Well, it was the district chairman of the Seattle area Boy Scouts who made this statement:
The District Chairman, Glen Schmidt, reportedly said, "I asked scouts during the training if they believe in god and if they don't I boot them out. In order for scouts to become good citizens they must believe in god."
Schmidt then continued, "Anyone that doesn't believe in god isn't a good citizen." He delivered a homily stating that if an Atheist happened to find a wallet laying on the ground, they would "pick it up (and) plunder the money."
You can call the statement a poor example that never should have been uttered, but I think it exactly reflects the ignorance/bigotry of the Boy Scout organization. If they did not believe that at the very top of the organization, they would not have the exclusion of atheists as their policy. I don't care if they want to run such an organization as a private club, but it has no place in our schools or parks at public expense, in my opinion. What is your position on this part of the discussion?
I'm not sure why you think Boy Scouts are too young to be gay. There is considerable evidence that sexuality is fixed by very early childhood, if not in utero. Most gay children when interviewed report always feeling different. It is not a lifestyle choice--why on earth would anyone choose a lifestyle that leads to heightened rates of alcoholism and drug addiction, rejection by their families, and incidences of harassment and even deadly violence against them. Does this sound rational?
Atheism is a choice of belief systems. Pedophiles absolutely ruin the lives of the children they prey on. What they do is not only undesirable because we say it is. It is rape (and sometimes murder). How are these these things in any way morally equivalent? I don't understand at all. |
