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This is why you should not dare to ask me to buy anything from your adorable little Cub Scout or your oh-so-earnest Boy Scout. As an atheist, I'm not terribly offended by the exclusion of atheists from leadership roles. It's a private club with a religious philosophy, so I wouldn't be a good leader. I would have no interest in leading, either, because I would want to leave out anything relating to religion. I am, however, offended by the exclusion of atheist boys from the organization at all. I have heard stories of young boys not being welcome because they did not believe in god, which strikes me as utterly absurd because 8, 9, 10 year-old boys have surely not yet figured out what they believe. The vast majority of kids that age are just parroting what they've heard at home, so it offends me deeply to exclude the boys who parrot the "bad" things while including the boys who parrot the "good" things. Neither one of them has any real clue what they'll think when they mature and stop parroting their parents.
But I am terribly, horribly, deeply offended by the exclusion of this father from any official role with the organization. I am so beyond done with all of this nonsense about homosexuality being immoral, unclean, icky, gross, something we need to shield our kids from. Good grief, it's so ridiculous. And mean and hateful and wrong. Any father who wants to be an active participant in his son's scout group shouldn't be relegated to the role of a non-leadership "volunteer" who isn't allowed to wear a Boy Scout shirt.
As long as this remains the policy of the organization, they will not get one red cent from me. And should I ever have a child, no way in hell would I allow that child to be part of this organization (unless and until the official policy changes). I would start my own scout group. Because excluding good people just because they are gay is wrong. And I will not in any way, shape, or form support an organization that thinks otherwise.
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4 comments:
Holy crap. And here's the quote that really frosts my cupcakes:
In a telephone interview, Boy Scouts of America director of public relations Deron Smith told CNN that the discussion has no place in Scouting.
"We focus on our mission, and our mission is to take young people and prepare them for an exceptional adulthood," he said. "That's it. That's why our policy is the way it is. Our volunteer leadership has elected to keep that policy in place."
(bold and ital mine)
What about being gay excludes anyone from "an exceptional adulthood"? Someone needs to smack this self-righteous ass.
Ugh! Do they also prohibit divorced parents from having leadership roles? What if that divorce was the result of adultery? Do they exclude adulterers from helping to prepare these kids for an exceptional adulthood? How about those who fornicate, outside the bonds of heterosexual marriage?
Even if you buy this homosexuality is a sin thing, that still doesn't explain why that's the one sin that gets separated out for special condemnation.
Do the Girl Scouts have the same policy? If so, I'm going to have to stop buying their cookies.
I don't think so, not officially anyway. But anecdotes suggest they're not as gay-friendly as we might like.
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