Eagle Scouts kicking out someone cause he's an Atheist.

[C.S.Strowbridge]

Read and Rant:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/ ... 7684.shtml

[Durandal]

Fucking bigots.

[neoolong]

He should say that the higher power he believes in his himself, as a demigod who laughs at God. That way he is still "respecting" a higher power and still gets to piss of the Scouts.

Fucking bigots is right.

[Gil Hamilton]

Not suprised. The next to last part of the Scout Oath is "reverent". This doesn't suprise me at all, as I used to be a Boy Scout.

[Tsyroc]

I am an Eagle Scout (once one always one ) although I wouldn't be able to quailify today for the same reason as the guy in the link.

It's interesting that he's being kicked out because he doesn't believe in a god. It's even worse that they'd let him stay if he admited belief in something as lame as "Mother Nature" because belief in anything is better than logic .

It is time that the Boy Scouts rethink some of their rules for the 21st century. Certainly with all that this guy has done he has to meet and exceed all of their other criteria except that he's an atheist.

Considering his age (19) he's not really a scout anymore. Probably a Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster. You stop being a Boy Scout when you turn 18. At least that's the deadline to complete your Eagle and other awards.

[Mr Bean]

No big suprize here, I was a scout and they kicked me out of it half way to becoming an Eagle scout due to my Agonsitic status

[haas mark]

As a private organization, the Boy Scouts are permitted to exclude certain people from membership. The organization bans gays and atheists.

This pisses me off. Why should they be allowed to bar anyone due to sexual orientation OR religious affiliation?

Lambert disclosed his atheism to Scout leaders overseeing his Eagle Scout application last year, but still received the award.

The issue has surfaced before. In 1998, 16-year-old twins Michael and William Randall, who refused to take an oath to God, were awarded Eagle badges after a seven-year legal fight with the Orange County, Calif., council.

Fucking bigoted homophobic semi-fundie hypocrites. To put it lightly.

[Kelly Antilles]

I saw that this morning on Headline News and almost fell off the stationary bike. I was in such shock! But then again, they care about sexual orientation too.

On a side note, all 9 of Barry White's kids are offering up their kidneys for him.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I left the boy scouts before they could kick me out.

[Steve]

This pisses me off. Why should they be allowed to bar anyone due to sexual orientation OR religious affiliation?

Because, as a private organization, it's their right to exclude people from membership on certain basis.

[haas mark]

This pisses me off. Why should they be allowed to bar anyone due to sexual orientation OR religious affiliation?

Because, as a private organization, it's their right to exclude people from membership on certain basis.

I understand the first part...sorta....I'm more intersted in the religious part. But then of course, we end up at a separation of church and state impasse, ne?

[Steve]

This pisses me off. Why should they be allowed to bar anyone due to sexual orientation OR religious affiliation?

Because, as a private organization, it's their right to exclude people from membership on certain basis.

I understand the first part...sorta....I'm more intersted in the religious part. But then of course, we end up at a separation of church and state impasse, ne?

The religious part falls under the same guidelines. The Boy Scouts are a private organization, they have the right to decide who's a member and who isn't.

Just like their sponsers have the right to decide to yank funding if they don't like their policies.

[haas mark]

Just like their sponsers have the right to decide to yank funding if they don't like their policies.

Let's juist hope a LOT of sponsors yank their funding, so to speak, lol. I'm serious tho.

[Darth Wong]

The religious part falls under the same guidelines. The Boy Scouts are a private organization, they have the right to decide who's a member and who isn't.

Actually, there are limits to the private freedom to discriminate. If I applied for a job and was told that I can't get it because I'm an atheist, I can take the company to court and win.

Mind you, America has more lax anti-discrimination policies than some countries, partially because of state autonomy in those matters (so that southern bigots can keep having their whites-only golf courses and clubs, among other reasons).

[haas mark]

The religious part falls under the same guidelines. The Boy Scouts are a private organization, they have the right to decide who's a member and who isn't.

Actually, there are limits to the private freedom to discriminate. If I applied for a job and was told that I can't get it because I'm an atheist, I can take the company to court and win.

Mind you, America has more lax anti-discrimination policies than some countries, partially because of state autonomy in those matters (so that southern bigots can keep having their whites-only golf courses and clubs, among other reasons).

Of course, its only a matter of time before there are anti-discrimination policies for gays...

[phongn]

The religious part falls under the same guidelines. The Boy Scouts are a private organization, they have the right to decide who's a member and who isn't.

Actually, there are limits to the private freedom to discriminate. If I applied for a job and was told that I can't get it because I'm an atheist, I can take the company to court and win.

There are limits, but IIRC, Eagle Scouts aren't employed by the BSA. That gives them more freedom to act, doesn't it?

[Ryoga]

Y'know, it's funny, but I think the seeds of my own atheism were planted when I was a Boy Scout. Most of the older kids were very cynical, and opened my eyes to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the concept of God is full of shit.

Of course, we were still headquartered in a church; but God never seemed to get mentioned outside of the Oath.

I guess I'm saying that there may be more atheist Scouts than anyone realizes, they're just laying low.

[Yogi]

I was in Boy Scouts once. Earned all the Merit Badges required for Eagle Scout in one year. I quit because everyone there was a moron (nothing to do with Athiesm)

[Ryoga]

Yeah, stupidity can ruin the experience for everyone.

I quit for reasons unrelated to atheism, too. The new Scoutmaster was more interested in the fun his children would have, as opposed to all the children. After I quit, I hear he cancelled a really cool summer camp because his daughter didn't want to go...

[Newtonian Fury]

Boy Scout is too damn religious, and that's the bottom line. Sure, they've "modernize", as in accepting non-Christian faiths. But they still can't accept the faithless.

Is America too religious? Damn right! Politicians like the phrase "God Bless America" too much. Some of them even got the guts to say it's not "American" if you got a problem with that phrase. They need to be reminded that the guy that wrote that song was an immigrant.

[jegs2]

Read and Rant:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/ ... 7684.shtml

What do the bylaws and governing regulations of the Boy Scouts say?

[Stormbringer]

Read and Rant:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/ ... 7684.shtml

What do the bylaws and governing regulations of the Boy Scouts say?

Ban them. They're a quasi-religious group and sadly they have the right. Not all councils and troops enforce it but a lot do.

It needs to be changed, by withdrawing funding and sponsorship. That sort of discrimination just isn't right.

[Durandal]

Actually, there are limits to the private freedom to discriminate. If I applied for a job and was told that I can't get it because I'm an atheist, I can take the company to court and win.

Legally, there is a big difference between applying for a job and joining an exclusive club. Applying for a job is how you earn your livelihood, and it's a necessity. So, the law does not allow for discrimination in the hiring process ... ideally.

Joining the Boy Scouts is a side activity. You don't have to if you don't want to. So, yes, the Boy Scouts do reserve the right to exclude members based upon whatever criteria they wish. So do the Ku Klux Klan.

[Larz]

wow... I was a BS and an athiest and no one minded... those people are bigots

[The Dark]

I was a Boy Scout and atheist also, before I left (for reasons related more to the stupidity of the local chapter than atheism). I will say it can be a good organization for some people. One of my friends who died recently was an Eagle Scout, and about two or three dozen Scouts came out to pay their respects at his funeral. Many of the Scouts I know don't agree with the policies of their governing board, but it's like any other group in that it's difficult to change regulations because you'll get hide-bound conservatives in charge.