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Secular Group Questions Why Boy Scouts Won't Accept Atheists After Lifting Ban on Gays
Christian Post ^ | 06/25/2013 | Stoyan Zaimov

Posted on 06/25/2013 2:12:09 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, one of the largest nonprofit secular groups in America, ran an ad on Sunday in The New York Times asking why the Boy Scouts of America is maintaining its ban on nonreligious members after having changed its policy to now accept gay members. A pro-family group believes FFRF is right in its questioning.

"The bottom line is, Scouting has now removed any logical or legal basis for protecting against the inclusion of openly gay scout masters, so in a sense this group is perfectly correct," Rob Schwarzwalder, senior vice president for the Family Research Council, told The Christian Post on Tuesday.

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor argued that although the secular group is supportive of the Boy Scouts' recent decision to allow openly gay members, the question remains: "Why is it still choosing to exclude and shun nonreligious boys and their families?"

The Boy Scouts oath reads: "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." A BSA membership form also states that "no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing his obligation to God."

The cartoon that accompanies the FFRF ad depicts a Boy Scout looking at the badges on his uniform, saying, "This one's for swimming. This one's for woodcraft. This one's for religious bigotry . . ."

FFRF argued, "The intellectual rejection of claims for which there is no evidence is not only respectable, but vital to progress. What should not be respectable is treating any American, whether young or old, as a second-class citizen."

The Boy Scouts lifted its ban on openly gay youths during a meeting in May, when 61 percent of the 1,400 delegates voted in favor of a resolution to lift the ban and 39 percent voted in opposition. The ban on gay adult leaders remains.

Schwarzwalder sent CP a detailed issue brief that analyzes the Boy Scouts' decision, noting that the organization's membership stance now becomes hard to defend from a logistical basis.

"[I]t is absurd for Scouting to have adopted the new policy and concurrently assert that homosexual men are more of an inherent threat to, or more undesirable roles models for, boys. As anyone familiar with Scouting knows, older boys mentor and lead younger boys in Cub Scout dens and Boy Scout troops. If a self-professed gay teenager is a good role model for boys up to the age of 17 years, 365 days, why does his example suddenly become untenable for boys the day he turns 18?" the brief notes.

The conclusion of the brief, written by Schwarzwalder, states that the new policy now creates mandatory exposure of boys to homosexuality.

FRC predicts: "The entry of 'avowed' homosexual Scout leaders into the organization; a loss of parental control in the way their sons are familiarized with issues of sexual intimacy and controversy; and the decline of Scouting as an institution, given the hundreds of thousands of families that now will leave Scouting."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: atheism; boyscout; bsa; ffrf; gays; homosexuality
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To: Bryanw92

Better late than never.


21 posted on 06/25/2013 2:42:22 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: SeekAndFind

domino number 1 - gay scouts
domino number 2 - atheists scouts
domino number 3 - transgender scouts
domino number 4 - [perversion of the month]


22 posted on 06/25/2013 2:47:46 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: SandRat

and so it starts, people still live in denial that they think if they are nice and appease these people then it will be alright, it wont;

They said it was the private business then civil unions, then marriage, then adoption, then teaching it in the schools etc.

As for the left always wading into their victim mentality then give it a rest.


23 posted on 06/25/2013 3:08:23 PM PDT by manc (Marriage =1 man + 1 woman,when they say marriage equality then they should support polygamy)
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To: SeekAndFind

The atheists now have a point... Thanks to the BSA.

I don’t think anyone realizes the legal vulnerability that BSA and churches who sponsor them have opened themselves up to now.

Because BSA is a private organization, it HAD the right to discriminate based on religious beliefs.

The new admissions policy as written effectively WAIVES the very right that was protecting them from discrimination challenges in the court.

Oh... and it doesn’t have to be the organization itself that discriminates... it could be ANY parent, leader, or administrator who says or does the wrong thing at the wrong time and upsets some openly gay kid. Hell... I really don’t see that the kid even has to be out of the closet.
ANYBODY can now sue the scouts AND/OR the churches who sponsor them.

Get ready.... here it comes.


24 posted on 06/25/2013 3:12:44 PM PDT by Safrguns (PM me if you like to play Minecraft!)
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To: SeekAndFind

FFRF is a blot on my state.


25 posted on 06/25/2013 3:13:01 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: henkster

Yeah but the “Sacrificing the Unwilling Victim to Satan” badge is going to be a doozy to accomplish.


26 posted on 06/25/2013 3:14:52 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Sooner or later the feminists will start whining that the Boy Scouts are discriminating against females and insist that girls be allowed to join.


27 posted on 06/25/2013 3:23:44 PM PDT by 3catsanadog (I love my country; I don't like its government)
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To: Secret Agent Man

Many atheists these days are no better than the Taliban. They’re an embarrassment to the non religious.


28 posted on 06/25/2013 3:26:27 PM PDT by PlanToDisappear
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>> that defames freethinkers.

These asswipes say they are fighting for the “freethinkers”. Like Hell they are. They are lying, Leftwing scumbags that are facilitating the war on Christianity.

GFY, FFRF!


29 posted on 06/25/2013 3:31:50 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: SeekAndFind
“The conclusion of the brief, written by Schwarzwalder, states that the new policy now creates mandatory exposure of boys to homosexuality.”

And this is exactly why people are dropping out in droves from the BSA. They want to protect their children.

30 posted on 06/25/2013 3:33:08 PM PDT by Gabrial (The nightmare will continue as long as the nightmare is in the Whitehouse)
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To: SeekAndFind

These groups are so funny.
This one calls itself Freedom FROM Religion. One of its board members makes this quote.
Ron Reagan, media commentator, describes himself in a radio ad he taped for FFRF as: “Unabashed atheist, not afraid of burning in hell.”
HUH? If you are an atheist why do you believe in Hell?No they are not interested in themselves being free from religion they want to prevent you from exercising YOUR right to religion..


31 posted on 06/25/2013 3:34:22 PM PDT by SECURE AMERICA (Where can I go to sign up for the American Revolution 2013 and the Crusades 2013?)
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To: SeekAndFind

Next in line: “transgenders”


32 posted on 06/25/2013 3:48:54 PM PDT by Some Fat Guy in L.A. (Still bitterly clinging to rational thought despite it's unfashionability)
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To: SeekAndFind

They are not a “secular group”. They are an atheist group determined to eliminate Christianity in America.


33 posted on 06/25/2013 3:50:30 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: SeekAndFind

In the near future, I am looking for some leaker in the BSA leadership to lets slip how much it has cost the BSA to endorse pedophile scout leaders.

That is, many millions of dollars, loss of many hundreds or thousands of scout troops, with an equal number of troops now “homeless”, having lost their church meeting places.

And once that information gets out, there is going to be a lot of serious discussion about replacing the leadership of the national organization.


34 posted on 06/25/2013 3:54:58 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Best WoT news at rantburg.com)
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To: expat2
"An atheist is a lot less dangerous to young boys than a homosexual."

Uhm, no. One is physically and psychologically harmful, while the other is harmful, to the point of spiritual death to one's soul.

For me, they are both dangerous.

35 posted on 06/25/2013 4:04:01 PM PDT by SZonian (Throwing our allegiances to political parties in the long run gave away our liberty.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Yep, absolutely right. I hope it was worth it.


36 posted on 06/25/2013 4:06:10 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater (CrossFit.com)
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To: SeekAndFind; newgeezer

I don’t think the Boyscouts organization is Christian enough to stand the pressure of the gaystapo. Satan is like a lion and he goes after the weakest prey first. I don’t expect the gays to go after the Baptists or any serious bible based churches for quite a while yet.


37 posted on 06/25/2013 4:11:23 PM PDT by DungeonMaster ( 1Cor 7:21Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it;)
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To: SeekAndFind

I look for the BS to far apart eventually. Crap like this always brings down good things.


38 posted on 06/25/2013 4:52:27 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (0bama's agenda—Divide and conquer seems to be working.)
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To: Secret Agent Man

Anton LaVey was the founder of the “Church of Satan”

The final last words of Anton LaVey before his death were:
“What have I done, there is something very wrong.”

Sure would be interesting to provide a “near death” experience to these atheists and record their comments.

One can dream...


39 posted on 06/25/2013 5:17:44 PM PDT by GunsAndBibles (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing)
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To: GunsAndBibles

we’ve had atheists die and come back and tell others what they remember while they were clinically dead. none of them have ever painted a bright picture, all the descriptions are very similar and terrifying. all the ones i’ve ever heard tell their story now believe in Jesus Christ as their personal savior.


40 posted on 06/25/2013 5:23:41 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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