Re: fingers crossed
- From: wollman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Garrett Wollman)
- Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:26:05 +0000 (UTC)
In article <6hu1auFo3a9jU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
John Dean <john-dean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Scout Law is very clear:[...]
The spiritual dimension is emphasised, and the oath including God is a Big
Deal, although as I post elsethread, exceptions are permitted to this. The
"Scout method" includes "sharing in prayer and worship; ... making and
living out their Promise."
http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/por/2005/1_1.htm#part_1
Since different national Scouting organizations are legally
independent, it's clear that this can vary from country to country.
Said promise in the UK to include the requirement "To do my duty to God and
to The Queen"
I don't know what atheist scouts do when they're told to do something as
part of their duty to God.
Not a problem for the Boy Scouts of America -- atheists are not
allowed, period. That's part of what it means when I say that the BSA
is a religious organization in the U.S. (A "non-religious"
organization that had a similar policy would be forbidden from meeting
in public buildings in many places, and would be in violation of the
employment non-discrimination laws in many states.)
The relevant pledge in the U.S. is "On my honor, I will do my duty /
To God and my country / To obey the Scout Law / To help other people
at all times / To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and
morally straight." That last word took on new meaning when the BSA
went to the Supreme Court to defend its right to discriminate against
those who did not live up to its standards of straightness (which is
the context in which it made the claim that it is a religious
organization).
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | The real tragedy of human existence is not that we are
wollman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx| nasty by nature, but that a cruel structural asymmetry
Opinions not those | grants to rare events of meanness such power to shape
of MIT or CSAIL. | our history. - S.J. Gould, Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness
.
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