Would you participate in an organization that discriminates against homosexuals, atheists and agnostics?

Nope. Not just because boy scouts have been accused (and I believe in some cases to be true) of all of these things but also because they’re no co-ed.

That is part of why I could/will never be a Republican.

But you forgot one; the BSA will kick you out for eating Brownies ;)

Seriously though, I have to say that it saddens me that discrimination of all sorts is still alive and well.

As an agnostic-atheist homosexual, no, I really wouldn’t. It doesn’t matter “what they stand for” because as far as I’m concerned, part of what they stand for is discrimination against homosexuals. I mean, it’s the typical 1 Corinthians/Leviticus Christian stance on homosexuality, so their policy doesn’t surprise me considering the Christian influence, but considering that I am not a Christian heterosexual, I take issue with their stances and I would not support them.

@DominicX Oops, I meant to ask if you care more about what they learn at the local level (non-discriminatory) or do you care what they stand for (discriminatory)?

@fluthernutter Yeah, in that case, I’m not sure. Meaning that, I’m not entirely sure what I’d do if my son really wanted to join despite the fact that I oppose some things about them. I don’t know enough about it to know the benefits of it, but I probably wouldn’t forbid him from joining if he really wanted to and I thought that he would benefit from it. It’s not as if they preach anti-homosexuality to the kids themselves…

I think I would allow my son to join the Boy Scouts, as long as they weren’t exposed to or taught the discrimination. The potential benefits for him would outweigh my political stance, in this case. I think.

More or less exactly what Dominic just said.

Nope.

I would not.
In fact, two days ago I chewed my husband out for buying from a fundraiser for the BSA. As a parent, luckily, we’re past the stage where the boy scouts look appealing… so I don’t have to make that decision.

Not knowingly.

I understand everyone’s dislike of an organization that promotes hatred and distrust. But isn’t becoming involved an effective way to begin the change we wish to see? By separating ourselves into us v them we are making ourselves no better.

No. Among other things, they are likely a bunch of stuffy dorks that wouldn’t be fun to joke around with.

@GracieT – I’m an atheist. From what I have read on their website, I am not able to be part of the organization.

@GracieT When did boy scouts become something we’re trying to ‘be better at’? I have enough anti-homophobic projects going on to bother about each organization.

If I did not care for their policies, I would not be involved or have any kid of mine involved. That is what is good about the US, you don’t have to be involved in something you do not believe in, or can’t support. BSOA are a private organization as NOW is, would someone suggest to them they allow men to do this and that within their organization because some men will get hurt feelings if they could not?

Nope, I’ll just my kids how to camp and tie knots :)

@Hypocrisy_Central It’s a valid criticism of NOW that they’re quite anti-men in some ways. I make that claim all the time.

My children are in it. They do live with their uncle and his homosexual spouse, which is legal in this state. They rent a room from me, and they often drop them off at the meetings.

But isn’t one of the issues with the BSA that they are a private organization, with religious affiliation… but they accept government funding and often use school grounds for their meetings?

That is actually why my boys are not in scouting. My family is huge into the Boy Scouts, my dad is an eagle scout and my nephews are all into it. I
refuse to allow my boys to join for the reasons you mentioned
plus the fact that they are not
all that fond of including young
people with disabilities in troops. They have “special” troops for scouts with disabilities.

@SuperMouse Awesome. ~

Nope.
Why do you think I left the Church in the first place?
Oh and that whole god not being real thing…

Only if I can get with a soccer MILF.

Edit: I forgot I answered the question already. Oops.

@Jeruba If you found out after you had already joined, would you remove your kids?

The BSA are scary, they now have a merit badge for mastering the Industry propaganda of DRM Digital Rights Management. So you get scouts spouting things like “copying that tune is a crime” and “sharing that DVD is stealing” with as much authority as they used to speak about how to tie a clove hitch, make a splint out of a cardboard box, or how to deploy the left-handed smoke-shifter.

That’s on top of the prejudiced, misogynist, non-secular BS in the BSA already well cited above.

Even if your local den-fathers just cultivate the worthwhile community and team and individual values the scouts can learn, it would be hard to duck the association with central control to make it worthwhile.

My sister and her husband became very active in the Boy Scouts. They worked together as den leaders and scout master, and made sure the discrimination part never came up.

I found the Y-Indian Guides to be much more inclusive.

I can overlook it, but no, I wouldn’t participate in it.

Absolutely. The Boy Scouts do a lot of good, and I know many atheists, Jews, and even a gay man who sent his kids to the Boy Scouts. It didn’t filter down to the local level.

No way. When approached by a BS (hm, that’s curious) recently outside a local big box store to buy something or other to support the scouts, I told him that I would not support the Boy Scouts because of their bigoted stance on several issues. I will, however, buy Girl Scout cookies etc because they have no similar bigoted positions and welcome diversity in scouting.

@Kayak8 Yes, thank goodness the Girl Scouts don’t have the same policies.
It’d be hard to hold fast to my ideals in the face of Thin Mints or Samoas.

On a serious note, that might have something to do with
how gay men are seen as a bigger threat than gay women.

Haha, the Army offers automatic advancement in rank to Eagle Scouts… would that tie the military into the discrimination as well?

@Kayak8

“I will, however, buy Girl Scout cookies etc because they have no similar bigoted positions and welcome diversity in scouting.”

I’m glad to see that. Now I can feel even less guilty when I also buy their cookies.

No I would not.

I’m an agnostic, so that precludes me from participating in an organization that discriminates against them.

If I ever use a dating service again, I’ll do my best to avoid Great Expectations, even though I supposedly paid for a lifetime membership in 1988.

Nope. Even if the local leaders were great people, I wouldn’t be able to handle the dichotomy.

I would not support an organization which was so discriminatory. I already boycott places with stances like this.

As for boy scouts, it’s much better in my country than in America, but there’s still some discrimination. I would therefore not allow any children I may have in the future to attend. As a non-heterosexual atheist, I would not allow children I was caring for to be indoctrinated by such a hateful group.

For the past couple of years, my son has been asking to join Cub Scouts. Now my other son also wants to join but I was very hesitant to sign them up for the very reasons mentioned in this question. In fact, I once asked a question about this issue myself!

To make a long story short, this year I bit the bullet and caved in to the boys’ begging and my husband’s insistence that being Cub Scouts wouldn’t turn them into raving fundamentalists. It helped when I learned that my son’s best friend’s father is the scout master or whatever you call it for his grade. My youngest son’s scout master is a mom and so far I have a good impression of her. I think when people say the BSA’s discriminatory policies don’t trickle down to the local level they are right. More importantly, I think our kids will learn from us at home and not from a guy they hike with once a month.

It does still make me a little sick to think that we are paying dues to this organization and I actually am not thrilled about the boys joining scouting. But, I am trying to focus on the positive. They are really looking forward to having fun with their friends. My husband is very excited to take the boys to the same local toy shop where his mom and dad took him to buy his badges or patches or whatever those things are. I’m sure it will be a positive experience for them. We live in a mainly liberal area and I don’t expect to hear of any discrimination, but at the first whiff of it my boys will not be scouts. I also think that by staying involved ourselves, my husband and I can reassure ourselves that the messed up policies of the national group don’t make their way to our local scout meetings.

@MissAusten Can my favorite answer thus far be someone else’s question? :)

@Simone_De_Beauvoir, to answer your question, the Boy Scouts are trying to help young men become their version of better people and citizens. Isn’t that the aim of most parents?

@GracieT: ”@Simone_De_Beauvoir, to answer your question, the Boy Scouts are trying to help young men become their version of better people and citizens. Isn’t that the aim of most parents?”

The BSA and I do not share the same views on what makes “better people and citizens”. My aim as a parent is not to instill homophobia and superstition.

@tom_g I thought they taught kids how to build fires from sticks and shit like that? Do they actually teach religion?

@FutureMemory – You can’t join in on all of that fire stuff if you’re an atheist. You can’t be a troop leader if you are an atheist or homosexual. The scout oath has kids promising to do his duty to god. I suppose once you get through the exclusionary, bigoted door you can learn all the fire building techniques.

My son has only had one meeting so far. They played Minute To Win It games and talked about upcoming events (popcorn sales, haunted house, model rockets, food pantry). There is no form to fill out that asks for religious views or sexual orientation. They don’t teach religion. I’m not a big fan of BSA at all, but I think issues like sexuality and religion are left to local scouting leaders to either address or ignore. Knowing the den leader here, I think it will be a complete non-issue. The boys said the Pledge of Allegiance and some kind of “pack law” but not the official motto.

I know it’s not much better, but joining Boy Scouts is easy. Whether or not you get to stay if you express non-Christian views or come out as homosexual is probably up to that pack’s perspective. Yes, it is outdated and stupid and a really backwards national policy for a group that is probably seeing its numbers of new members decrease annually. On the other hand, there are still plenty of Americans who agree wholeheartedly with the BSA’s national policies.

And I really kind of hope no one teaches my son how to build fires.

Who would descriminate against Agnostics? They’re like…neutral.

…And absolutely not.

@GabrielsLamb “Fence sitters” in other categories get hostile treatment from some as well. One would assume neutral would be the best position, but it seems some people really crave combat.

I have supported the Boy Scouts before they became politicised and got religion. Believe it or not, when I was a kid in the 50’s they went camping, tied knots, and learned to live in the woods and the Eagle Scouts did charity projects. My uncle and ex Army Sargent led a troop but I didn’t join, it looked too much like boot camp to me but he never brought up religion or sex in any form.

It depends. You could still participate but make it known that you do not discriminate against gay people or athiests and agnostics. This way you would be helping the organisation in a way and maybe some people would change their minds and be accepting and this would be a good thing.