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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People obviously have strong feelings.

My son has done scouts for about 7 years now and it has been positive for him (he has SN so I don’t say that lightly).

As a practical matter, I do think he is safer at BS events than most other events.  I know the parents well and there are significant safety protections. He’s definitely more at risk at things like soccer camp, karate class, etc.  if there’s risk, it probably comes from the other boys as there is a strong ethos of letting the older boys  run things for younger boys and they have a lot of independence.  We talk to our kids about pressure, inappropriate touching, etc.  I think the risk exists everywhere.

The dues are pretty high because something like half of it goes to the settlement fund for past victims.   I’m okay with that.  They’ve also sold off a lot of property.

On the discrimination thing…boy scout troops are chartered by community groups (totally different structure than GS).  Official BS policy is that the troops have to follow both BSA rules and the Chartering institution’s rules.  In practice, [b]I think there are extremely few chartering groups that require discrimination against gay scouts or leaders at this point.[/b]  The LDS church all left BSA when it changed its policies, as did most of the evangelical churches—that is actually the biggest reason why BSA is struggling financially now (and certainly makes it harder to pay the victim settlement).  Our troop is sponsored by a Catholic Church and has plenty of gay scouts—there is no issue with that.  The church’s sponsorship is largely unnoticeable except that the pastor will come to the advancement ceremony and generally say a short blessing.  And parent volunteers are required to take the extensive Catholic Church child protection course in addition to the BSA one.

Every parent has to make their own choice, of course, and life is full of compromises and institutions that have a lot of historical baggage.  It has worked for us and we have not found it to be cultish.  But I would definitely be involved and a give so you know the other parents and the vibe of the troop/pack.  [/quote]

So there's an acceptable level of discrimination and exclusion for you then. Its ok because its just a little bit. What if there

NP. PP's obnoxious response to a thoughtful perspective on scouting is so DCUM. Every institution has historical baggage. Scouting as an activity offers more in terms of experience, training, and learning skills than virtually any other organization out there and is especially good for non-athletic kids. You can feel free to judge the institution, but should not attack those who reached a different decision. [/quote]

I do judge people who continue to support an organization that allows discrimination. None of the PPs who have referenced the exclusion have said that they are doing a damn thing to change it, just that it's not very prevalent so its not a big deal. I judge them doubly because they are acting as if the occupy some sort of moral high ground and are developing character in their children, all the while condoning this exclusion every time they go to a meeting, every time they pay their dues. Basically its ok if you just hit some people as long as you treat my kid well. It is deplorable. I mean do what you want to do but at least own it. At least acknowledge that you don't care about these other kids because you are getting what you need. 
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