Posted on 03/11/2005 4:11:21 PM PST by RonF
The Boy Scouts of America is pulling the charters of thousands of scouting units from public schools in an effort to spare them from lawsuits threatened by the American Civil Liberties Union. In a letter sent to the BSA last month, the ACLU vowed to take legal action against public schools and other taxpayer-funded governmental agencies that charter Scout groups, claiming their sponsorship amounts to religious discrimination and violates the separation of church and state. The ACLU specifically takes issue with the Scouts' pledge of allegiance to God and country and the organization's prohibition of homosexuals as scout masters.
BSA national spokesman Gregg Shields told the Baptist Press the organization was pulling its charters from schools "as a matter of stewardship. We obviously don't want that [expensive lawsuits against schools] to happen," Shields told the news agency. "Instead, the Boy Scouts have tried to protect the resources of our education partners by moving our charter from public schools to other community-based organizations such as parent-teacher organizations or Salvation Army units or nearby religious organizations." Shields stressed the loss of its charter does not necessarily mean the scout troop can no longer meet at the school. "Boy Scout troops will still have the same rights as any other community-based group to meet in school buildings, but the charter will not be held by the school administration," he said. Shields hopes churches and other community-based groups will make up for the lost charters, estimated to be in the thousands.
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(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Now, I've never seen the ACLU mention the BSA's use of the PoA, or the BSA's pledge of support of duty to country as a basis for their legal actions; they've always been based on it's denial of membership to atheists and avowed homosexuals.
This lawsuit is based on the concept of "separation of church and state". This phrase as used today currently seems to envelop the concept that the government should not support any kind of religious expression, nor support any group that does support religous expression. That concept appears nowhere in the Constitution; the Constitution forbids the state to elevate one religion over all others through state support, but does not forbid it to support all equally; this is why it's perfectly legal for churches to be exempt from income and property taxes, for example. This is how the phrase was meant by Thomas Jefferson, who originated it's use in American thought via a letter by Thomas Jefferson, and who wrote the Constitution (and Virginia's Statute of Religious Freedom, where he put in the same concept).
Now, the action threatened by the ACLU was not based on the BSA's witholding of membership from avowed homosexuals, but I think it would be a good bet that the ACLU's motives are partially fueled by that.
It should be remembered that the First Amendment also calls to forbid the government from doing anything that interferes with the free expression of religion; keeping the State from supporting groups that support religion, while not keeping it from supporting groups that do not support religion, or even oppose religion, seems to interfere with that right.
This has affected me personally. My Troop and Pack were affected by the original lawsuit brought by the ACLU in Chicago that kept the Chicago Fire and Police Departments from sponsoring Explorer Posts. The Park District (which, in Illinois, are separate municipal-style governing bodies) that sponsored us dropped us on that account; we were picked up by the local Episcopal Church, which, given the position of the ECUSA on homosexual rights, is kind of funny now.
But this succeeds for the ACLU on money rather than merit. Schools don't have a lot of money to even run their educational programs, so any threat of a lawsuit causes them to crumble, and while the BSA is made of sterner stuff, it's money is equally intended for educational purposes. The ACLU, on the other hand, is specifically organized to pursue lawsuits; plus, if it wins, it gets reimbursed by the United States government (as might the BSA, should it prevail).
when people get fed up enough, they'll fund an agressive legal attack on the aclu.
follow them around to every place in the states that they are destroying our country, and attack.
It is presumed this is due to the inclinations of the ACLU's members and supporters.
That day cannot come to soon!
ooooOOOOO I hates da ACLU!
And the story is going to Scout Council tonight with a request to send an eamil on to National to grow some gumption and tell the ACLU to GET LOST!
America cannot survive with a bunch of proud, young men in uniform.
Oh, wait a minute?
Boy Scouts of America should stage a Boy Scouts awareness week in public schools across the nation in full uniform. Christians should stage a full week of faith awareness day in their schools and wear crosses and openly carry Bibles. Time for the beaten upon to face the enemy with thier own tactics. Who here believes that schools across the country will expell all Christians and Boy Scouts? If they do, increase pressure through Alliance Defence Fund et al to bring this issue to a head once and for all. Fight fire with fire, and turn the enemies tactics against them.
I think the writer knows nothing about scouting and is referring to the Cub Scout oath and the Boy Scout oath. Yes, we use the Pledge of Allegiance at every meeting, too--but they have already lost that battle.
If the schools are willing to charter them, I don't feel the Scouts should pull out. Given that many school have gay/lesbian clubs of campus (to which the parents should object), the ACLU is showing that it wants to force all decency out of the mainstream. I wish they had a money trail to terrorists and could be given the heave-ho.
The BSA needs to file a suit against the ACLU for billions and clean that outfit off the surface of the earth.
It seems like this would be a good idea, but you are talking about a fight the kids no next to nothing about. They have been raised in kindness and charity and it would be the Adults who would be pusing them into this political protest. This is the kind of thing the left does. Not the Boys of the BSA.
I do think a fight should be made, and withdrawing into totally private facilities is a good start. We need to fund them where there are money problems. Everywhere the left runs a candidate we need to make support for the nations patriotic group of Scouters an issue. And beat them in the courts by appointing conservative justices. Do you hear us Mr Frist?
Actually, it's different. The ACLU does not sue schools that let the Scouts meet at them; the Equal Access Act covers this, and I believe it covers those churches you mention as well.
What is going on here is not an issue of the use of school facilities. It's an issue of who is the Troop's sponsor; who is the organization that takes responsibility for selecting the leadership of the unit and for ensuring that the unit follows the policies of both the sponsor and the BSA. Schools doing this will stop doing so (at the advice of the BSA, not because they lost a court case), and hopefully the charters will be picked up by a church, a VFW or American Legion post, a Lions club, etc.
It's called Scout Week. It consists of the first week of February, ending on whatever Sunday lands on or immediately before February 8th. Scouts are encouraged to attend School in full uniform. They are also encouraged to mount displays in the schools publicizing their unit and what it does. Perhaps you could call your local school and ask if they know anything about it.
The troop at Hazel Goes Cook (857) was supported during the summer at the Presbyterian Church on Hilltop Drive. I'll bet they could make arrangements to be sponsored there as an alternative to the PTA. It's too bad this nonsense is happening. The school sponsorship was just fine.
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