there's more than one worldview?

[vintage_voodoo]

Good point. I suppose what I'm targeting more would be forced diversity.

I.E. Let's make more than one worldview and make sure that everywhere there's more than one worldview.

I would argue that since it's already been established that there's more than one worldview, let's just leave it at that, and not give another thought to it.

[biasedbulldog]

My thought is that the Boy Scouts need to do a better job of nationally defining who they are and what they are. Are they a Christian organization? Sort of, but it's never really clear if it's explicitly Christian or just Judeo-Christian in their morality. If its the second, they have no basis to exclude Wiccans. If its the first, they need to be clear about that so that these kids don't screwed by the misunderstanding.

Same goes for the homosexuality issue. If they're explicitly Christian, then they have a distinct reason for taking a stand. If they aren't, then what's their point? Why do they have a problem with homosexual leaders?

[seithman]

Agreed. Of course, that's part of my issue -- and not just with the BSA. It seems that far too many people and organizations these days are operating under the conceit that Christianity has a monopoly on "morality" and "values."

As for the BSA's issue with homosexual leaders, my guess is that a lot of one popular argument is that people are concerned that a gay leader might try to "recruit" -- or worse, get sexually involved with -- the Scouts. I won't say that such a thing would never happen, but I think it's overstated. After all, the same things could happen with a "straight" leader, too.

[walabe84]

There was a funny south park episode with big gay al and the boy scouts, it turned out the alpha male was molesting the boys after they yanked big gay al out.

I think their first mistake was claiming diversity, for why would that be important to them anyways? They are a Christian organization, why to prove to themselves they are somewhat better for being diverse? But, as long as the wiccans can overlook doctrinal differences why couldn't they stay? As leaders, I might understand it, but imagine the possible witness as Christians you could have with wiccans in your group. It might make the Christian boys live up to what their faith demands of them.