The church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has used the Boy Scouts as its official program for young men for more than 100 years, according to Quin Monson, a political science professor at Brigham Young University.
"The church took the Boy Scout program and decided its values and mission aligned closely enough with that of the church's program for young men that they just wholesale adopted it," says Monson, who is Mormon, the father of a Boy Scout and a former Boy Scout himself. "Basically, if you are a young Mormon male, you join the Boy Scouts."
For me the idea that scouting and the Mormon religion align so closely is almost reason enough to keep your kid out of Boy Scouts.
This father was then asked how the upcoming changes allowing gay scout leaders was impacting his Mormon son:
His reaction was interesting: It's not a concern to him. He's a pretty deep thinker, and a thoughtful kid, but his reaction was, "Well, I don't see why it matters, dad. Why is this such a big deal?"
That's the hard part about all of this, is that it impacts a group of young men who don't necessarily understand why.
If you listen to the audio of this interview, you can hear Mr. Monson become quite choked up while answering that last part. As if the very idea that his son is too young to recognize how wrong it is to allow men who love other men to participate in scouting was incredibly troubling to him.
However what I took from this was that his son was too young to be indoctrinated fully into the homophobia that permeates the Mormon community leaving his mind open and accepting, and that it was his father who was too old and rigid in his thinking to recognize why a church supposedly based on the teachings of Jesus Christ should open its arms and hearts to all people regardless of skin color or sexual orientation.
Perhaps once this new rule pertaining to scout leaders is fully implemented it might help to provide a counterbalance to Mormon indoctrination. And that would be a good thing.
Fear that they won't be successful in passing on their beliefs motivates ALL relions, not just Mormons. And without full control at all times, that fear is often realized.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very sad story. I've had the misfortune of having had a few Mormons as coworkers. It was NOT pleasant. They all were the consummate definition of intolerance and especially insubordination. So after enough of their foolishness, I began writing them up and in short order, my employer had no choice but to fire them.
ReplyDeleteI've had a similar experience with Mormons (always men, never women--do Mormon women never work?). One guy was convinced his wife was cheating on him with another woman and would spend all day trying to go from person to person to provide salacious, graphic details of what he thought they were doing together...then had the nerve to whine that he was being persecuted when he was told by everyone to shut up, they didn't want to hear it.
DeleteHi 8:06, oddly enough my experience involved females! I'm in the health care field with post graduate degrees and the Mormon girls I worked with were 19 & 20 yr old BYU dropouts (they'd gotten their fiances after 6 whole weeks of dating!). They were support staff where I worked and I was their immediate supervisor. I was a single woman in my mid 30s at the time & one of the issues we dealt with was the fact that they repeatedly made negative remarks about all of the single women in our department, for example suggesting to both other employees as well as patients that, "we should get married and have a kid". I had a longtime bf back then but wasn't in a rush to marry. Looking back, I am glad that I had the guts to be the bad guy and hold them accountable.
DeleteJohn Cleese says the question of why people ridicule religion is not the one to ask. It's -- why is it so easy?
ReplyDeletePoor dad! It must be so sad to see his own son exhibiting tolerance, maturity, acceptance of other lifestyles, and other shameful behaviors.
ReplyDeleteIf a dad can't successfully pass on his hatred and prejudice then he's a failure.
They make it sound like the only thing Boy Scout leaders talk about is their private sexual life. Is that how it is with straight Boy Scout leaders? If so I'd be very disturbed about that.
ReplyDeleteI taught Sunday School for two years. I've been a Big Brother in the Big Brothers program for four years. I never discuss what happens behind closed doors except to mention that I happen to be married to a guy. My "little" has never even met him
Nobody mentors to "recruit" or make a political statement. I do it because I know what it's like to grow up without a father, and to give a kid some self esteem, to have somebody to talk to and hang out with.
These people who are so obsessed with sexuality are the ones that have a problem and the ones I'd be uncomfortable leaving children with.
Well, it goes to what you suggested a month or two back: if you could outlaw the teaching of religion before someone was 16 or older, all religion would be gone in two generations.
ReplyDeleteThe same with the idea of two people of the same of the gender loving one another, up to and including the physical way. No one is born with an aversion to that notion; it must be embedded when we are young, suggestible and not likely to question what we are taught. Like religion, back when we still believe in rabbits that leave chocolate and fat guys that make their way down chimneys with gifts.
I don't think all religion would be gone in two generations. The lure of male as superior has gotten religion where it is today. It's a powerful incentive to men to continue to keep religiion alive and to invent new relitions, too. Mormonism is a classic example of new religion carefully tailored to meet the needs of men that want to dominate women.
DeleteWhy should Sarah waste her time having Todd watch the kids when you're available at no cost ?
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe you could offer to wash all the women's panties.
Wha...?
DeleteMade me think of that song from South Pacific: you've got to be carefully taught to hate and fear...
ReplyDeleteOT-but Black boys lives DO Matter
ReplyDeletehttp://www.salon.com/2015/08/04/the_casual_killing_of_blacks_when_everyday_activities_trigger_lethal_force_by_the_police/
I'm not going to paint all Mormons with a black brush because like every religion they have a lot of sheeple who are blindly following, but the underlying aim of the upper echelons is to quietly install believers into the major controlling branches of our government, State and Federal. That specifically includes the FBI.
ReplyDeleteTheir goal is control, and ultimately they could attain that if no one is monitoring them. I surely hope I'm not around to see it because I believe they have evil intent.
The Boy Scouts for a long time had great difficulty in establishing the difference between "Pedophiles" & Gays...
ReplyDeleteWe should all be glad that they have learned the difference and have taken steps to ensure the safety of children from Pedophiles, while finally righting an injustice towards Gays...
Now if only they can distance themselves from religious fundamentalism...
That pic of the boys is an excellent PhotoShop job, totally professional. Two images of the same boy.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Scouts back in the 70's I narrowly missed getting raped by a Scout leader who was a known serial pedophile. I say narrowly missed because I was alone in the showers with him once, not 9 months after he got out of the mental hospital where he did time for kidnapping and molestation of a young Scout. Do a websearch on "Richard J. Turley Scouting" to read about the whole sordid affair. The creepy thing was I didn't find out about his known history of molestation until last year. Whenever the Scouts raise their homophobic head and pretend it's in the best interest of the boys, I think of Rick and the boys he molested while the Scouts looked the other way.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the mo's running scouting I would rather have a gay man as leader,than a child predator. They seem to want to lump the two together.I have spent the last 20yrs running them off my property and telling them to back off! I have since moved. No knock knocks.weird mail from them.its quite nice. I have never ment such brainwashed.crooked dealing.hypocritical.backstabbing people in my life. Low down.and immoral.lustful.child predators. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteI was raised mormon and since only identify as Christian. I could write a book about the abuses in the homes of the higher ups.the corruption,the coercing of child brides.the list is long and ugly.
ReplyDeleteThen maybe the homophobic bigot will just have to take his own child camping and keep him out of scouting.
ReplyDeleteWhen John Kennedy gave his speech on religion in 1960 I was lulled into thinking religious beliefs would not negatively impact public health, public education, public policy and our rights in general as citizens.
ReplyDeleteSilly me.
_______________
"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.
I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials; and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all."
Lofty wors directed to the Catholic haters who were fomenting unrest over the Pope's influence in America.
DeleteNobody even talks about the Mormons and Girl Scouts. Evidently no one is worried that Mormon girls might be having limiting experiences growing up. All this yammering about Mormons and Boys Scouts seems like the wrong questions to be asking.
ReplyDeleteMormon youth should be the focus, not Mormon BOYS!
Mormon girls are typically not allowed to do Girl Scouts; they have their own Cult Scouts thing that a lot of the fundies do.
Delete@11:45
DeleteExactly, all this fretting about Mormons and Boy Scouts without a word about how Mormon girls are limited just plain ticks me off.
Our girl scout leader was Catholic. The young women's groups in the mormon cult is about family.cooking,babies. Nothing other than and getting married and making babies. For every member hatched-10% tithe. Its a $$ making Business!
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame this father didn't take his son's reaction and words as a "teachable moment" for the ingrained homophobia/hate his religion carefully taught him. My son couldn't join, because he was raised with no faith and couldn't, in good conscience join along with his friends. But his friends in scouting were good kids, and joined him in learning martial arts and other activities.
ReplyDeleteI think all adults are capable of learning that all kids are intrinsically good and follow their example. One second, they're fighting, and a few days later, they're playing together as if nothing happened. That's why I never took sides in their "spats", it's part of learning and growing.