Mormon church cuts ties to Boy Scouts after program drops ‘boy’ from the name

Life Site News ^ | 05/10/2018 | Calvin Freiburger

[SeekAndFind]

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 9, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The Mormon Church has announced that it will end all association with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and other worldwide Scouting programs, a week after the BSA announced it would cut “boy” from the name because it now accepts girls.

“Effective on December 31, 2019, the Church will conclude its relationship as a chartered organization with all Scouting programs around the world,” the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) announced on May 8.

Instead, next year it plans to launch its own youth programs to “help all girls and boys, young women and young men discover their eternal identity, build character and resilience, develop life skills, and fulfill their divine roles as daughters and sons of God.”

Last week, the Boy Scouts of America announced that their main scouting program would be renamed simply “Scouts BSA” and accept girls, as will its Cub Scouts program for children aged nine and younger. Scout troops will reportedly continue to be separated by sex, but the move has received widespread criticism for continuing the trend of erasing gender distinctions in the name of “inclusion.”

The Mormon announcement does not mention the BSA’s latest policy change, and in fact “honor[s] Scouting organizations for their continued goal to develop character and instill values in youth.” It also calls on Mormons to continue supporting the BSA’s programs for boys aged 8-13 until December 31.

Nevertheless, creating their own scouting equivalent will allow them to define and apply those values independent of the BSA’s changing views.

The Mormon church has criticized the BSA for similar compromises in the past. In 2015, it announced it was “deeply troubled” by the “admission of openly gay leaders,” and said the change meant its “century-long association with Scouting will need to be examined.” Two years later, it withdrew from the BSA’s Varsity and Venture programs for boys aged 14-18.

The BSA convinced the church to stay with assurances that it could still choose troop leaders aligned with its values, but religious conservative leaders said it should have pulled out entirely.

“The BSA is in league with the devil, ever since they equivocated on their godly moral values,” Stephen Graham of the Utah-based Standard of Liberty told LifeSiteNews at the time, “and so why would you ever want to associate with them anymore?”

The BSA’s acceptance of openly-homosexual troop leaders followed its 2013 decision to allow openly-homosexual boys to join, despite previously maintaining that “homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath and Scout Law to be morally straight and clean in thought, word, and deed.” Last year, it began accepting transgender members, for the stated purpose of conforming with laws and social norms “interpreting gender identity differently” than biological sex.

For years, feminists and pro-homosexual activists have pressured the Boy Scouts to accept female and LGBT members, and the BSA’s acquiescence appears to be due to a combination of that pressure and declining membership and revenue. The Mormon Church has faced similar pressure for refusing to embrace same-sex “marriage.”

The LDS Church plans to provide updates on its New Children and Youth Development Initiative at this webpage. Several Christian organizations, such as American Heritage Girls and Trail Life USA, have also risen in the past several years to offer more traditional alternatives to the BSA and the Girl Scouts, the latter of which has embraced the pro-abortion cause in several ways.

[ConjunctionJunction]

I think the LDS church does know that the BSA’s open doors to girls cannot be closed again, and that’s why they are leaving the BSA.

[nickedknack]

Homosexual leaders and members, yes. Females, no. Says more about the LDS leadership than that of the Boy Scouts.

BTW, even when I was in scouting many moons ago, BSA developed a relationship with GSUSA whereby high school age male and female scouts could be in a combined Explorer Post for civic and social purposes. I was ok with that, as the, uh, sap was rising at that point, and getting to be near girls was ok.

[cyclotic]

Do you have anything to attribute that statistic? If true, that would be huge.

However, people don’t usually inform the organization they are quitting, they just leave.

I suspect the number will be huge of boys who don’t register again in September.

I’m with Trail Life. I’ve had several inquiries this week to join our troop.

[wally_bert]

No doubt.

[mason-dixon]

As a longtime former Scout the glory years for the program were the 1950’s & 1960’s with a huge Boomer membership base. My bet is there membership numbers have been tanking & going PC Lib is the only way to appeal to a new base. )-:

[43north]

I got that number from a Mormon I work with. He may have exaggerated a little...

[NohSpinZone]

Who knew Peter Brady would be clairvoyant?

[tbw2]

Conservative Boy Scout Alternatives
https://wehavekids.com/youth-programs/Conservative-Boy-Scout-Alternatives

[P-Marlowe]

I think LDS membership is around 18-20% of the BSA. Still pretty huge, though.

But they only represent about 1% of the population. For the LDS the BSA was an integral part of their church program. This will literally kill the BSA.

The left is committed to the destruction of Western Civilization. The BSA, by committing suicide, has joined that crusade.

[ConjunctionJunction]

Yes, I agree. The BSA seems to think that they will be able to make up for the loss in membership by the rest of the population, but when you alienate your core membership, I don’t see that happening.

[MosesKnows]

Where does this leave the Girl Scouts? Is there a merge in the works?

Where does this leave the Cub Scouts?

Where does this leave the Brownies?

What part wasn't working?

What does this fix? Is there a new Scouts motto; if it's not broke fix it until it is.

Do you know what I think…perhaps not but I have a hunch there are taxpayer funds available in some fashion.

[cherry]

"Scouts BSA has opened the door to girls and that door cannot be closed."

lets be honest...they opened their door to HOMOSEXUALS, who are male...

stop blaming little girls...

the truth is, they were forced to open their doors...

[cherry]

its curious too that no big outcry was heard when the Campfire GIRLS opened their doors to boys...

and so many freepers laugh when boys are pretending to be girls and win girls championships in sports...

if we are going to be outraged, can we at least be outraged consistently?

[Blue House Sue]

Where did I blame the girls?

[ConjunctionJunction]

"Where does this leave the Girl Scouts? Is there a merge in the works?"

According to the BSA, they tried to have talks with the GSUSA, but the GSUSA was not interested. IMO, the GSUSA (at the national level) has been taken over by radical feminazis and partnered with Planned Parenthood, so I'm glad they didn't try to merge. I do wish they would have tried talking with another group (American Heritage Girls, perhaps), though.

"Where does this leave the Cub Scouts?"

The Cub Scouts are quasi co-ed as of January 15th of this year. I say "quasi", because Cub Scout packs (units) are allowed (at least for now) to be all girl, all boy, or co-ed (separated in small groups by grade and gender).

"Where does this leave the Brownies?"

Brownies hasn't changed, as far as I know. But now they will have to compete with Cub Scouts for girl members.

"What part wasn't working?"

Loss of membership, relentless SJW activism (next to go will be the duty to God requirement - the BSA will be forced to be "inclusive" and allow atheists), bad finances (part due to sexual assault lawsuits, and part due to the huge costs of The Summitt, that has a big balloon payment coming due soon).

"What does this fix? Is there a new Scouts motto; if it's not broke fix it until it is."

It will make some people happy (those who want girls to be able to join Boy Scouts and earn the Eagle Scout rank), but it's not going to make up for the loss in membership by the LDS or other members who disagree with the change.

[davidwendell]

This amounts to about $13,500,000 lost in annual revenue just in dues alone.