A reader writes:
Greetings from Washington state, home of legal pot! My son is a Life
scout, has completed his Eagle project, and is two merit badges away
from being an Eagle scout. The troop’s sponsoring entity is a liberal
protestant church in the suburbs of Seattle. Rumor has it that the
church has been considering the cancellation of our charter, due to
the fact that the BSA discriminates against gays. This potential new
policy may be a lifeline for our troop.
Another picks up where our previous post left off:
I am an Eagle Scout and an atheist. I was very clear (close to belligerent) about my atheism when I underwent my Eagle Scout Board of Review. Although some of the board members questioned why I should be awarded the rank, in the end I was able to convince them that my other qualifications and contributions outweighed my religious beliefs, and they awarded me the Eagle rank.
This was possible only because my local troop and council did not make this fact known to the National BSA in Texas. In the Northeast Region, Boy Scout troops tend to be significantly more liberal and secular than in other parts of the country. In the West and South, they tend to be more religious. My experience working at a Boy Scout camp in New Jersey for 10 years was it was very secular, and what little religion was included in the program was aggressively non-denominational.
There is a constant struggle between local councils, troops, and indeed the Northeast Region as a whole and the BSA headquarters in Texas. Many troops allow gay and atheist scouts and leaders on a don’t-ask-don’t-tell basis. The biggest problem is that the Boy Scouts nationally are so highly reliant on money from Mormon and Methodist charters, who constitute as much as 40% of all Boy Scout charter organizations. They are the biggest impediment toward either some kind of national reform (letting atheists and LGBTs in) or at least some kind of federalism and local control.
It makes me sad to see the Boy Scouts, an organization that I owe so much of my personal development to, unable to adapt to modernity. I am torn whenever I get a petition in my email box to pressure a company or large donor to stop sending money to the Boy Scouts. I am certain that their exclusion of LGBTs and atheists is absolutely morally unacceptable, but I also believe deep down that their program is the absolute best youth program in the nation. The world without the Boy Scouts would be a world with fewer passionate protectors of our environment, dedicated volunteers doing community service, and young men who were taught to solve problems and lead from the age of 11.
The Dish 