Declining to hear the pedophile-harboring Boy Scouts of America’s lawsuit, the Supreme Court lets stand a U.S. district judge’s ruling that the organization cannot lease land from the City of San Diego because it is a religious organization and there’s that separation of church and state thing. The Boy Scouts denies this label and, reports the AP, “say they have no theology and only hold the position that children should ‘do duty to God’ to become productive citizens.” Oh, and the “no gays” thing.
Paschal
A case of wanting to have your cake and eat it.
Lanjier
When they want to kick the gays out, they scream, “We are private, not public, and those are our beliefs!” When they want to use public property, they scream, “We are public in nature, and the religious beliefs shouldn’t count!” So much for integrity.
Baxter
It’s kind of hard to argue that you’re not a religious organization when you kick out atheists.
carsen tyler
I don’t know but when I was a Venture Scout, which is a part of BSA for anyone 14 up, we had religious badges and they had them for all the major religions. So I don’t see how they can get away with saying they are not religious. Ugh, I am still annoyed about waiting to turn 14 to join because I always wanted to be a boy scout when I was little only to get kicked out 2 years later when they found out I was a lesbian. But to this day they still want me to help drive the scouts to campsites and maintain the hall they use.
Steve
The BSA has previously claimed, in the Dale case and others, that they are a religious organization. For them to claim otherwise now is a plain admission that they lied to the Court in those previous cases. Or, it is a plain admission that they are lying in this case. The double-talk is so thick, it is hard to know which.
It is unfortunate that the BSA has allowed itself to be controlled by the right-wing religious zealots. The “methods” of scouting, and especially the outdoor program, are very effective to develop a young mans independence and confidence, in addition to teaching many useful skills, and preparing him to make his way in the world. By allowing the religious nonsense to overshadow that real, pragmatic purpose of the organization, the leaders have done great harm to a great many young men.