Posted on 06/04/2013 8:30:18 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Boy Scouts of America’s newly adopted policy of accepting gay Scouts “is not in conflict with Catholic teaching” and parishes should continue to sponsor scouting, according to a letter from the U.S. Catholic church’s liaison to the Scouts.
“We should be encouraged that the change in BSA’s youth membership standard is not in conflict with Catholic teaching” which is that gays “are to be treated with the same signity due all human beings created by God,” Edward Martin, chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, wrote in a letter.
“Scouting is still the best youth-serving program available to all youth,”Martin added. The letter was addressed to “fellow Catholic Scouters” across the country.
The Martin letter contradicts a vitriolic, name-calling anti-gay letter from a Bremerton pastor, the Rev Derek Lappe of Our Star of the Sea Catholic Church, in which Lappe said he is pulling his parish out of Scouting. Lappe wrote last week:
“Our parish cannot be involved with a group that has decided to ratify or approve the self-identification of a 10-to-18 year old boy as ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual.’ To me, it is cruel and abusive and absolutely contrary to the Gospel to in any way confirm a teenager in the confusion of same-sex attraction, which is what the New Boy Scout policy will do.
“And so we are going to redouble our efforts to create a community that is supportive of happy, healthy, holy marriages. In our marriage preparation we are going to try to get women to stop marrying such loser men who will never be capable of being good dads, husbands, and vice versa.”
The National Catholic Committee on Scouting, in Martin’s letter, takes a very different tack, explaining what the Scouts’ new policy actually means:
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.seattlepi.com ...
Since you confuse a prudential statement from a member of the laity with the actual teaching of the Church, it’s not difficult to figure out why you left.
What I am worried about is that we are getting prudential statements from the USCCB that are at best “economical,” in character instead of emphatic statements that open homosexuality is morally licit. What they should encourage is a period of discernment during which the bishops say nothing until they see where the Scouts are going with this and how gay scouts behave themselves.
AGREED!
Good thing their opinion is just that and not something any Catholic has to give any serious weight to.
This group does have a bit of a conflicting interest:
If the Church no longer supports the Boy Scouts this group disappears, it’s reason for existence gone.
On one hand they claim the BSA is religiously 'oriented' and that to promote religion they must remain members while on the other hand they claim that homosexual 'oriented' has NOTHING to do with promoting homosexual sex?
Ambiguously 'Gay', meet Ambiguously Religious -a partnership brokered by satan himself.
A new recruitment organization for young potential queers??? Why wouldn’t the Catholic clergy be supportive???
That's NOT what Jesus said, and you DO know that...
The traditional Scout position on sexuality was, in effect, "Don't Ask/ Don't Tell," --- and this is correct. If a boy doesn't bring up sexuality as an issue, there's no way to tell if he gets horny thoughts about Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Jack the Middle School Swim Coach or Mrs. Thompson the 8th Grade Music teacher. Sexuality doesn't intrude, and there's no problem.
The glitch in the policy is that it makes it OK to "Come Out to the Scouts" --- what a catchy slogan for the next phase of the LGBT strategy.
Come out --- adopt it as your very identity --- demand your self-expressive rights (backed by the ACLU) and if somebody doesn't like it, they face the repercussions.
Then as the "out-and-proud" Eagle Scouts are trained for leadership positions, does anybody, anybody think they'll get the boot on their 18th birtday?
BSA morphs into Gay-Straight Alliance.
Stupid NCCS.
ROTFLMAO!!!!
I agree with you and was extremely disappointed with the NCCS’ response to the BSA’s new policy.
Regards,
PS: I know an awful lot of traditional Catholics who will NEVER allow their boys to join the Scouts due to this change. They long ago abandoned the GSUSA, and I simply can’t see them supporting the BSA anymore, either.
For those looking for alternatives to the Boy Scouts, here’s a good list of options.
Conservative Boy Scout Alternatives
http://tamarawilhite.hubpages.com/hub/Conservative-Boy-Scout-Alternatives
The article mentions the Squires of Columbus, a youth program under the Catholic Knights of Columbus. It sounds like the Catholic Church, at least, already has a program a lot of their boys can shift to.
Good list. I would add this one as well (also for Catholic youth):
http://www.northstarexplorers.org/
Regards,
PS: This organization is getting the bare-light-bulb once-over from many parents in my Catholic Homeschooling group.
What is a bare-light-bulb once-over?
You know...like in those film noir movies where the cops have the bad guy in a room with a bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling and they’re questioning him?
The Third Degree. Like that.
Regards,
King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.
bump
The day the BSA caved they were already calling for homosexual Scout leaders.
The National Catholic Committee on Scouting is an advisory body to the BSA. In fact the committee’s name is a registered trademark of the BSA. So anything they say should be taken as coming from the BSA and not from the Church.
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