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calendar   Thursday - February 16, 2006

Baden-Powell: The Prophet

Alright, I confess. I was a Boy Scout. In fact I was a member of that nefarious religious cult for six years. We were brainwashed into believing in a power greater than ourselves. We indoctrinated Christians, Jews and Buddhists in our troop. We even taught Arnold Jenkins not to pick his nose in public. I myself, rose to be a high priest (Eagle Scout). We were shameless in our pursuit of the message laid down by the Prophet Baden-Powell (praise his name).

I cannot even begin to tell you of the secret rituals we participated in out in remote wooded areas under a full moon - although I’m pretty sure none of which involved drinking any blood ... I think. Thank goodness the ACLU is exposing this crackpot cult. Maybe now young boys will no longer be forced to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. It would be far better if they were homosexual atheists - at least, according to the ACLU, that is ...

imageimageBoy Scouts: A Religion?
February 16, 2006
(WORLDNET DAILY)

Arguments in a major Boy Scouts case argued in Pasadena, Calif., before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – a case that is certain to be headed for the Supreme Court—centered on the contention that the revered organization is actually a religion and should therefore not be given a lease of public land.

The case was brought by self-declared agnostics Lori and Lynn Barnes-Wallace and Michael and Valerie Breen, along with a son of each, in protest of a lease of parkland in Balboa Park and Fiesta Island by the city of San Diego to the Boy Scouts of America.

The agnostics sued the city on a claim that the lease to the Boy Scouts – out of more than 100 leases, including to the YMCA, a number of Jewish groups, one of which conducts Sabbath services on parkland, and the Girl Scouts – violates the Establishment of Religion Clause of the First Amendment, and that they are suffering “inferior usage” thereby because they don’t want to have to apply for permits, or pay usage fees, to the BSA. The case is Barnes-Wallace, et al. v. Boy Scouts of America, Nos. 04-55732, 04-56167.

A federal judge in San Diego granted the summary judgment to the agnostics, finding that the Boy Scouts are a “religion” because of the Boy Scout Oath, which includes doing one’s duty to “God and my country,” and the Boy Scout Law, which includes “reverence” as one of 12 precepts. Also, the Scouts require a belief in God as a condition of membership.

The city itself is not part of the appeal. It settled with the American Civil Liberties Union to avoid further expense, agreeing to terminate the lease and to give the ACLU $940,000 in attorney fees. The appeal continues since the Boy Scouts, if they prevail, want to be able to contract for a lease with the city again.

The case has drawn national attention because the federal judge’s finding that the BSA is “a religion” imperils the future work of not only the Boy Scouts, but all organizations that recognize a transcendent higher authority, including community service organizations like Rotary and Kiwanis, Alcoholics Anonymous, which works directly with the courts and government, and veterans organizations like the American Legion, whose constitutional preamble begins “For God and Country,” almost identical to the Boy Scouts Oath.

“If the Boy Scouts are ‘a religion,’ so are we in the American Legion. Is the ACLU going to sue our 2.7 million wartime veteran members next, claiming we, too, are ‘religion’? Are they going to sue to destroy the religious symbols at our veterans’ memorials on public property? The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? Our work in Boys State, Boys Nation, with the government? Our Oratorical Contests with schools?” a Legionnaire asked after Tuesday’s court session.

The crucial cultural question of who or what “is a religion” was argued by lawyers for the parties and submitted for decision to three lawyers sitting as Ninth Circuit Justices: William C. Canby, Andrew J. Kleinfeld and Marsha Berzon. Mark Danis, lawyer for the agnostics, argued that the Boy Scouts are “a religion,” and the lease to the BSA therefore violates the Establishment Clause because the agreement “aids” religion. The Boy Scouts pay only $1 a year, as do, apparently, all the other nonprofit groups that have leases on parklands.

George P. Davidson, BSA lawyer, argued that the Scouts are “not a religion,” but an organization dedicated to helping youth build moral and ethical character, which mission the BSA believes needs a belief in God and reverence as a necessary component. He emphasized that the BSA is “not sectarian;” has no creed, in the sense of a systematic theology or religious doctrine; expressly directs Scouts that any religious instruction should be by their parents and self-chosen religious affiliations; and that the Scouts include boys of many religions, including Christians, Jews, Muslims and others.

- More on this “religion” here ...


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 02/16/2006 at 10:13 AM   
Filed Under: • Judges-Courts-LawyersReligion •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
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