| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Fred Goodwin, CMA" |
| Date: |
25 May 2006 07:04:32 PM |
| Object: |
Group Protests Boy Scouts Exclusionary Policies |
Group Protests Boy Scouts Exclusionary Policies
http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=9706
http://tinyurl.com/huq2b
May 25, 2006
By Eba Hamid
(AXcess News) Washington - David Knapp was 67 years old in 1993 when
three visitors to his Guilford, Conn., home informed him that he was
being kicked out of his leadership role at Boy Scouts of America.
He had joined in 1938 and was serving as a volunteer district
commissioner when the three scouting officials knocked on his door.
So why now?
Someone had written a letter to the Boy Scouts' leadership informing
them that Knapp, an Eagle Scout, was gay. He suspects it was a relative
upset over his divorce several years earlier.
"I was in the closet," Knapp said, "deep in the closet."
Now, Knapp is Connecticut state chairman for Scouting for All, a
nonprofit organization that aims to have the Boy Scouts rescind their
policies against both gay members, like Knapp, and atheist youth and
adults.
Members of Scouting for All staged an eight-hour protest Wednesday
outside the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel as some of the 3,000 people
attending the Boy Scouts' national annual meeting began to trickle in.
"We're a peaceful group, but we're not going to remain silent," said
Scouting for All President Scott Cozza. "The Boy Scouts of America will
never be the same. They're going to have to deal with this issue.
According to Scouting for All's Web site, more than 40 percent of its
members are Eagle Scouts. More than 100 of them have returned their
Eagle Scout awards either to the Boy Scouts or Scouting for All, which
is holding them in trust until the BSA's policies change, Cozza said.
"I still love scouting," Knapp said. "I still believe it's the best
youth program in the world. We need it now more than ever before."
The national spokesman for Boy Scouts of America said Scouting for All
is welcome to protest as long as the group allows the service
organization to do as it wishes.
"The Boy Scouts accepts their rights of free speech," Gregg Shields
said. "We would ask our fellow Americans to respect our right to define
our membership."
That right allows the Boy Scouts to exclude gays and atheists, said
Shields, adding that the Boy Scouts oath states: "I will do my best to
do my duty to God."
"If you want to be a Boy Scout, you must believe in God," Shields said.
"Similarly, we don't admit to our membership overtly homosexual peoples
in leadership positions," he said.
A 2000 Supreme Court ruling upheld the Boy Scouts' right to set its
membership rules. The 5-4 decision in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale
overturned a New Jersey Supreme Court decision requiring the Scouts to
readmit a gay scoutmaster.
In 2002, the Boy Scouts adopted a resolution reinforcing the group's
stance against admitting gays and atheists.
Members of Scouting for All have protested the Boy Scouts' annual
meeting since the late 1990s, Cozza said.
Also speaking at this year's rally were members of Equality Maryland;
Virginia Partisans, a gay and lesbian Democratic club; Parents,
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; the Unitarian Church of
Montclair, N.J.; and the Secular Coalition of America.
The group was to hold a candlelight vigil and walk from Dupont Circle
to the hotel late Wednesday in memory of gay, lesbian, bisexual,
transgender and atheist youth who have committed suicide.
The protest was to continue Thursday. Boy Scouts of America's
conference concludes Friday.
.
|
|
| User: "stoney" |
|
| Title: Re: Group Protests Boy Scouts Exclusionary Policies |
28 May 2006 08:41:59 PM |
|
|
On 25 May 2006 17:04:32 -0700, "Fred Goodwin, CMA" <fgoodwin@yahoo.com>
wrote in alt.atheism
Group Protests Boy Scouts Exclusionary Policies
http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=9706
http://tinyurl.com/huq2b
May 25, 2006
By Eba Hamid
(AXcess News) Washington - David Knapp was 67 years old in 1993 when
three visitors to his Guilford, Conn., home informed him that he was
being kicked out of his leadership role at Boy Scouts of America.
The bigoted and hypocritical Bull Shitters of Amerikka are cordially
invited to take this sig file to heart.
[]
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
