CANDLER PARK — One Christian minister, a lesbian who leads a congregation here, said it's time for the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay members and leaders.
For the last 103 years, the Boy Scouts of America have banned gays from joining their ranks. On Feb. 6, the organization announced that it would delay until May its decision to either continue enforcing the ban or to admit gays, which has sparked both outrage and praise from parents and those involved with Scouts.
Apostle Mena Johnson, a gay minister whose congregation of God’s Chosen Ones Ministries meets in Candler Park, said the issue is still a moral one. She said a decision to keep the ban in place would be “very discriminatory.”
“To me, it shouldn’t be any type of segregation. This same issue they had in the military is the same in the Boy Scouts. Human beings are human beings,” she said.
“God created us in His image and His likeness. If they decide they don’t want gays in the Boy Scouts, that’s their loss,” Johnson told Patch.
However, many others who sponsor Boy Scouts and say they're Christian want the ban to remain.
While the Boy Scouts' national executive board deliberated changes to allow gays for three days at the organization's headquarters, hundreds supporters rallied outside with signs that read "Don't invite sin into the camp" and "Homosexuality is a sin! BSA please resist Satan's test. Uphold the ban."
Reports, such as this one from the Associated Press, show that about 70 percent of all Boy Scouts are sponsored by religious denominations, which could completely gut the organization if they decide not to renew their sponsorships. This post from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution states that Mormons sponsor the most Boy Scouts in the nation, followed by Methodists and then Catholics– all three groups have traditionally supported the ban on gays in the organization because it lines up with their religious doctrine that homosexuality is a sin.
Non-religious-affiliated donors have vocalized to the BSA that they will pull funding of the organization if the ban continues.
The Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts released the following statement:
"While the National Board continues its discussions, I promise that the Atlanta Area Council will continue to provide the best Scouting program to as many youth in Atlanta as possible. This is an important and complex national issue, but we cannot allow a policy debate to negatively impact the quality of the program we deliver to our Scouts. They are counting on us."
East Atlanta Patch readers also spoke out in support of allowing gays into the Scouts via East Atlanta Patch's Facebook page. Here's what they said:
Michelle Smith-Patch said, "Welcome to the 21st century?"
"Good start, but they also need to lift the ban on atheists. As long as they use tax dollars, then they should not be allowed to discriminate against anyone. They currently receive about $2 million annually from the DOD, plus free use of federal lands and public buildings," said Shannon Waldrop Lee.
Others said, "Finally." and "It's about time!"
However, others in and around Atlanta, like southwest Atlanta Scoutmaster Donald Wheat said he believes homosexuality is a sin and will leave the Scouts after 46 years as a leader if the ban is lifted.
Wheat said, that, for him, the issue is a matter of morals and standing up for his beliefs. He said that the admittance of gays into Boy Scouts would mean support of homosexuality, which he said is counter to his Christian faith and to the Scout’s Oath, which requires Scouts remain “morally straight.”
What do you think? Should the Boy Scouts of America lift its ban on gay members and leaders? Tell us in the comments below.
“Either you’re going to take a stand one way or the other. As much as I would hate to give it up, I’m going to stand if I stand by myself,” Wheat said.
For those who think it is a sin, why is that particular 'sin' focused upon? It seems like people are scapegoating and deluding themselves into thinking God likes their own sins so much more than those of others, in this case gays. Are the BSA going to keep out all sinners? There won't be anyone left. Given that BSA is a multi-faith organization, contrary to popular belief, how are the Boy Scouts defining 'sin'? If the real concern is actually about predation of children, equating homosexuality with sex predation is ridiculous. People who make the horrible decision to engage in predation can be gay or straight. Our son does not go camping without one of us and we take all kinds of other precautions to protect him, wherever he is. When our Pack goes camping we follow the BSA rules designed to protect kids. We have so many families camping together it creates a supportive and safe environment. Cub Scouts is NOT a drop-your-kid-off kind of activity. It requires parent participation and oversight, therefore our kids are safe. BSA will see many families join when they lift the ban because Scouting is so fun, healthy, and educational.
I’ll tell you what God says; “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, … will inherit the kingdom of God. >>And such were some of you.<< But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 We are ALL sinners in need of a Savior. If we deny our sin then the truth is not in us. If we continue in our sin and refuse to repent, then a true Bible believing church would be justified in refusing such participation in worship until we did so. Likewise, as a private organization founded on Christian principles, it’s no different with the Scouts. They can refuse those who reject their standards without being justly accused of being “very discriminatory”. If you don’t like it, start your own scouts; you certainly have the right to do so. Trust me; we won’t cry discrimination for not letting us join.
How many of these knuckleheads will it take to convince people like this minister that the issue here is not 'fairness' (ignoring what's fair to those who want traditional relationships, as gays always do) but *youth protection". This is not negotiable.
The Boy Scouts was never meant to be a Christian organization. Lord Baden Powell founded the Scouts as explicitly non-sectarian. The divisions only began in the 1990s after Christian conservatives, and above all the Mormons, hijacked the BSA. Mormons, who represent less than 2% of the American population, now control more than a third of American Boy Scout troops. Scouts in other nations do NOT discriminate. We can each believe the other is immoral. I believe that people who drive giant gas-guzzling SUV’s are immoral. But I don’t have any desire to keep them out of the Scouts. We are a two-dad family, former Scouts. We have no objection to our kids hanging with Mormon parents or their kids. We try to respect diverse beliefs even if we do not share them. I quote Baden Powell: "Buddha has said: 'There is only one way of driving out Hate in the world and that is by bringing in Love.' Scouting's aim is to produce healthy, happy, helpful citizens, of both sexes, to eradicate the prevailing narrow self interest, personal, political, sectarian and national, and to substitute for it a broader spirit of self-sacrifice and service in the cause of humanity."
You “joined despite my fears and have had a terrific experience”, that’s because we have a policy of NOT admitting open homosexuals. See the post below about former Scout leader William Brewer indicted in underage sex case. This is what happens when we TRY to prevent admittance of homosexuals, can you imagine if we had a policy of allowing them to join? I’m NOT saying all gay troop leaders would be child molesters. However we can’t deny the strong possibility that cases of abuse won’t increase to some degree if openly homosexual men were allowed to take our boys "camping". Regarding your second paragraph asking the typical un-believing question, see my post below. Regarding the deep concern over the sexual abuse of our boys. Although it’s “politically incorrect”, it has to be said: In the homosexual subculture, sexual attraction toward young teen boys is far more prevalent and prized than gay activists would like you to know. Predators are known to go where the children are. How ironic and unfortunate, then, that the Boy Scouts are now being so pressured by people just like you that they are contemplating opening themselves up EVEN FURTHER to sexual molestation lawsuits, to disgrace, and to huge jury awards and out-of-court settlements. After all, by changing their policy on homosexual leaders, the BSA would be adopting a more overt and inviting stance toward homosexual men – essentially advertising for adult homosexual “scouters.”
The Boy Scouts began in 1908 in Britain, where Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Baden-Powell, a hero of the Boer Wars, founded the international organization. The Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910, as a copy of the British model. Baden-Powell wrote in a pamphlet "Scouting & Christianity" (1917): "Scouting is nothing less than applied Christianity." (Religion and the Boy Scout and Girl Guides Movement--an address, 1926). "....We aim for the practice of Christianity in their everyday life and dealings, and not merely the profession of theology on Sundays.... There is a vast reserve of loyal patriotism and Christian spirit lying dormant in our nation today, mainly because it sees no direct opportunity for expressing itself. Here in this joyous brotherhood there is a vast opportunity open to all in a happy work that shows the results under your hands and a work that is worth while because it gives every man his chance of service for his fellow-men and for God." - (Scouting For Boys, 1908)
Peace and have a beautiful evening.
The 2000 Supreme Court case ruled 5-4 in the BSA’s favor centered on the institutions core values of adhering to Christian principles. If the determination of admitting homosexuals is transferred from the national to the local level, these principles will no longer be a core value. If we don’t think lawsuits, test cases, de facto recruitment and affirmative action will not follow the possible adoption of the policy as it was proposed; and if we think the vast homosexual rights lobby will finally leave the Scouts alone if the policy is changed, we do not understand the drive of the political, moral - and even “religious” left - such as the Apostle Mena Johnson. Despite their lofty rhetoric, these homosexual activists aren’t genuinely interested in “equality.” Nothing has ever prevented the creation of an equivalent Scouting group that specifically celebrates whatever values, or lack thereof, are currently fashionable on the left. It’s obvious to me that such a group would attract few members, so instead of building something on their own, the goal has been to infiltrate and destroy from within traditional organizations that engage in character formation. Whether the BSA admits gays on a national level or it collapses altogether, it doesn’t matter to them Either way will work toward eliminating a constant reminder that some still believe their conduct is wrong or sinful. They long for us ALL to see them as "normal".
Well there's the big problem with your argument. The BSA receive millions every year through DoD and they get free use of public lands, which equates to a financial benefit. All of these funds and benefits come from taxpayers. If the Scouts don't want to let the PUBLIC in, then they shouldn't have their hands out for PUBLIC dollars. Simple. They can be bigots all they want, but not with my money.
Winkler vs Gates Every four years, the Boy Scouts of America holds a national Scout jamboree, where for ten days, approximately 30,000-40,000 Scouts camp out and participate in a wide variety of activities. At the time of the case, the US Department of Defense was the official host of the jamboree. From 1981 until 2010, the jamboree was held at Fort A.P. Hill, a US Army base in Virginia. The US Government spent an average of $2 million a year towards hosting of the jamboree. In 2005, a U.S. District Court ruled that the DOD's spending on national Scout jamborees violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. The decision was subsequently reversed by the US Court of Appeals on April 4, 2007 in Winkler vs Gates which ruled that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing as taxpayers to bring the suit in the first place. Therefore, the 2010 Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill and future support by DOD of Jamborees will continue as before.
Not all gays are child molesters. However all child molesters who molest children of the same sex are homosexual. It is this type of homosexual that fathers of young boys in the scouts are rightfully concerned about - and want to keep them as far away from their sons as possible.
Predators groom vulnerable kids for abuse. No one can groom children for this (God forbid) if we are consistently present. That doesn't mean hovering one inch from kids, but it does mean we are present at each meeting, outing etc. Some parents will not accept that this is necessary in other Packs. For people for whom this is impossible, single parents for example, the fact that many other parents are present also reduces the risk for them.