LDS Church Re-evaluating Scouting Program (official statement)

lds.org ^ | LDS CHURCH

[Ripliancum]

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement today after a vote on a policy change by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board to admit openly gay leaders:

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is deeply troubled by today’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board. In spite of a request to delay the vote, it was scheduled at a time in July when members of the Church’s governing councils are out of their offices and do not meet. When the leadership of the Church resumes its regular schedule of meetings in August, the century-long association with Scouting will need to be examined....

...Thr admission of openly gay leaders is inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church and what have traditionally been the values of the Boy Scouts of America.

As a global organization with members in 170 countries, the Church has long been evaluating the limitations that fully one-half of its youth face where Scouting is not available. Those worldwide needs combined with this vote by the BSA National Executive Board will be carefully reviewed by the leaders of the Church in the weeks ahead.”

[Elsie]

I imagine the LDS will probably expand their Duty to God program that is currently their religious award ...

But WHICH 'god'?

[Elsie]

Mormons I know & have known tend to live a more virtuous and “morally straight” life than most of us.

You must move among a VERY select group of them.

This place is FULL of MORMONs!!

[Elsie]

Not to hijack the thread, but the LDS and mainline Christian churches view each other with skepticism based on teachings/doctrine.

At the very least...

 

 

Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (The Seer, p. 255).

 

 

---

Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).

Joseph Smith: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270).

 

 

 

Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).

 

 

 

 

Orson Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses , vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (Journal of Discourses , 18:172).

 

 

President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (Journal of Discourses , 10:127).

 

 

 

James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182).

 

 

 

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (Doctrines of Salvation, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, p.282).

 

 

 

More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, p.316).

 

 

 

President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).

 

 

President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 2, p.196).

---

---

Mormonism is not Christianity. FYI -->

Christian churches teach belief in God as an eternal, self-existent, immortal being, unfettered by corporeal limitations and unchanging in both character and nature. In recent years, several Christian denominations have made studies of Mormon teaching and come to the conclusion that there are irreconcilable differences between LDS doctrine and Christian beliefs based on the Bible.

• Statement of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
• Statement of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Statement of the Roman Catholic Church
• Statement of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Statement of the United Methodist Church
• Statement of the Assemblies of God Church

Some Mormons undoubtedly become Christians, and evidently leave the Mormon sect they were members of behind.

(Thanks to delacort for compiling this list)

Mormonism is not Christianity. FYI -->

Christian churches teach belief in God as an eternal, self-existent, immortal being, unfettered by corporeal limitations and unchanging in both character and nature. In recent years, several Christian denominations have made studies of Mormon teaching and come to the conclusion that there are irreconcilable differences between LDS doctrine and Christian beliefs based on the Bible.

• Statement of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
• Statement of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Statement of the Roman Catholic Church
• Statement of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Statement of the United Methodist Church
• Statement of the Assemblies of God Church

[Elsie]

The insignia patch they use is quite interesting.

Ok; let's see it!

[AppyPappy]

An 18 year-old cannot share a tent with a minor.

[AppyPappy]

Our local LDS troops insisted on a separate summer camp just for LDS kids.

[Colofornian]

An 18 year-old cannot share a tent with a minor.

60 years ago, the average age of an Eagle Scout was 14.6; now it’s 17.1 (see Why are so many boys taking so much longer to reach Eagle Scout?)

This article says “more boys wait until they’re 17 years and 11 months old to finish the journey”...

Boy, so glad we have people pointing out that 30+-day difference.

[Colofornian]

So...per Boy Scouts’ “Youth Protection” policies...can a just -turned 15 yo be sleeping in the same tent with a 17-year, 11-month Boy Scout? (Yup)

[AppyPappy]

They can because they are both minors. But that is not usually how it works. If a kid is openly gay, a Scout can just refuse to share the tent with them.

I’ve had gay Scouts(although they were closeted). I never saw any inclination towards wanting to have sex with the other boys. It’s a little too open for intimacy. Gay kids tend to be preyed upon by older men so they don’t have time for kids. Scouting was their “normal” time, their chance to be with men who weren’t perverts.

[Colofornian]

If a kid is openly gay, a Scout can just refuse to share the tent with them.

AP, there's two sides to this:

On the one hand, BSA Youth Protection policies say, "Buddies should know and be comfortable with each other...No youth should be forced into or made to feel uncomfortable by a buddy assignment."
Source: http://www.scouting.org/Training/YouthProtection.aspx

That sounds all nice & sensitive, right?

But earlier in the same graph, we see:

"The Buddy System SHOULD be used at all times. The Buddy System is a safety measure for all Scouting activities."

IoW, somebody HAS to "buddy up" with an openly gay Boy Scout. (Otherwise that word "should" is meaningless)

So, there ya go. Boy Scouts of America policies allow for 17 yo, 11-month BS to go on overnight outings and "buddy up" with 15 yo.

(And, of course, nobody talks about what BSA is "setting up" when two openly gay 17 yo hook up/buddy up in a tent)

(So much for BSA "safety" measures...perhaps their next "safety measure" is to start providing condoms in tents)

[dfwgator]

If a kid is openly gay, a Scout can just refuse to share the tent with them.

Ha ha ha ha, yeah right. Now he'd get kicked out for being a "hater."

[AppyPappy]

We only made small Scouts share a tent. The older Scouts refuse to share tents.

[Colofornian]

We only made small Scouts share a tent. The older Scouts refuse to share tents.

Sorry, but a "buddy system" can't be operative if it's only used part-time:

"The Buddy System SHOULD be used at ALL times. The Buddy System is a safety measure for all Scouting activities."
http://www.scouting.org/Training/YouthProtection.aspx

So your locals bucked the system & policy guidelines.

Other leaders may feel they don't have that option of selectly choosing which policies they will follow, and which they will toss to the wind.

[twister881]

Grossly unfair. Utah’s population of ~3M is 60%+ LDS. It’s not unexpected that there would be Mormons incarcerated in the state penn. Statistics & demographics I’ve reviewed show low rates of crime, drug & alcohol abuse, out-of-wedlock births, welfare dependency, etc. I’m not LDS, nor would I want to be, but can’t draw conclusions from a posted photo.

BTW, what data do you have about LDS criminial activity in UT?

[Elsie]

I’m not LDS, nor would I want to be, but can’t draw conclusions from a posted photo.

And I cannot draw conclusions from anecdotal stories.

That would be unfair.

[Elsie]

BTW, what data do you have about LDS criminial activity in UT?

There folks might have the information you wish...

[twister881]

I already have it; did my research. Where’s yours?

[AppyPappy]

We never used the buddy system in tents. Most of our tents are single person tents.
The molestation problem is usually not connected to outed homosexuals but garden variety perverts who will do anyone and anything. The molester will be the person you don’t suspect.
The problem with gay Scoutmasters is their morality.

[Colofornian]

Well, now you've switched the subject back to homosexual leaders, whereas the last several posts focused on potential open almost 18 yo scouts themselves:

The problem with gay Scoutmasters is their morality

(Oh, & now "morality" is an apparent non-issue for an Eagle Scout a month away from turning 18? And here I thought all along that morality was something Scout leaders were trying to ingrain in youth. My bad.)

[Elsie]

I already have it; did my research. Where’s yours?

I didn't say I had any; but directed the question to those who probably do.

Can you wait for them to reply?

Do you want to post yours while we are waiting?