[Kingasaurus]

Ummm, if the Scouts require you to be a theist and belong to a religion and affirm that fact before you are allowed to join, what else would you call them?

The fact that they don't require you to belong to one specific religion is beside the point. You must be religious to join.

[Politically Correct]

And what part of paying a lease to a government agency makes this establishment of religion?
That's like saying that because a church pays their water bill the city is establishing a religion.
Now if they gave them permenent access for free I could understand it.

[Steve_Seattle]

And a religious organization is not allowed to lease property from the city unless it abandons its relgious principles? A whole lot of issues are being jumbled together here. Does the judge have a problem with the process by which the lease was negotiated, or with the fact that the Boy Scouts have a rule against gays? Or with the fact that the scouts express belief in God? Since when are religious organizations not allowed to lease or rent public facilities?

[Evil Inc]

"Ummm, if the Scouts require you to be a theist and belong to a religion and affirm that fact before you are allowed to join, what else would you call them?

The fact that they don't require you to belong to one specific religion is beside the point. You must be religious to join."

What nonsense. Its a club, with rules about membership. A club you are free to join or not. If a club requires you to be female, is the club a female? Or is it still a club? Is the scouts about a religion or about a "lifestyle" choice? Sorry I dont buy your silliness.

[Jotmo]

>>“Ummm, if the Scouts require you to be a theist and belong to a religion and affirm that fact before you are allowed to join, what else would you call them?”<<

You are dead wrong on this. The Scouts do not require that you belong to, or even subscribe to the beliefs of any particular religion. Period.

All that is required is that you profess a belief in God and promise to do your duty (as you see it) to God. Any god will do. Even “Mother Nature” is sufficient as long as you acknowledge that there is a “Higher Power”.

So I guess you’ll have to find another angle to help you justify this blatant attack on the BSA for daring to stand firm and disagree with the current PC policies of the left.

[RonF]

Ummm, if the Scouts require you to be a theist and belong to a religion and affirm that fact before you are allowed to join, what else would you call them?

The American Heritage Dictionary (thank you Yahoo!) says that "theist" is defined as one who has "Belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world." On that basis, the BSA does not, in fact, require one to be a theist. See the numerous Buddhists that are BSA members in good standing (and note on the BSA web site that Buddhists are allowed to wear the youth religous medal of their faith on their uniforms).

And BSA members are not required to belong to any formal religion to join or remain members. Possessing a personal set of beliefs that have nothing to do with any formal religion is perfectly acceptable to the BSA. You are misinformed.