Avery

Thank you for the ideas. Although I think you may have gotten my intentions wrong. I am not looking for a religion, I just want to learn more about them. I figure, if I am presented with enough evidence, I will probably convert. But for now, it is about learning.

Please disregard evmori's very rude comments. I have no idea why he feels the need to invalidate a perfectly honest discussion. Thank you NeilLup , for taking the time to consider my problems and write a (very long) response to them. And the same to everyone, I really appreciate your concern. I would very much like to learn more about various religions, especially Christianity and other similar religions. But I am not exactly who I can get honest and unbiased answers from. Anybody got any suggestions?

Getting to experience Nature is probably the part of scouts I enjoy the most. Although with my troop, I only get the opportunity once a month. And as I have mentioned earlier, I think my lack of religion and sexual orientation may cause some problems. On almost every outing, there is a chapel service for the scouts. The adult leaders say it is mandatory. I think from now on, I will no longer be a part of the religious aspects of scouting. But I am not sure what that would result in. I know that various adult leaders have specifically stated that one must be either religious and/or have a belief in a deity ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deity ) to be a member of the troop. I suppose I will just let things play out, and see what happens.

"Not coming from a church-going family, your only brush with religion might be the likes of what we see in the media: Osama, the LDS cult in Texas, televangelists, praying nuns on cable TV, the Pope, suicide bombers acting in God's name." -BDPT00 BDPT00, thank you for trying to understand what I may think of religion. But the media is definitely not my only source of information. I have many friends with many different beliefs and religions. Most religious people I know are very nice, good people. And that is probably true with the majority of people in the world. Scouting may be the place for you to learn more about yourself and about religion. Scouting does provide a good learning environment for lots of people, but I do not think it is right for me. I do not feel safe or comfortable with lots of the people I am around in scouting (not because of their religion). I would be more comfortable learning about religion by talking to various religious leaders in my area, learning through school, and having discussions with my religious friends. You need two years to allow yourself sort things out before making such a conclusion. -Eagledad http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bisexual [see definition 1b] - of, relating to, or characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward both sexes For about a year, I have had a tendency to direct sexual desire toward both sexes. Even if this is the result of raging hormones and changing body chemistry I am still, by definition, bisexual.

"Fourteen is certainly not a mature age to make the conclusions this person is presenting to us." -Eagledad I never claim to have come to a conclusion. It is impossible for me, or anybody, to know everything, to know all the evidence for or against something. At this time in my life, the evidence I have seen for and against theism is leaning toward non-theism. But that does not mean it always will. I am completely open to the possibility that in ten years, I could be a strong believer.

I definitely agree with Trevorum. Trevorum: "I agree with several previous posters that Scouting is not for Avery. But not for any religious reasons. He says, 'I want to leave the scouts.' Evidently, he does not enjoy Scouting (for whatever reason) and he is merely looking for an excuse to convince others of his decision." "We all know and accept that Scouting will not appeal to every boy. Some fellows just don't like fires and bugs and knives." Another serious reason I want to leave the BSA is the large amount of homophobia I have seen from the other members of the troop. No one in the troop knows this, but I am bisexual. And based off of past experiences, I do not think this would go over very well with the boys, as well as some adults.

"How can one agree to live by something he isn't willing to try to understand?" -BDPT00 I am trying to understand and understanding theism. Doing this is what lead to my disbelief.

Thank you, everyone, for your responses so far. And just to clarify, I turned 14 in March.

"Now let me ask you a question. When you say "I do not believe in god", what exactly do you mean by "god?" Lots of "gods" aren't worth believin' in, IMO. Or put another way, when you stand in front of other people and profess on your honor to do your duty to God, what do you mean by that?" Beavah I do not believe in any god, deity, higher power, whatever. And when I say "to do my duty to god" or "a scout is reverent" or "one nation, under god", I do not mean any of it.

By "build my case" I mean convince my parents/relatives that I should leave the BSA. They have kind of a high expectation of me to stay with it.

This thread has not gone exactly in the direction I thought it would. I did not intend this to be a debate over my personal beliefs. Really, what I wanted to know is if the BSA, in general, in intolerant of atheists, agnostics, non-theists, etc. I have already decided that I want to leave the scouts, I just wanted to use the information I got from this thread to help "build my case".

"Not having firm and formed opinions is part of life at this stage." I don't necessarily agree with that. My non-theism is a decision I have come to after several years researching and thinking.

My parents raised me without any religion. I do not know what they do or don't to believe. I am not old enough to drive, but I believe any person, no matter what their age, has the right to believe or not believe anything. And I do not think my age should play a significant role in this discussion. I have made a reasoned and well thought decision on my non-theism.

I am not a affiliated with any religion.

Hi, I am currently a member of the BSA, and I also do not believe in god. I want to know if you think I belong in scouts or not. Please give a reason for your opinion. Thank you very much for taking the time to respond.