Outcry Against Boy Scout Exclusion of Gays ..., by Edward Tabash

[dantonac]

In this article the author argues that just as gays have protested their exclusion from the Boy Scouts, atheists should protest as well.

The homosexuals lost their battle on sound grounds. The Boy Scouts is a private organization which is entitled to be as exclusionary as they wish.

I have no trouble understanding why homosexuals are bothered by this private organization's choices.

I have no trouble understanding why atheists are bothered by it.

As a hetero sexual atheist, I have no problem with it. Are we to insist that all private organizations bow to our will? Of course not.

If I decide to form a private club I would probably wish to excluse fundamentalist Christians because they irritate me. If I hear one more moron tell me that the United States was founded by Christians to be a Christian nation I may become ravingly homicidal.

If I go to the bother of forming and running a private club am I not entitled to limit membership as I see fit?

Why is it any different with the Boy Scouts?

Some might argue that the Boy Scouts receive tax payer dollars in some cases. OK, vote to remove those people sending your money from their elected position. Another argument is that publically owned companies are supporting the Boy Scouts. Ok, dump your stock and boycott their products and services. Use the court system to stop these entities from their support if you wish.

In the final analysis the Boy Scouts are a private organization and they are as entitled as any other private organization toset whatever rules they wish for inclusion.

Atheists and homosexuals who don't like it shame nobody but themselves for demanding inclusion. It is to demand a right where no right exists and is childish. It is to take what the Boy Scouts are and to insist that they change who they are to be accomodating to a minority.

This is hardly good press and is hardly going to persuade someone in the middle zone between extremes to see us in a favorable light.

It is just plain bad publicity and I am stumped as to why gays and atheists would want to invite any more of that upon ourselves.

[Edward Tabash]

Ah, but the problem is that the Boy Scouts are not a private entity as would be a private club. They were chartered by Congress and receive government aid and sponsorship all over the nation. Local police and fire fighters assist the boy scouts and run concurrent programs with them.

Cities give them marina berths and other amenities. Public schools encourage them and allow them to recruit on campus. So, if a church that excluded gays and atheists were to receive as much government interaction and assistance as do the Boy Scouts, we would all be up in arms in protest.

I suggest that if we view the Boy Scouts, as we would any other organization that has theistic prerequisites for membership, then, the level of support they get from government agencies goes well beyond what a private group would receive.

If I form the "Los Angeles Godless Society" I shouldn't have to admit believers. Agreed. However, I shouldn't then receive government assistance.

[dantonac]

Thank you for your response, I stand (sit actually) corrected. I was unaware of the extent of their public funding and congressional charter. That does make all the difference in the world.

I will need to go read the text of the Supreme Court decision that was in their favor to better understand the legal issues involved here.

Again, thank you for responding.

Dave