The Southern Baptist Convention on Wednesday called for the removal of some of the Boy Scouts’ leadership after the organization voted to allow gay youth to join, but did not ask its affiliated churches to pull their sponsorship of Scouting.
The convention approved the call in a resolution crafted by a committee at the group’s annual meeting in Houston. It comes three weeks after the Boy Scouts of America voted in an historic ballot to allow gay youth to join after the issue of LGBT membership had roiled the youth organization for years.
The resolution doesn't name specific Boy Scouts leaders, but noted it believed some in executive and board positions had tried to enact the membership change earlier this year without first getting input from “the full range of the Scouting family” and asked for the BSA to “remove” them.
Deron Smith, a spokesman for the BSA, responded by email, saying that the organization “has some of the finest volunteer leaders in the world. We are thankful for their tireless commitment to serving the youth of this nation and investing in its future.”
Allowing openly gay youth in Scouting, according to the Baptists resolution, "has the potential to complicate basic understandings of male friendships, needlessly politicize human sexuality, and heighten sexual tensions within the Boy Scouts."
Hang on a minute, I'm busy basking in the love of Christianity right now.
I'm sorry but every time I read one of these over the top responses to the acceptance of the LGBT community I cannot help but smell desperation and fear. They are terrified that the more groups they have spent thousands of years vilifying become accepted by society, with NO resulting negative affect, the smaller their influence becomes.
By the way since when did the Baptist's get the right to hire and fire over at the BSA?
Assholes!
Baptists think they have the right because BSA meets in their churches. This has never been an issue with GSA because they meet in schools. Seems to me that BSA better get their groups OUT of churches anyway, unless they are comfortable with church leadership telling them what to do, with whom, and when. I am so grateful my kids never bought into the BSA, nor did their friends, none of whom drank, smoked, did drugs, or had runins with the law either. It is possible to raise honest and decent young men without the influence of either church or the BSA. I know many. And frankly, if this group wants to preach against other people, they should all have their tax exempt statuses pulled.
ReplyDeleteDesperation and fear is what I see, too. It just shows how the religious right and the GOP are now the same thing. They can see that the gig is almost up as more and more people are starting to see through their multiple frauds. The right wing christians/GOP are throwing everything against the wall trying to rein in the masses. Hopefully, more people are catching on and will reject their efforts.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same group that voted to state publicly that women were REQUIRED to "submit" to their husbands - even if divorcing!
ReplyDelete'Nuff said?
You're right in asking the question (paraphrased) "Who to these Baptists think they are, butting into the Scouts' decisions?" They must think they're Mormons.
ReplyDeleteThe Southern Baptists are also the ones that started and supported the KKK, which they do to this day.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't new for them, they tried to keep minorities out decades ago too.
And if anybody cares to make the distinction, many Baptist congregations in the South are not Southern Baptist. The church I grew up in (in South Carolina) split from these nutters.
ReplyDeleteBoy Scouts and Girl Scouts are organized differently. With Girl Scouts, the troop is more like a franchise arrangement with the local council, which means it's up to the leader to find a meeting place that qualifies under GSUSA's rules. With Boy Scouts, the troop has to have a sponsoring organization (called a charter or chartering organization) that is willing to host troop activities.
ReplyDeleteSchools are generally willing to host Girl Scouts, because from their POV, Girl Scouts is just another club. Schools are generally not as willing to host Boy Scouts because of the charter responsibilities.
Many charter organizations in Boy Scouts are churches, and because of the BSUSA requirements for charters, they feel as if they own their troops. In our area, we have already seen a couple of troops lose their charters because of the gay inclusion decision, all from Baptist churches. We are hoping these troops can find someone else to be their charter organizations, because otherwise the troops will be disbanded and the boys who wish to continue in Scouts will have to transfer to other troops (not always optimal because of schedules and distances).
Actually, I would call them hemorrhoids as assholes serve an important purpose while hemorrhoids exist only to obstruct and cause trouble.
ReplyDeleteAllowing openly gay youth in Scouting, according to the Baptists resolution, "has the potential to complicate basic understandings of male friendships, needlessly politicize human sexuality, and heighten sexual tensions within the Boy Scouts."
ReplyDeleteI just don't understand this mentality. "Sexual Tensions" within the boy scouts? Are they thinking sexual arousal or are they thinking that bullying gay scouts is unavoidable?
Calm down, Southern Baptists, the male body has a way to shut down sexual tension, such as ice cold showers and masturbation.
Pass the sunglasses, I'm basking in the light of organized bigotry in the guise of Religion
Hecklers Cheer Burning Of Tennessee Mosque At Muslim Outreach Forum
ReplyDeletehttp://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/06/13/2150841/hecklers-cheer-burning-of-tennessee-mosque/
Hate is everywhere...