Re: Scouting for All
by Jeremy on Feb.25, 2007, under General Ramblings
Since I didn’t realize this comment was in moderation, I’m going to reply to it directly through a new entry. In my Spiritual Growth entry, Brian Westley wrote:
As an atheist and a member of Scouting For All (an organization that is trying to convince the BSA to stop excluding gay and atheist/agnostic Scouts), I’d be interested to know if you agree or disagree with the BSA’s policy of excluding atheists/agnostics. It sounds like you were an atheist in Scouting for several years, and could have been kicked out if your atheism became known.
Honestly, I do agree with it. The BSA was founded many years ago on a specific set of principles that have barely been changed since the beginning. And because of the way the organization exists, it is not required by law to allow gay or atheist/agnostic scouts to participate, nor should it have to. I don’t agree with changing the principles of an organization that’s as old as the BSA, because of the repercussions it could cause. As a proud Scout, I’m aware of the values that Scouting instills in young people, and those values will stick with me until the day I die.
The Scout Oath and Law is as it has been and will not (should not) change.
Edit: Actually, I made a bit of a mistake here. I misinterpreted Scouting for All’s Goal when first looking at the Website. After reading up more on a few things and doing a bit of personal research, I can say that I actually do back the movement they propose. I’m going to contact my Scoutmaster tomorrow and get his opinion on things and see what he thinks about the movement.
February 25th, 2007 on 9:57 pm
Well then, I have to question why you didn’t immediately leave scouting as soon as you became an atheist. Why is it acceptable for you to be an atheist in scouting, but not for someone else? That’s the very definition of a double standard. If you agree with scouting’s principles, why didn’t you follow them? How can you be a “proud scout” when you failed to uphold the oath and law?
And the BSA is hardly principled; even when they were kicking out atheists as a private club, public schools were the largest sponsors of cub scout packs. Any honest organization would have stopped accepting government sponsorship immediately, because public schools obviously can’t operate “no atheists” private clubs, but the BSA had to be threatened with lawsuits to get them to stop.
February 25th, 2007 on 10:20 pm
Actually, I’m editing the entry at the moment. I had a bit of a misunderstanding.
February 26th, 2007 on 8:24 am
In the UK atheists can be scouts, I think.
February 26th, 2007 on 9:30 am
The UK is a bit strange; atheist kids can presumably be members (since the UK scouting association explicitly says that no youth will be denied membership on various criteria, including ‘religious belief’, but then goes on to say that youth can’t join if they ‘deny the spiritual side of human beings’, whatever they mean by that). Adults are explicitly excluded in their ironically-titled ‘Equal Opportunites Policy’.
March 3rd, 2007 on 10:40 am
That sounds like it just means you must respect other people’s beliefs.