What the Council did was unforgivable and shortsighted for exactly the reasons you describe.
My kid just became a Boy Scout after 3 years as a Cub. It was a tough call to leave him in the organization but the decision at the National level has had no impact on his Troop, everything is status quo.
The future of Scouting however, is very dim.
I understand how difficult the decision is. At the troop I used to be associated with there also is the appearance that, because no boy claiming to be homosexual has applied to join, nothing has changed. To me, however, the key thing is that the BSA's teaching has changed. The BSA has endorsed the homosexual lifestyle and declared that it is "morally straight." To me this is a major change, because as another poster pointed out, outdoor skills were seconday, the primary mission of the BSA was to build character.
I overheard a scoutmaster puzzling over what to do if a homosexual boys goes on a camping trip. Scout rules say that a boy cannot tent alone. The rules forbid boys and girls from tenting together. What to do? What to do? He said, "Maybe we'll just ask and see who won't mind and put him with him." (!)
Do you wonder if, due to the BSA's new teaching, the boys would be subject to subtle pressure to say they wouldn't object? I know in this scoutmaster's troop, the announcement of the new homosexual acceptance policy was couched in terms of "tolerance," and "non-discrimination." Would your boy be safe in those circumstances? Would he want to stand out as being "intolerant"? Would this scoutmaster tent a seventeen-year old homosexual boy with a tenderfoot who doesn't object because he doesn't even know what homosexuality is.
As a former Cub Scout, Boy Scout (Troop 288 KC Mo.) Eagle Scout and Osceola Mo. Scout camp staffer for 3 years and former Mic-O-Say tribesman and a contributor— I just walked away this last year. The PC cancer will only get worse. Make no mistake ... NAMBLA is keen to be an involved “hands on” national sponsor of the Boy Scouts. The BSA broke my heart and they will never get another freakin’ dime from me. It just makes me sick that they chose to be sick.....