Posted on 03/15/2005 10:22:16 AM PST by TheEaglehasLanded
ACLU threat causes Boy Scouts to drop public school ties Mar 9, 2005 By Jeff Robinson
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The Boy Scouts of America is removing the charters of thousands of scouting units from public schools after an American Civil Liberties Union threat to sue taxpayer-funded institutions that charter BSA units.
The ACLU sent a letter to the Boy Scouts of America in February threatening legal action against public schools and other governmental agencies that charter Boy Scout groups on grounds that their sponsorship amounts to religious discrimination and violates the separation of church and state.
Boy Scouts open their meetings by holding three fingers aloft and repeating an oath in which members vow their allegiance to God and country, resolve to help others and commit to keeping themselves morally straight. Central to the BSA's stated mission is character development and values-based leadership training.
ACLU leaders view these conservative emphases as warrant for legal action, according to documents on the ACLU website.
While BSA is continuing to assess the number of Boy Scout and Cub Scout units that will be affected, BSA national spokesman Gregg Shields said units whose charters will be pulled from public schools would number in the thousands. BSA is America's largest youth organization that includes thousands of units and 1.3 million adult volunteers.
Defending against a wave of ACLU lawsuits would cost schools untold thousands of dollars, Shields said. Instead of risking financially draining litigation, the BSA is pulling scout units from schools as a matter of stewardship, he said.
"We obviously don't want that [expensive lawsuits against schools] to happen," Shields said. "Instead, the Boy Scouts have tried to protect the resources of our education partners by moving our charter from public schools to other community-based organizations such as parent-teacher organizations or Salvation Army units or nearby religious organizations."
Shields said the Boy Scouts of America is counting on community organizations such as churches to take up the charters of scouting units that have been removed from public schools and other governmental organizations.
Removal of a scouting unit's charter from a school will not necessarily remove its presence from the school, Shields said, noting that groups will still have access to public school facilities; they just won't be chartered by the schools.
"Boy Scout troops will still have the same rights as any other community-based group to meet in school buildings, but the charter will not be held by the school administration," he said.
"We hope to make this a seamless transition that won't even be noticed by the youth and barely noticed by our 1.3 million generous volunteers who give their time to help American youth," Shields said.
Shields said community groups already have begun to fill the void left by the shift from public school charters. While many churches already sponsor Cub Scout packs, Shields urges many others to get involved in all levels of scouting, an institution whose core values can fit well within the standards of most conservative evangelical congregations.
Churches can help in two ways, he said: by seeking to pick up a scout unit charter from a local school or by starting a new scout troop. He pointed out that charters involve very little money and merely provide individual units with an official place to meet and organize their activities.
"[Chartering a scouting unit] is not a complicated process," Shields said. "Many churches find scouting so in line with the mission of the church that they'll use Boy Scouting as an auxiliary to their youth program.... The values of the Boy Scouts certainly fit well with my church and I think they would most others."
The ACLU's threat also precludes other government organizations such as police, fire and recreation departments from holding charters for scouting units. BSA will seek groups such as fire and police department auxiliaries to pick up these charters, Shields said. But far more scout units are chartered by public schools than other governmental agencies, he said.
The latest threat of litigation is the latest chapter in a 25-year assault the ACLU has waged against the Boy Scouts. The ACLU has sued BSA 14 times over the past 25 years using similar accusations, Shields said.
The most widely publicized case involved a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2000 upholding a New Jersey troop's removal of an assistant scoutmaster after it became known that the man was an avowed homosexual. Despite the legal victory, the ACLU and other scouting opponents have continued their efforts across the country.
Last fall, the ACLU threatened to sue the U.S. Department of Defense for chartering BSA units, causing the Pentagon to drop its BSA sponsorships.
By attempting to remove Boy Scouts from public schools, the ACLU is attempting to undermine an organization that has exerted an overwhelmingly positive influence on millions of school-aged children, Shields said.
"For decades, many, many school administrators, teachers and parents have recognized the benefits of having a scouting program in their institutions," he said. "Those involved in scouting have become better citizens and students because of the opportunity.
"However, the ACLU has ignored the schools' and the parents' rights to choose to participate or not in Boy Scouts. No one is forced to join Boy Scouts. Let's say a child has parents who are atheists. Nobody will force that child to join the Boy Scouts. Most Americans and the vast majority of parents value their freedom to choose [to participate in] the Boy Scouts and [support] the values they stand for." --30--
Maybe it'll be the last straw to encourage people to pull their kids out of public and into private schools though.
If you really think about this it is really giving the old one finger salute to the ACLU! Boy Scouts is basically saying if your gonna sue us we'll transfer the charter to private organizations that will then still be able to hold meetings in the public scruels! Quite brilliant if you ask me since it negates the ACLU's threat and tells them to go pound sand, we are still gonna use the facilites and there isn't a thing you can do about it now!
Don't be too hard on them. They've been fighting the ACLU for a long time. They do have just as much right to the public taxpayer supported facilities....but the Supreme Court only barely allowed them the right to ban homosexual scoutmasters within their own ranks. They are probably just low on money and energy. I don't blame them. It's sad, but it's the ACLU we should be calling. Blame them and the activist judges who enable them.
As an Eagle Scout whose troop is chatered by a public school, this is an outrage! I do not want to see the Boy Scouts cave in to the fascists!
We have several interest groups who can raise money for the scouts-- the American Center for Law and Justice, the Beckett Fund for Religious Libertery, just to name two, not to mention millions of people who would line up to donate to the defense fund.
FReeping BSA is not the answer. Their response seems reasonable, a bit cowardly, but reasonable, considering the financial drain fighting this would cause on the program. FReeping the ACLU on the other hand won't accomplish much either.
Get your local VFW's, K of C's, American Legion's and other private organizations to Charter a Troop or Pack as quickly as possible to make the transition seamless.
Supporting the BSA as an institution directly with your contributions as opposed to giving to the United Way is another method of poking a stick in the eye of the libs.
Cheers!
SE-576 / Bobwhite
Bout Scout Oath:
"On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country; to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; and to keep myself phyiscally strong, mentally awake, and morally striaght."
So they object to the phrase "God and country" yet students across the entire country recite the Pledge of Allegiance which states, "one naiton, under God" this is a double standard.
People could call their local council and ask how they could help.
ACLU has, however, come out strong in support of pedophiles.
The ACLU is a threat to America. Its not American and it sure does not protect out civil liberties.
It's the schools, not the scouts that will lose. Most of the schools simply provide a place for meetings to take place. In return for this "sponsoring", the scouts perform significant services for the schools. Many Eagle projects are responsible for upgrading of school grounds and recreational equipment. Scouts frequently participate in school fund-raising events, and provide for many valuable after-school activities for the students who choose to become scouts. Few organizations offer more to the community than the local scout packs, troops and explorer units.
Any seasoned scout leader can find a new meeting place, but the big losers are the school and its students.
The ACLU has no interest in students and the values they can learn while participating in scouting. They are simply interested in their relentless war against God and the straight American.
that's it I am donating my old car to the scount and will tell them to fight the ACLU. this crap has got to stop!!
Why do you never hear of the ACLU going after the Girl Scouts? Are they afraid to be labeled sexist?
As a former Boy Scout I am speechless.. That the communist left has this much power.. Myself I think a drift to a more pure democracy would be the answer;in that way more sane voices would be heard Via votes.. It's ludicrous that the 12-14% filthy Heathens among us hold the rest hostage to their perverted whining.
It's not the BSA that's caving in; it's the schools. The BSA rightly figures that when the ACLU starts filing against the schools, the schools will settle, just like the City Council of San Diego did when faced with the suit over Balboa Park, and would also be forced to pay the ACLU legal fees. This way, the ACLU gets none of the schools' (and thus, your) money, and the transition of the unit charters can be planned rather than helter-skelter.
The units, as per Federal law (see the Equal Access Act) will still be able to use the schools.
Folks, let me say this for the BSA. I was a scout and my church is in the process of becoming a charter organization for a cub scout pack, with the anticipation that we will move a boy scout troop into our walls as well. It is one of, if not THE best organization for boys out there.
It is truly sad that the ACLU has taken the Supreme Court victory that the BSA won a few years ago and made it the rallying cry for their personal vendetta against the BSA. They have waged an all-out war against the BSA and this is the latest in that war.
Now, before folks get too worked up about this move, look at it this way: The BSA depends HEAVILY on the schools to recruit boys into their ranks. If they don't make this move, the school could be forced to remove them altogether. By voluntarily moving troops out of the school and into private organizations, like churches, the BSA is taking away a valuable tool the ACLU has to use against both the BSA and their life-blood.
Make no mistake about it, the BSA IS fighting back. They have countersued in San Diego and elsewhere and are hitting the ACLU and those who cave in to their threats with both barrels. I suggest, if you REALLY want to make some noise, find out who the organizations and municipalities are that have caved to the ACLU and let your voices be heard. The United Way is one of the biggest to abandon the BSA recently. I stopped giving to them when they did and I know many people who did the same thing. If Freepers want to help the BSA, don't start trashing them over this. This is one battle in a long war. They have to do whatever they can to offset the ACLU's moves because the ACLU has endless funds right now, the BSA does not.
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