2 Questions - Opinion Desired

[Mr. Boyce]

OP: I tend to see a great deal of wisdom in BSA's approach to this subject.

 

Have you considered you might be wrong?

[sherminator505]

Wisdom? Please, elaborate.

[jrush]

Wise in regards to the "DADT" treatment of homosexuality or of atheism?

 

The only way to guarantee that no homosexuals are involved with scouting is to polygraph everyone on a regular basis. Furthermore, the military (which the BSA is directly based off of) has functioned quite well without such McCarthyism, so the BSA doesn't feel any need to engage in usch manuevers.

 

Next, the BSA is dancing with giving atheism a pass with it's recognition of Buddhism...which doesn't acknowledge any diety whatsover (the very definition of "atheist"). Since you can be Buddhist (or Hinduism), following a monothestic religeon obviously isn't required. The BSA just expects you not to go around crowing about it. Again, the BSA chooses not to engage in any witch hunts...give "all paths to God" the proper reverence and respect, and do your duty to your own beliefs.

[The Blancmange]

 

Wisdom? Please, elaborate.

You know, Different = Wrong

[sherminator505]

Thanks for the responses, guys, but I really wanted to hear more from the nobleman on the shining white steed who is talking down to us...

[qwazse]

Scouting includes Bhuddism because, some Buddists happen to be deists of whan form or another. A scout who is trying to sort out his religious beliefs through the lens of modern Bhuddism may ultimately settle on atheism, or not.

 

The same can be said for many folks (I think I'm one of them) who tried to sort out their beliefs through modern science.

 

And, as a practical matter most troops will consider a boy in that "sorting" stage of life for his tenure in scouting. We're laid back, just like gaY scouT experienced. That's because most of us religous types in scouting have found that God spoke loudest to us through nature and not through Bible-pounding adults.

 

But, we're not doing a boy that's settled on atheism a favor by "sweeping it under the rug." The "it's only a stage" approach is too patronizing. And the "we'll give you a pretty medal anyway" approach undermines the brand of the award. The best we could do is after he's camped with us for years and earned 21+ MBs, help the boy hold his head high and turn down an award that logic should dictate is beneath his beliefs.

 

It would be just like letting a muslim kid take holy communion so he would not feel left out. The preist/pastor would be offended if we let him, and it would be an insult to his beliefs.

 

Same with adults who have settled on a sexual orientation that our organization looks frowns on. No point in fooling them or ourselves into playing some variation of "don't ask, don't tell" and thinking everyone will be ok.