Jei64822

Heh heh, I will admit, you got me there with the whole cub scout/boyscout and activities thing. The truth is, I was only a cub (apparently) scout for one day, making popsicle stick picture frames. I quit the day after. But yes, the other stories from the 1st graders were true. Is my memory just bad or do little kids just embellish? Your call. The reason I lied was because I felt it was the only way to even get a view, instead of people saying "Well, if you were in the BSA, you would know that soonsoforth". I apologize for lying, but I assure you I am not trying to agitate people here. I just want a straightforward answer. I guess the underlying question is this: Do you agree with the exclusion of homosexuals/atheists? Do you think that these groups are less "moral" or "deserving"? Do you feel you are biased against/have prejudices against the two groups? My question regards the actual BSA less than it regards the current social issues at hand. The question is NOT: Does the BSA have the right to exclude? Which is obviously a yes. I am not disputing that.

"So you joined the Boy Scouts in the first grade, eh? Because you had heard about all of those great camping trips that the other first graders were having? Nice story. I like the part about how "camping, archery, or any of that cool stuff" had drawn you in to Scouting touching, almost believable. You may have a career in creative writing. When you were Scouting about at the ages of 7, 8, and 9 - did you ever hear the saying, "A Scout is Trustworthy? Perhaps not. " Why would you think I am lying about my childhood? I am quite fond of those memories. What it seems to me is that you are avoiding my questions. Please be respectful or do not answer at all.

Because of the surprising amount of answers, I will not be able to respond to every single message, but don't take it as a sign of me ignoring you. One person asked for links to the statements, and here it is: http://www.bsalegal.org/bsa-legal-blawg-200.asp?i=103 As for the commonly repeated saying that the BSA is not a public organization and as such does not HAVE to allow these groups in, my question is not that it is un-lawful or not, but is it morally correct in your opinion? Do you think it is right to discriminate (I use the term somewhat loosely in this context), these other groups from the BSA? Would you personally be worried about atheists and homosexuals in your organization? __________________________________________ As for the whole "don't ask don't tell" policy, if you are willing to turn a blind eye on non ousted atheists/homosexuals, what is the difference if they are publicly atheist/homosexual? ___________________________________________ And about the trolling thing, I am just curious and wanted answers from actual people in the scouting community rather than some lawyer who typed up some HTML. I was a former boy scout when I was in the first grade, because I heard of all the kids at school talk about what they did with their troops, whether it was camping, archery, or any of that cool stuff. I was genuinely interested, and joined and stayed for 2 years before I moved out of town. Since then, I heard of the "discrimination" by the BSA, so I decided to look into it.

"It is not that they do not beleive in a devine entity." - Regarding Atheists That is a bold statement. I can assure you there are Atheists that do not believe in anything divine

This may or may not have been done to death, but the search function does not seem to work. I do have a few questions for you however. 1. The official BSoA site states: ""We know there are gay scouts," says Scout spokesman Jeff Jubelirer. "Of course there are. We don't care. Nobody cares." He describes the national organization's policy as a variation of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy." If "nobody" cares about gay/non religious members, why would they not be allowed to let this be known if asked? --------------------------------------- 2. The official BSoA site states (1 line down): But the Boy Scouts, who require a belief in God and therefore also "discriminate" against atheists, are not comfortable with the idea of openly homosexual men leading young boys into the woods. Are homosexual men more prone to being pedophiles? Could a leader who is a woman not be a pedophile? --------------------------------------- 3. And now a hypothetical question: If there were atheist/gay boys in your troop, and they did not out themselves as such, but you knew they were, would you feel uncomfortable or take action to remove them? ---------------------------------------- 4. Moral question: What do you think the original scouting organizations hoped to accomplish by denouncing homosexuality and atheism? What are your views on homosexuals/atheists? Do you think we should be enforcing a century old rule which blatantly excludes normal boys? Or is it time for the Scouting organizations to follow suit with the rest of the world and at least try to be more open?