OUT OF MY CUB SCOUTS, FAG!

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

This is one of those issues that irks me no matter how it goes. On the one hand, 'freedom to be an ass' is still a freedom and a private organization should be free to have members based on whatever they want.  However, there's no question that, at the same time, its discrimination.

It's like the KKK's hate speech. I don't like, I think the people that do it are bigoted and stupid (and homophobic in this case)... but its still a question of freedom. If we defend only the freedom we like, that's a bad plan.

Hmmmm, how did that work for private golf courses not allowing blacks in?

Depends on the specific instance. If the number of members is below a specific threshold, if they operate as a business or if they receive no public funds, they can discriminate. If however the go over the membership threshold and/or receive any public funding, then they cannot as they are a "place of public accommodation" rather than a private club. It also varies by State... Michigan, I think classified almost all of the private clubs in their state as public. New York is more strict than the federal requirements, but more lenient than Michigan.

I still think its amoral and that citizens should make such groups sorry they behaved in such a fashion... but Americans are lazy bastards.

[Adios]

Gotcha.

Dude, damn.....


BITE ME!!! I want a stick out your tongue rasberry smiley dammit!!!!

[bds]

Semi-certain you're also SUPPOSED to be a Christian to be a Scout leader too. Or at least, that's what it said in a presentation I saw a few months back. Assuming I was listening.

[Cain]

Well, in theory, sure.

In practice, no-one in the UK Scout Movement at least gives a crap about Christianity, beyond not drinking the night before parades for St George's Day, the Queen's Birthday etc

[Adios]

Tying knots, camping, pinewood derby, funding drives, learning crafts...

God isn't the only one who can teach those things, is he?

[Doktor Howl]

Tying knots, camping, pinewood derby, funding drives, learning crafts...

God isn't the only one who can teach those things, is he?

Ever read the scout handbook?   

[Adios]

Tying knots, camping, pinewood derby, funding drives, learning crafts...

God isn't the only one who can teach those things, is he?

Ever read the scout handbook?   

I was a cubmaster once.

[Doktor Howl]

Tying knots, camping, pinewood derby, funding drives, learning crafts...

God isn't the only one who can teach those things, is he?

Ever read the scout handbook?   

I was a cubmaster once.

Half of the boy scout handbook is laughable propaganda.

For example, did you know that masturbation will make you feebleminded?

[Adios]

Tying knots, camping, pinewood derby, funding drives, learning crafts...

God isn't the only one who can teach those things, is he?

Ever read the scout handbook?   

I was a cubmaster once.

Half of the boy scout handbook is laughable propaganda.

For example, did you know that masturbation will make you feebleminded?

Fuck, that explains a lot.

[BabylonHoruv]

Semi-certain you're also SUPPOSED to be a Christian to be a Scout leader too. Or at least, that's what it said in a presentation I saw a few months back. Assuming I was listening.

This is true.  There actually is already a more open organization, the spiral scouts, but they aren't as popular as the boy/girl scouts and so people are less likely to have a local troop.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=111755

According to that document, Gays, Atheists, Agnostics and Mormons are not allowed to be scout leaders. It also points out that this appears to vary wildly on a troop by troop basis.

[Adios]

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=111755

According to that document, Gays, Atheists, Agnostics and Mormons are not allowed to be scout leaders. It also points out that this appears to vary wildly on a troop by troop basis.

AS a former Mormon they have a charter from BSA. They are very active in Cub and Boy scouts nationwide.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

A Raleigh, NC, couple whose sons joined a Cub Scouts pack hosted by a Presbyterian church were initially accepted as Scout leaders--but then told that although their sons were welcome to stay in the pack, the parents themselves would not be allowed to serve as pack leaders because they are Mormons.

A Wikipedia  article on the Boy Scouts of America notes that apart from the requirement that Scouts and adult leaders be religious in some capacity, the organization itself does not discriminate on the basis of religious faith. "The BSA believes that atheists and agnostics are not appropriate role models of the Scout Oath and Law for boys, and thus will not accept such adults as leaders," the Wikipedia article states. "The BSA does not require adherence to any particular religious beliefs or ethos beyond this," the article goes on to note. "Buddhists, followers of Native American religions, Muslims, Jews, Christians of all denominations, Wiccans, and many others can be and are members of the BSA. The BSA recognizes religious awards for over 38 faith groups including Baha'i, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Hinduism, and 28 varieties of Christianity."

But the rules of the overall organization and the rules set out by individual organizations that host Scout troops may diverge in some respects. Mecklenburg County Council of the Boy Scouts of America executive director Mark Turner told the AP that the church-run Scout pack could turn away prospective leaders due to their religious faiths, and cited as an example of the latitude that individual troops have one Scout pack that only admits boys who are home-schooled. "If you're in the unit for three or four years and your family sends you back to school, you're out of the troop," said Mecklenburg. "That's their niche."

The Stokes family subsequently enrolled their sons in another troop--one run by a Mormon church.

So the BSA can say "We don't discriminate... but our individual troops can... unless you're gay, atheist or agnostic... then GTFO"

[Adios]

Ahem. There are religious gay people. Seriously. Google it.

[Doktor Howl]

Ahem. There are religious gay people. Seriously. Google it.

Not according to Orrin Hatch.

"Gays don't go to church.  Politics is their religion."
- Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), June 6th, 2010.