<div dir="ltr"><div>"What I don't understand is that there are a lot of "immoral" activities besides "homosexuality" and atheism (neither one of which I consider to be genuinely immoral). Why not explicitly list them all? You could apparently be a thief, a liar, a rapist, etc. and the scouts don't give a damn. That's why the restrictions are/were prejudicial in my view."</div>
<div> </div><div>Joe:</div><div> </div><div>When you join the Scouts you take an oath to "Do Your Best" to abide by a code described in the Scout Oath and Law.</div><div> </div><div>The twelve points of the Scout Law would seem to implicitly preclude membership for rapists, thieves, etc. I will concede that is not explicit exclusion, as their current stance against homosexual leaders is.</div>
<div> </div><div>Having spent nearly 10 years as a Scouting professional, and now serving as one of the top local district leaders, I could go into great amounts of detail about many Scouting related topics, but I will graciously save you from the boredom. Suffice it to say that most of their stances have to do with how they are structured. They are essentially a franchise, and they license out the rights to use their program to local organizations. Like all franchises, those organizations own the local group, but agree to abide by Scouting policies. Once you realize that most (75-80%) Scouting groups are "owned" by churches (Some of the largest users of the program are the Catholic, LDS, Methodist and Lutheran churches), it becomes clear why they take certain stances.</div>
</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Joe Campbell <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:philosopher.joe@gmail.com" target="_blank">philosopher.joe@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div>It is funny that you ask that, Wayne! Here is the BSA's statement on the matter:<br><br>The BSA maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen
without recognizing an obligation to God. In the first part of the Scout
Oath or Promise the member declares, "On my honor I will do my best to
do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law."<br><br></div>So technically, you can't be an atheist and a boy scout.<br><br><br></div><div>What I don't understand is that there are a lot of "immoral" activities besides "homosexuality" and atheism (neither one of which I consider to be genuinely immoral). Why not explicitly list them all? You could apparently be a thief, a liar, a rapist, etc. and the scouts don't give a damn. That's why the restrictions are/were prejudicial in my view.<br>
</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="h5">On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Wayne Price <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bear@moscow.com" target="_blank">bear@moscow.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid"><div><div class="h5"><div style>Tom,<div><br>
</div><div>I hate to admit this, but we agree! Now comes the question of why this sponsorship was afforded to a private organization in the first place by a branch of government, like the Sheriff's department, subsidized by taxes? </div>
<div><br></div><div>I seriously run into 1st amendment issues, with a government agency, supported by tax dollars, sponsoring ANY group who's basic principles require an oath to " do my duty to God".</div><div>
Does this mean that those who, for what ever reason, do not believe in "God" are not welcome as they cannot take such an oath in good conscience?</div><span><font color="#888888"><div><span style="font-family:Verdana,"Arial Black","Helvetica Black",sans-serif;font-size:14px"><h2>
<font color="#144fae"><br></font></h2></span></div><div><br></div><div>Wayne</div></font></span><div><div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><div>
<div>On Jun 7, 2013, at 9:07 AM, Tom Hansen wrote:</div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="auto"><div>Wayne Price inquires:</div><div><br></div><div><span>"</span><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">And before some of the so called liberals on the list accuse me of advocating one way or the other, does a sponsor (who ever that sponsor is) have the right to bow out of a program that doesn't share it' s core beliefs?"</span></div>
<div><span><br></span></div><div><span>NOT if that sponsor is publiclly subsidized, like a county sheriff's office by taxes.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>If a private entity wishes to withdraw its support for ANYTHING . . . so what!<br>
</span><br><div>Seeya at the Wingding, Moscow, because . . .</div><div><br></div><div>"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/" target="_blank">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div>
<div> </div><div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"<span style="font-size:medium">There's room at the top they are telling you still</span><span style="font-size:medium"> </span></div>
<span style="font-size:medium">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill </span><br style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-size:medium">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><font size="3"><span><br>
</span></font></div><div><font size="3"><span>- John Lennon<br></span></font><div> </div></div><div><br></div></div><div><br>On Jun 7, 2013, at 8:57 AM, Wayne Price <<a href="mailto:bear@moscow.com" target="_blank">bear@moscow.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br></div><blockquote type="cite">And before some of the so called liberals on the list accuse me of advocating one way or the other, does a sponsor (who ever that sponsor is) have the right to bow out of a program that doesn't share it' s core beliefs?</blockquote>
</div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><div class="im">=======================================================<br>
List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>
<a href="http://www.fsr.net" target="_blank">http://www.fsr.net</a><br>
mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com" target="_blank">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
=======================================================<br></div></blockquote></div><br></div>
<br>=======================================================<br>
List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>
<a href="http://www.fsr.net" target="_blank">http://www.fsr.net</a><br>
mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
=======================================================<br></blockquote></div><br></div>