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Jesus. We'll never hear the end of it from the right wing wackos. They'll use this as justification for starting up the Nazi Youth
Not like they weren’t going to do it anyway. They’ll always use LGBT+ people and women existing and wanting to be full members of society as justification for whatever they pull.
O no, they changed the name of an organization I was never a part of and know nothing about.
I will now complain to every white stranger I come across.
PoV of white bald guy, they always think I'm on their team unless I'm dressed "flowery". Then they just assume I'm gay and don't talk to me. If I'm wearing camo tho? Best friend.
Gay members? ✅
Gay leaders? ✅
Girls? ✅
Atheists? Um... er... well...
https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/10/03/belief-in-god-scouting/
As an atheist scout, I got around that by just lying to them. LOL. I guess I wasn't a good scout.
Your article is from 2014. 10 years ago all of your other checks were NO as well. I can't find anything recently about atheists with a quick search, just old stuff like that.
It's still a core part of their membership:
Scout Oath “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”
More:
https://dutytogodbsa.org/portfolio/what-does-duty-to-god-mean/
it is, BUT, if you read between the lines of the requirements, there's plenty of room for pragmatic atheists (in pragmatic packs/troops). It's not perfect, but overall Scouting has absolutely embraced inclusiveness.
Not when you're interviewing for your Eagle they haven't. Describing how you serve your higher power is still a question at the final interview before receiving it. Either you lie as an atheist, or you tell the truth and don't get your Eagle. So either violate what it's supposed to mean to be a scout (integrity and honesty) or you throw away what you've worked so hard for for years.
And that's ignoring the fact that many troops are hosted via churches, especially in southern areas.
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I wish there didn't have to be any reading between the lines. They're sooo close...
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Start a 4-H Club. They're run by state universities, so they're subject to all their policies involving inclusivity and each club is centered on a specific topic. Want a camping/outdoor life club? Easy. Doesn't have to be Ag related.
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I got my God and Country before I became an atheist. I think my dad still has it lol
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Not very inclusive when atheist kids and gay troop leaders still told to GTFO.
The article addresses this - they’re admitting gay troop leaders and scouts, as well as girls. The article doesn’t mention anything on the atheist front, but as a member of team rainbow who went through scouting in the 70s and 80s, these are massive changes and I’d honestly be surprised if the org went to court over atheism.
IIRC they’ve previously fought in court for the right to exclude atheists.
No recent court cases because private organizations are allowed to discriminate.
They did the same for LGBT until recently.
Being a private organization does not grant you an unlimited right to discriminate, no matter how much the right likes to pretend it does. That’s why anti-discrimination laws exist. There’s loopholes orgs have tried to use, and protections vary by state, but just being a “private organization” doesn’t mean “do whatever prejudicial thing you want.”
Like I said, I don’t see this current iteration of the org fighting atheists in court.
All a kid has to do is say ' I believe in a higher power's and that's that. Doesn't even have to lie if he means 'newtons third laws' as the power
We should not be encouraging kids to lie in order to join an organization dedicated to building moral character.
The lesson is that moral character comes from within and not from authority figures.
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My higher power is the fucking sun: Sol. He's the highest power any of y'all gonna see.
Which is also why I never made it past Star Scout: why advance past the best?
Maybe if you take it as written but it will always be enforced unequally. In my rural ass troop there was a very heavy christian implication from scout leaders, and my parents. They didn’t end up forcing me to say it, but it was a very uncomfortable day of adults I was supposed to be able to trust repeatedly pressuring me to publicly announce my belief and helplessness in the face of a fairy tale. Not the only day I was religiously pressured either.
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To be honest I never expected the BSA would attempt to reform itself as much as it has. I was in a very homophobic troop, a scoutmaster of mine vented to my grandma that all the queer people ought to be put up against the wall and shot. I'm glad things are improving but I don't think I'll ever see the organization in a positive light.
Their numbers are declining, which means revenue is declining. So the more inclusive they become, the more money they can make. It’s been an ongoing issue even before COVID hit (which hurt a lot of troops and packs).
Also surprisingly/unsurprisingly a ton of reform suddenly took place the moment the Mormons jumped ship and gave up leadership.
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Anyone has the right to be a Pawnee Godess
These WOKE SOCIALISTS are RUINING this AMAZING organization that Rapes Young Men!
The church?
"I was assaulted as a boy and these WOKE MORALISTS are trying to take it away from us now?"
Good. I'm slightly less embarrassed to be an eagle Scout now, though I was already the worst Eagle Scout ever, y'know, apart from the evil ones.
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So is there a point to the Girl Scouts now? What are they going to do? Start accepting boys? Or try to widen their activities to compete with the Boy Scouts so they don't lose membership?
Girl Scouts USA has always been a completely separate organization with no affiliation to Boy Scouts of America
Correct, but girls was their mark of differentiation. Without one, what will they do with this other organization going on their turf? Will they react? Adjust? That's what I'm saying.
In the UK, The Scout Association went fully co-ed in 2007 and Girl Guiding remains a girls-only organisation. Both are doing just fine.
I appreciate the clarification, but I was curious how they avoid redundancy. Luckily, for anyone else who is curious, @MerrySkeptic@sh.itjust.works put a summary of their distinctions in a comment below.
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So is there a point to the Girl Scouts now?
You're far less likely to be sexually assaulted.
Unless it's by a bear.
Wait... I think I'm in the wrong thread.
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TIL they exited bankruptcy last April. I thought they were basically dead.
I don't see anything here about preventing future sexual abuse, though, which makes me distrustful.
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Repressive rightists absolutely gonna lose even more of their shit now lol fuck ‘em
Fox News meltdown in 3... 2...
is this a mandela effect or why do i specifically remember hearing that they had already done this like 4-8 years ago
edit: did my due research
In 2019, the Boy Scouts of America renamed its flagship program, Boy Scouts, to Scouts BSA to reflect its policy change allowing girls to join separate, gender-specific troops.[3]
On May 7, 2024, BSA announced that the organization will change its name to Scouting America. The change will go into effect on February 8, 2025.[5]
Its odd that apperently the first time they didi it they left BSA, in the name when the B stands for Boy.
If the whole point was to allow girls, why leave the word boy in the name?
I think two issues have caused them to take baby steps here.
First, there was a big lawsuit between the Girl Scout of America and the Boy Scouts of America. The Boy Scouts wanted to open up to girls, and the Girl Scouts felt like their turf was being threatened. That took years to resolve.
Second, scouting has deep personal ties for some folks. People can get irrationally emotional about changes to the program, as if there's some sacred tradition at stake.
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Why not just drop boy and have it called "scouts of America" or "youth scouts of America"? Scouting America sounds like a completely different thing altogether.
Have they found America yet? Send out another scout!
Great, separating kids is soo 1950's.
In Europe we've had this for decades without any issue.
And apparently this scouting group does a lot more real scouting stuff, unlike the girl scouts which is basically child labour.
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I feel like this was one of the best experiences of my young life. I get to go away from parents, I can actually decide what we do as a group, and I can go out walking and stuff? Great.
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this post was submitted on 07 May 2024
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