Scouts Divided

I have to agree with those who see the BSA has disintergrated from an organization for the development of young boys into a rightwing propaganda money machine. I was amember of the Boy Scouts in what was then the Bayonne Council, which was the fourteenth such council in the country. They were sustained largely through the city itself, operating a sucessful scout camp for the boys of the City of Bayonne. By the late 80's the National Office closed the camp and stripped the sucessful council of its individual status citing economic reasons. The end result was a major drop in enrollment of boys in the organization. The quality of scouting is gone. When I was a scout it was something to be proud of. My sense of worth and self determination came from the BSA as much as it had from my parents. Even as I discovered my own sexuality, I never felt out of place in the Scouts. However, for my nephews, they found Scouting to be souless and boring, and both dropped out, the oldest had even found its negativity distasteful. I knew James Dale in college and even though I did not personally like him, I was proud of his fight to keep the Scouts open to all.

I am a female in Boy Scouting, and a member of an Eagle Board of Review. The Boy Scouts of America is a private organization and can choose to set its own standards for membership. However, I think they are just plain wrong on this. Being gay does not make one a good person, a bad person, or a sexual predator. Being gay is irrelevant to the quality of one's character. A decent, honest, hardworking person is just that, regardless of who they go home to at night.

As a former (female) employee of the BSA I can say that I feel that they are more worried about keeping the churches and those that supply them with money happy. I worked with numerous individuals that I know were gay or lesbian, but they kept it to themselves. I think it is ludicrous to ban certain individuals from this organization. Gays are no more likely to abuse a child than anyone else. I applaud the Scouts for making sure they do background checks on all leaders, but as in any organization, horrible people sneak through the cracks. Though I love the BSA, I left the organization based on the discrimination that exists. I was constantly put down for being a female in this "male" organization. I was even told by an individual that works at the National level that, "I would go far in the organization cause I was like the blacks (meaning I was a minority)". That was the day I decided that I couldn't support their cause (on top of the fact that they discriminated against gays). TO THE CHURCH THAT LOST THEIR TROOP: The charter for the Scouts puts the troop/pack in your control in the sense that all items belong to the chartering organization, not the Scouts. So essentially, they stole from you when they took your canoes, flags, etc. Those are legally your property based on the BSA charter.

As a former (female) employee of the BSA I can say that I feel that they are more worried about keeping the churches and those that supply them with money happy. I worked with numerous individuals that I know were gay or lesbian, but they kept it to themselves. I think it is ludicrous to ban certain individuals from this organization. Gays are no more likely to abuse a child than anyone else. I applaud the Scouts for making sure they do background checks on all leaders, but as in any organization, horrible people sneak through the cracks. Though I love the BSA, I left the organization based on the discrimination that exists. I was constantly put down for being a female in this "male" organization. I was even told by an individual that works at the National level that, "I would go far in the organization cause I was like the blacks (meaning I was a minority)". That was the day I decided that I couldn't support their cause (on top of the fact that they discriminated against gays). TO THE CHURCH THAT LOST THEIR TROOP: The charter for the Scouts puts the troop/pack in your control in the sense that all items belong to the chartering organization, not the Scouts. So essentially, they stole from you when they took your canoes, flags, etc. Those are legally your property based on the BSA charter.

To ConsciousStream-
Your tying of Boy Scouts of America to Larry King Shooting is, in my opinion, wrong and a liberal attempt to push your own liberal agenda, no matter the cost or who it affects. The Larry King shooting was tragic- absolutely!, but was the result of adults pushing their agenda and using a child as the means to an end. Liberal or conservative- this is the mindset of the lowest level of scum. I have 3 sons, and I pray everyday to be a good dad, and filter out what could harm them. I was an Eagle Scout in WV, and saw the effects of a homosexual/pedophile in the Scouting program who affected Scouts through an act that I have not forgotten in 34 years. I agree with the Boy Scouts of America, and their decision, and will support them in the years to come, no matter the cost. Liberal or conservative- I think our sons deserve that symbol of being a man- take a stand for what you believe in, no matter what. In this age of waffling political losers( leaders), our children deserve to see their dads take a stand.

Hey nobody77...more straight people abuse children than gays. It is common and verified knowledge. Because someone is gay DOES NOT make them an automatic pedophile. The Boy Scouts are wrong and pure hypocrites. That is why I as an Eagle Scout and my two brothers, also Eagle Scouts, mailed our badges and everything else back to BSA and will continue to oppose them at every step.

We all know that it was wrong for the Cathollic Church to allow priests to abuse children, and they did allow it, by knowing about it and not doing something to stop it. Instead they just moved these priests around and hid their dirty little secret. Well it is about time that we face the truth, the Boy Scouts of America have done the exact same thing. We had a Scoutmaster who was gay, the Councel knew it, but because he was "a good recruiter and hard worker" they hid the diryt little secret and moved him around to different troops over a 15 year period. No one knows how many Scouts he abused over those years. The BSA did nothing about it until the night before he was arrested when they had an emergency meeting to refund his membership dues so that they could tell the media that he was a "former Scoutmaster". That was almost twenty years ago, and yet to this day the BSA has never accepted any responsibility for their failure to act, nor have they made any restitution. Now they want to claim some moral high ground by declaring their organization does not accept gay men. What hypocrits. They have always allowed gay men to serve, just like the Catholic church did. The BSA should be made to pay restitution just like the churchs are. And they should admit the truth for once.

We all know that it was wrong for the Cathollic Church to allow priests to abuse children, and they did allow it, by knowing about it and not doing something to stop it. Instead they just moved these priests around and hid their dirty little secret. Well it is about time that we face the truth, the Boy Scouts of America have done the exact same thing. We had a Scoutmaster who was gay, the Councel knew it, but because he was "a good recruiter and hard worker" they hid the diryt little secret and moved him around to different troops over a 15 year period. No one knows how many Scouts he abused over those years. The BSA did nothing about it until the night before he was arrested when they had an emergency meeting to refund his membership dues so that they could tell the media that he was a "former Scoutmaster". That was almost twenty years ago, and yet to this day the BSA has never accepted any responsibility for their failure to act, nor have they made any restitution. Now they want to claim some moral high ground by declaring their organization does not accept gay men. What hypocrits. They have always allowed gay men to serve, just like the Catholic church did. The BSA should be made to pay restitution just like the churchs are. And they should admit the truth for once.

Its a bit pretencious and sad to say that "They want scouting to be as it always has been, a safe place for kids to learn archery and radio building, but also public service and generosity, loyalty and trust" message? "Gay people will rape and hurt your children and cannot be trusted!" Pretty pathetic for Americans to agree...All I say is this, its also a privite group so they are allowed to make thier own choises, but that mentality cuases the tragedy's of the Larry King shooting.

i am sick of hearing about the bible..about being gay is a sin does it not also say thal shall not judge..telling people they cant be in it because they are gay is judgeing just because someone is gay does not mean they are looking at you in that way..for you jerry j to call someone a deviant just because they are gay what makes you think you are any better than anyone else..everyone sins on a daily basis no matter who you are.people need to stop judgeing other peoples lives and worry about there own.just becaUSE SOMEONE IS GAY DOES NOT MEAN THEY SHOULD BE CAST OUT BECAUSE OF NARROW MINDED IDIOTS.

The Catholic Church lost its religious compass and allowed degenerate homosexuals to be ordained as priests and thousands of youths were destroyed both physically and emotionally/. It behooves the Boy Scouts to keep their "exclusionary" policy regarding deviants in order to save their organization from lawsuits.