Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Buffman · 10-31-2002, 03:23 PM

Though I think that Jeff Louder's suggestion is a fine one, I would personally prefer to see "The Seattle Times" flooded with letters congratulating them for having exposed today's BSA leadership as little more than bigoted, partisan, theists who are promoting un-American, un-Patriotic and nationally divisive policies throughout their youthful membership.

(It doesn't really matter why the article was published. It is about time that the public be made fully aware of what kind of insidious and malignant conditioning is going on within Scouting.)

[ October 31, 2002: Message edited by: Buffman ]

Anderson · 10-31-2002, 04:00 PM

This is going to hurt the BSA image to the public. I don't think the majority of people realize that the BSA have a religious side to them. I was never aware of it until I first started reading II.

crazyfingers · 10-31-2002, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Anderson:
This is going to hurt the BSA image to the public. I don't think the majority of people realize that the BSA have a religious side to them. I was never aware of it until I first started reading II.

I hope. But I agree that far fewer people know that the BSA excludes nontheists than know that they exclude gays.

crazyfingers · 10-31-2002, 04:53 PM

BTW, here is the topic going on at the <a href="http://www.christianforums.com/threads/26289-1.html" target="_blank">ChristianForums</a>

RufusAtticus · 10-31-2002, 06:27 PM

I remember when I joined boy scouts (I dropped out later), they said that every month a scout had to do a "religion" packet, either Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. I asked him what scouts do if they didn't believe in god. It apparently require too much thinking so he just repeated that every month a scout had to do a religion packet.

Defiant Heretic · 10-31-2002, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Posted by crazyfingers:
Have you got a link to that. It's not immediately obvious from the AA website.

It's from their eMail newsletter. You can suscribe from the site.

Toto · 10-31-2002, 08:49 PM

Here's the link:

<a href="http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/bsa9.htm" target="_blank">http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/bsa9.htm</a>

Shake · 11-01-2002, 12:01 PM

Quote:

This is going to hurt the BSA image to the public. I don't think the majority of people realize that the BSA have a religious side to them. I was never aware of it until I first started reading II.

Hell, me either! And I was in Scouts for several years (didn't quite make Eagle, though)!

Seeker630 · 11-02-2002, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Anderson:
This is going to hurt the BSA image to the public. I don't think the majority of people realize that the BSA have a religious side to them. I was never aware of it until I first started reading II.

I have refused to give to United Way for this very reason. I am boycotting anything to do with them to whatever extent I can. It is my understanding that BSA has lost a lot of financial support because of the case with the gay boy, now this thing with the atheist. I wonder how much more financial bleeding they can take before they get the message.

The PR beating they are taking is substantial. I just watched the CNN interview of Darrell Lambert, and he did a wonderful job defending himself. Excellent interview.

Brad Messenger · 11-02-2002, 10:27 PM

It appears the latest defense by the Scouts is that they would be doing a disservice to all the other scouts by not making its members follow all the scout rules, namely reverence.

As the New York Times asked, does this mean scouts who have been untrustworthy, disloyal, unhelpful, unfriendly, discourteous, unkind, disobedient, cheerless, unthrifty, cowardly, and sloppy should be and have been removed because they don't follow the basic laws of Scouting?

I agree with Lambert's view that local troops should decide their membership policy. I belonged to a secular troop, and none of its members stopped me from getting my Eagle because of my lack of religious convictions. But I can see why a Mormon troop would wish to exclude gays and atheists from their rank.

Situations like this makes it more difficult for someone like myself to speak publicly about their atheism.

10-31-2002, 03:23 PM	#21
Buffman Beloved Deceased Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: central Florida Posts: 3,546	Though I think that Jeff Louder's suggestion is a fine one, I would personally prefer to see "The Seattle Times" flooded with letters congratulating them for having exposed today's BSA leadership as little more than bigoted, partisan, theists who are promoting un-American, un-Patriotic and nationally divisive policies throughout their youthful membership. (It doesn't really matter why the article was published. It is about time that the public be made fully aware of what kind of insidious and malignant conditioning is going on within Scouting.) [ October 31, 2002: Message edited by: Buffman ]</p>

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10-31-2002, 04:00 PM	#22
Anderson Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Boonies, New York. Posts: 44	This is going to hurt the BSA image to the public. I don't think the majority of people realize that the BSA have a religious side to them. I was never aware of it until I first started reading II.

10-31-2002, 04:53 PM	#24
crazyfingers Contributor Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Massachusetts, USA Posts: 13,699	BTW, here is the topic going on at the <a href="http://www.christianforums.com/threads/26289-1.html" target="_blank">ChristianForums</a>

10-31-2002, 06:27 PM	#25
RufusAtticus Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: NCSU Posts: 5,853	I remember when I joined boy scouts (I dropped out later), they said that every month a scout had to do a "religion" packet, either Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. I asked him what scouts do if they didn't believe in god. It apparently require too much thinking so he just repeated that every month a scout had to do a religion packet.

10-31-2002, 08:49 PM	#27
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	Here's the link: <a href="http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/bsa9.htm" target="_blank">http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/bsa9.htm</a>

11-02-2002, 10:27 PM	#30
Brad Messenger Regular Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: New York,NY, USA Posts: 214	It appears the latest defense by the Scouts is that they would be doing a disservice to all the other scouts by not making its members follow all the scout rules, namely reverence. As the New York Times asked, does this mean scouts who have been untrustworthy, disloyal, unhelpful, unfriendly, discourteous, unkind, disobedient, cheerless, unthrifty, cowardly, and sloppy should be and have been removed because they don't follow the basic laws of Scouting? I agree with Lambert's view that local troops should decide their membership policy. I belonged to a secular troop, and none of its members stopped me from getting my Eagle because of my lack of religious convictions. But I can see why a Mormon troop would wish to exclude gays and atheists from their rank. Situations like this makes it more difficult for someone like myself to speak publicly about their atheism.

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