helemon
22nd July 2006, 09:26 PM
http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/philly.html
Walking into the Bruce S. Marks Scout Resource Center is like entering the hallowed darkness of an Italian basilica. With its intricately tiled floor, vaulted ceiling, dark paneled walls and detailed frescos, the space is awe-inspiring. Engraved in stone near the building's entryway is a proclamation reflecting the BSA's long-standing mission: "The young are fortunate for they will see great things."
Perhaps this stone relief should be amended with the qualifier, " ... if they pledge their allegiance to God and are heterosexual."
IN THE PAST, THE BSA HAS SUMMARILY kicked out rebellious troops and packs that refused to expel gay or atheist boys.
"The Boy Scouts have a history of scandals involving pedophilia," he says. "Of course it's offensive to associate homosexuality with pedophilia. But this fear that a scout master will molest boys is an old worry, going back to the beginning of Boy Scouts."
That may be an attempt to explain a policy on gays, but what about atheism?
Mechling and other observers are convinced the BSA is fixated on religion for financial, rather than moral, reasons. The Church of the Latter-Day Saints contributes millions of dollars to scouting annually. In fact, every Mormon boy is automatically enrolled in Boy Scouts at age 7, regardless of whether he ever attends a meeting. This accounts for about 12 percent of the Boy Scouts' total membership. "If both the Mormon and Roman Catholic churches withdrew, it would be a very big blow," Mechling says.
Congress has also authorized the various military branches to loan equipment to the Boy Scouts free of charge and to sell the BSA obsolete or surplus material, including bullets.
Every four years, a military base in the rolling hills of Virginia, Fort A.P. Hill, hosts the Boy Scouts' National Jamboree. This giant 10-day camping festival attracts some 40,000 scouts and leaders from all over the world. According to the BSA website, kids practice archery, orienteering, running, shotgun shooting, boating, canoeing and hunting safety. No need to worry about down time for these ambitious scouts--daily religious services "provide time for reflection ."
the BSA doesn't work the way it does at General Motors, which must answer to stockholders. It works more like the Catholic Church, where the Vatican makes all procedural decisions. "When the BSA finds individual boys or even troops defying its policies," he says, "it excommunicates them."
SHORTLY AFTER MARGARET DOWNEY moved to West Chester more than a decade ago, she researched a troop for her son Matthew to join. Matthew was "deeply involved" in scouting for seven years- -in both Illinois and New Jersey--and his mom eagerly filled out the application. Downey, an atheist, crossed out the word "God" and scribbled in "good."
Within days, her check was returned. Quoting from the Scout handbook, the enclosed letter noted that a scout "is reverent toward God" and "faithful in his religious duties." The handbook also declares that "no boy can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God."
Lots of Eagle Scouts are criticizing the organization and want it to change," he points out. "So even dissenters are acting on principles they learned in scouting ... It is the Boy Scouts who molded them into independent thinkers.":duh
Walking into the Bruce S. Marks Scout Resource Center is like entering the hallowed darkness of an Italian basilica. With its intricately tiled floor, vaulted ceiling, dark paneled walls and detailed frescos, the space is awe-inspiring. Engraved in stone near the building's entryway is a proclamation reflecting the BSA's long-standing mission: "The young are fortunate for they will see great things."
Perhaps this stone relief should be amended with the qualifier, " ... if they pledge their allegiance to God and are heterosexual."
IN THE PAST, THE BSA HAS SUMMARILY kicked out rebellious troops and packs that refused to expel gay or atheist boys.
"The Boy Scouts have a history of scandals involving pedophilia," he says. "Of course it's offensive to associate homosexuality with pedophilia. But this fear that a scout master will molest boys is an old worry, going back to the beginning of Boy Scouts."
That may be an attempt to explain a policy on gays, but what about atheism?
Mechling and other observers are convinced the BSA is fixated on religion for financial, rather than moral, reasons. The Church of the Latter-Day Saints contributes millions of dollars to scouting annually. In fact, every Mormon boy is automatically enrolled in Boy Scouts at age 7, regardless of whether he ever attends a meeting. This accounts for about 12 percent of the Boy Scouts' total membership. "If both the Mormon and Roman Catholic churches withdrew, it would be a very big blow," Mechling says.
Congress has also authorized the various military branches to loan equipment to the Boy Scouts free of charge and to sell the BSA obsolete or surplus material, including bullets.
Every four years, a military base in the rolling hills of Virginia, Fort A.P. Hill, hosts the Boy Scouts' National Jamboree. This giant 10-day camping festival attracts some 40,000 scouts and leaders from all over the world. According to the BSA website, kids practice archery, orienteering, running, shotgun shooting, boating, canoeing and hunting safety. No need to worry about down time for these ambitious scouts--daily religious services "provide time for reflection ."
the BSA doesn't work the way it does at General Motors, which must answer to stockholders. It works more like the Catholic Church, where the Vatican makes all procedural decisions. "When the BSA finds individual boys or even troops defying its policies," he says, "it excommunicates them."
SHORTLY AFTER MARGARET DOWNEY moved to West Chester more than a decade ago, she researched a troop for her son Matthew to join. Matthew was "deeply involved" in scouting for seven years- -in both Illinois and New Jersey--and his mom eagerly filled out the application. Downey, an atheist, crossed out the word "God" and scribbled in "good."
Within days, her check was returned. Quoting from the Scout handbook, the enclosed letter noted that a scout "is reverent toward God" and "faithful in his religious duties." The handbook also declares that "no boy can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God."
Lots of Eagle Scouts are criticizing the organization and want it to change," he points out. "So even dissenters are acting on principles they learned in scouting ... It is the Boy Scouts who molded them into independent thinkers.":duh