Posted on 01/03/2003 8:35:59 AM PST by RonF
Darrell Lambert is prepared for a long struggle with the Boy Scouts of America, one decided by public opinion and not by lawsuits.
The 19-year-old Eagle Scout, the subject of national attention after being booted out of the organization last month for being an atheist, doesn't think his recent appeal will reverse his situation. Not soon, anyway.
Darrell Lambert of Olalla, who was kicked out of the Boy Scouts for being an atheist, has appealed the decision. But he says he won't go to court. "I'd like them to realize it is the moral thing to do."
"I think eventually the Boy Scouts will change," the Olalla teen said yesterday. "It'll just take longer than I like."
Lambert, who earned 37 merit badges in 10 years and assisted in leading a Port Orchard troop, sent his appeal last week to the Scouts' Western Region office in Tempe, Ariz. His letter started a process that likely could take months to resolve.
...
"Legally, (the Scouts) have a right to discriminate," Lambert said at a presentation on the issue yesterday. "Morally, they don't. That's what I'm fighting. They can't teach good citizenship and practice bad citizenship."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Good call. And if he insists on being a scout, why doesn't he start his own organization? Gay Scouts or God-free Scouts or something like that. It would be interesting to see how many join up and if it is still going strong after nearly a century.
The BSA has lasted 92 years with their current policies, and I don't see where their continued existence is threatened. I'm 50 years old and have spent more than 20 of those years as a registered member of the BSA, so I have spent some time observing the BSA closely.
I would think that stupidity and self-destructiveness would take less time than that to work. Perhaps you could expand on how you feel that the BSA is short-sighted, self-destructive, and stupid.
Good point. In addition to being stupid and self-destructive, they are also very slow. They will change with the times, or they will wither on the vine.
I'm going to ask my wife if I can start up a troop that will include you. Of course, I will expect to be the Scout Master {{:-)
Good people are stupid?
And I have to wonder if Lambert would agree that women have a legal right to abort, but morally they don't. I would be willing to bet he'd switch gears right quick if someone made that statement to him.
A Congressional Charter prohibits any other "boy scouts" organization. The term "boy scouts" was generic at one time. At one time, there were many different "boy scouts" organizations here. In other countries, there are still many different "boy scouts" organizations. But, in the U.S., there can be only ONE. BSA has used the charter given to it by Congress in the early 1900's to sue and then swallow-up any other scouting organization who attempts to use the same name. BSA even lays claim to the name "scout"; for example, the YMCA isn't permitted to use that word anywhere in its literature (even though "scouts" was what their "Indian guides" were supposed to be). Then, the BSA receives donations from our military (courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer); access to children in public school classrooms; a few parks are maintained for the sole use of the BSA; and a scout automatically can qualify for a level two grades higher than anyone else upon admission into the military.
Can you tell I've been reading about the BSA lately?
The BSA has been established, endorsed, and subsidized by the government. It is a federally-protected government monopoly that requires a religious test upon entrance.
Lie? Oh, no, that would violate their own principles! ;-)
It's ironic how the BSA will complain that people are trying to destroy them with lawsuits when lawsuits is exactly how the BSA got started. I was just reading that there were many other boy scouts organizations, and one was called American Boy Scouts. BSA sued ABS to make ABS change its name; it did, to United States Boy Scouts. Then BSA petitioned for the congressional charter, and then it sued USBS to get it to stop using the name "boy scouts". One source said USBS changed its name again to American Cadets but then disappeared eventually. Meanwhile, the BSA proceeded to swallow-up the other boy scouts organizations in a more "friendly" manner. In 1989, the BSA reportedly "threatened" Wilderness Scouts with a suit, though I'm not sure what is meant by that. The Wilderness Scouts still exist - I forget which state they're in.
Fortunately for us mortals, proof is not a necessary prerequisite for mankinds moral code...proof of the exhistance of GOD would be the antithesis of the idea of faith. At the end of the day, the PARADOX of GOD is critical to maintain any semblance of civility.
Van Jenerette
Good for them! Great historical tidbits- thanks.
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