GRRR Stupid Boy Scouts!!!

[irishgrl]

This excerpt is from ReligiousTolerance.org:

The organization has excluded potential members and has expelled current members who are:
bullet Members of religious organizations (or individuals with personal religious beliefs) that do not have a belief in a god. This includes Agnostics, Atheists, some Unitarian Universalists, some Buddhists, and others.
bullet Persons with minority sexual orientations, including both homosexuals and bisexuals. Indications of homosexual behavior are not needed; merely a homosexual or bisexual orientation is sufficient grounds to terminate a membership. They are not expelled because of something that they do; they are expelled because of what they are. The beliefs of the BSA go beyond even those of most conservative and some mainline Christians. They believe that both homosexual orientation and behavior is immoral.

The Girl Guides have an oath that is similar to the Boy Scouts:

"On my honor, I will try, to serve God & my country,
to help people at all times,
and to live by the Girl Scout Law."

However, since 1999, they allow individual girls to opt out of the use of the word "God." They can substitute Jehovah, the Goddess, the Great Spirit, etc. (do I sense a double standard here?) This allows girls who follow Buddhism, Humanism, Unitarian Universalism, and other faith groups to join.

The BSA does not require its members to be Christian, or even monotheistic. They allow Scouts to wear religious emblems from the Asatru, Bah'ai, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrian faiths (But NOT Wiccan however). They permitted, then cancelled, then permitted, then finally cancelled the wearing of emblems by Unitarian Universalist Boy Scouts. Buddhists, in theory, do not recognize the existence of a personal god. So taking an oath to god would seem to violate their theological beliefs. Hindus worship many gods and goddesses. Zoroastrians recognize a dual divinity - one good and one evil. Followers of Asatru recognize the existence of Norse Gods and Goddesses. It would seem that belief in multiple deities would make it difficult for a Scout to swear to love or do their duty to a single god. But somehow, these minority religions are accepted. It appears that any deity or set of deities will meet the BSA standards. (Huh! How do they explain that?)