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May 31st, 2013
04:19 PM ET
Baptists plan exodus from Boy ScoutsBy Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) - For Southern Baptist pastor Tim Reed, it was Scripture versus the Scouts. “God’s word explicitly says homosexuality is a choice, a sin,” said Reed, pastor of First Baptist Church of Gravel Ridge in Jacksonville, Arkansas. So when the Boy Scouts of America voted to lift its ban on openly gay youths on May 24, Reed said the church had no choice but to cut its charter with Troop 542. “It’s not a hate thing here,” Reed told CNN affiliate Fox 16. “It’s a moral stance we must take as a Southern Baptist church.” Southern Baptist leaders say Reed is not alone. Baptist churches sponsor nearly 4,000 Scout units representing more than 100,000 youths, according to the Boy Scouts of America. That number could drop precipitously. The Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, will soon urge its 45,000 congregations and 16 million members to cut ties with the Scouts, according to church leaders. The denomination will vote on nonbinding but influential resolutions during a convention June 11-12 in Houston. “There’s a 100% chance that there will be a resolution about disaffiliation at the convention,” said Richard Land, the outgoing head of the Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, “and a 100% chance that 99% of people will vote for it.” “Southern Baptists are going to be leaving the Boy Scouts en masse,” Land continued. Roger “Sing” Oldham, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, emphasized that local congregations make their own decision on the Scouts. But he, too, said he expects Baptist delegates, which the church calls “messengers,” to voice their disagreement with the BSA's decision to allow gay youths. “With this policy change, the Boy Scouts’ values are contradictory to the basic values of our local churches,” Oldham said. Several religious groups with strong Scouting ties support the new policy. “We have heard from both those who support the amended policy and those who would have preferred it would not have changed,” said BSA spokesman Deron Smith. Faith-based organizations charter more than 70% of Scout chapters, providing meeting space and leadership, according to the BSA. “There have been some organizations that have decided not to renew their charters with Scouting," said Smith, "but we can’t quantify the impact of the amended policy." The National Jewish Committee on Scouting, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which sponsors more Scout units than any other faith, all endorsed the change. The National Catholic Committee on Scouting, which is run with oversight from a bishop, said Thursday that allowing gay youths in the Scouts does not conflict with church teaching. Each bishop will decide whether or not to allow churches in his diocese to charter Scout units, the committee added. “We ask that Catholic Scouters and chartered organization heads not rush to judgment,” said Edward Martin, chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. But the Rev. Derek Lappe, pastor of the Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Bremerton, Washington, has already made up his mind. “I do not feel that it is possible for us to live out, and to teach, the authentic truth about human sexuality within the confines of the Boy Scout’s new policy,” said Lappe. The priest told CNN affiliate FOX16 that his parish will part ways with the Scouts and develop its own programs. There may soon be an alternative to the Scouts for social conservatives like Lappe. John Stemberger, founder of On My Honor, a group that opposed the Scouts’ change in policy, plans to convene conservatives in Louisville, Kentucky, in June to consider forming a new Scout-like group, which could be up and running by the end of 2013. “Churches and Scoutmasters are looking for leadership and direction,” said Stemberg, an attorney in Orlando, Florida. A number of conservative religious denominations already sponsor their own groups. For instance, the Southern Baptists have the Royal Ambassadors, an explicitly Christian program founded in 1908 for boys in first through sixth grade. (A similar group called Challengers equips older boys in “mission education.”) The name comes from the New Testament, in which the Apostle Paul tells Christians to be “ambassadors for Christ.” The estimated 31,000 Royal Ambassadors pledge “ to become a well-informed, responsible follower of Christ; to have a Christlike concern for all people; to learn how to carry the message of Christ around the world; to work with others in sharing Christ; and to keep myself clean and healthy in mind and body." While not as outdoorsy as the Boy Scouts, Ambassadors do camp and play sports, said Land, who was a member of the group during the 1950s. But instead of merit badges for archery and bird study, young Ambassadors earn patches for memorizing Bible verses and mission work. Southern Baptists said they are preparing for a surge of interest in the Royal Ambassadors at their upcoming convention in Houston. “We really have an opportunity here to strengthen our RA programs,” the Rev. Ernest Easley, chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, said in a sermon last Sunday, “and to get the boys in a program where they’re going to be protected, where there’s a high moral standard and where they will have an opportunity to learn about camping, missions, evangelism in the local church.” soundoff (10,821 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 Next » |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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I guess the BSA can bring back the Dancing merit badge now.
Now, if we could only get the baptist to leave the country as well............
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." – Mahatma Ghandi
The comment of the day!
What would a pharisee know??
Eric Holder, "What law??"
Thanks Baptist Church . You are doing an awesome job attributing to the decline of people who had a religious faith. Now I can see why.
RELIGION DECLINING IN THE USA
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/13/religion-america-decline-low-no-affiliation-report_n_2867626.html
Attributing?? Maybe contributing?
This is a win-win for the Boy Scouts. They get gay boys in the scouts and get bigoted boys out of the scouts. Isn't it sad that young boys have to be taught to hate by their churches and their bigoted parents. Somehow I don't think that is what Jesus had in mind.
As usual, unbelievers have it backwards. Hate would be NOT informing you that Jesus will toss you into the eternal flames.
Genesis 7:15
And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life.
Romans 7:7
What shall we say then? [Is] the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Galatians 5:16
[This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
1 John 2:16
For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Amen.
Psalms 137:9
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
So much for Bible nonsense.
Shame on name calling grandmas.
It amazes me that BSC religious whack-jobs use the Bible to preach at Atheists and those who choose not to fall into the trap and brain washing of religion.
They don't believe in your God, your Bible, or your beliefs. Why are you quoting scripture?
Remember chad/faith....and HS....... the talking donkey you like so much might of chewed on that BONE.............that created eve...
Ne se-x there faith.
or pounding the sand/dirt does not work you know chadie/HS
science, what part of Genesis 1:22 do you not comprehend?
HeavenSent cleverly posted: "As usual, unbelievers have it backwards. Hate would be NOT informing you that Jesus will toss you into the eternal flames."
This is exactly why I don't worship, accept, or believe in your grouchy, violent, murderous, cranky jerk of a god.
The christian God is not real, and if he is he is one heck of a monster.
The comment of the day:
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." – Mahatma Ghandi
Favorite attorney pharisee, Brampt?? He'd be locked up on s*e*x* charges today or deported, by you.
U R A LIAR
Looks like someone did not like view source comments ?
Thanks, I thought I was going insane.
Yup, the root post is now awaiting moderation. Some people must not have liked my helpful hints. Oh well.
Secular Humanist from Ohio .............you are not seeing things it did disappear !
.....
Hey HS and.....or HAR
Remember chad/HS........... the talking donkey you like so much might of chewed on that BONE.............that created eve.
No se-x needed ?
Yeah, after a few horror-stricken comments, I took out some of the more obvious no-brainers. Sheesh, these tips are pretty necessary to post here.
Bad letter combinations / words to avoid if you want to get past the CNN Belief Blog/WordPress automatic filter:
Many, if not most, are buried within other words, so use your imagination.
You can use dashes, spaces, or other characters or some html tricks to modify the "offending" letter combinations.
-
ar-se.....as in ar-senic.
co-ck.....as in co-ckatiel, co-ckatrice, co-ckleshell, co-ckles, etc.
co-on.....as in racc-oon, coc-oon, etc.
crac-ker…
cu-m......as in doc-ument, accu-mulate, circu-mnavigate, circu-mstances, cu-mbersome, cuc-umber, etc.
ef-fing...as in ef-fing filter
ft-w......as in soft-ware, delft-ware, swift-water, drift-wood, etc.
ho-mo.....as in ho-mo sapiens or ho-mose-xual, ho-mogenous, sopho-more, etc.
ho-oters…as in sho-oters
ho-rny....as in tho-rny, etc.
inf-orms us…
hu-mp… as in th-ump, th-umper, th-umping
jacka-ss...yet "ass" is allowed by itself.....
ja-p......as in j-apanese, ja-pan, j-ape, etc.
koo-ch....as in koo-chie koo..!
nip-ple
o-rgy….as in po-rgy, zo-rgy, etc.
pi-s......as in pi-stol, lapi-s, pi-ssed, therapi-st, etc.
p-oon… as in sp-oon, lamp-oon, harp-oon
p-orn… as in p-ornography
pr-ick....as in pri-ckling, pri-ckles, etc.
que-er
ra-pe.....as in scra-pe, tra-peze, gr-ape, thera-peutic, sara-pe, etc.
se-x......as in Ess-ex, s-exual, etc.
sl-ut
sm-ut…..as in transm-utation
sn-atch
sp-ank
sp-ic.....as in desp-icable, hosp-ice, consp-icuous, susp-icious, sp-icule, sp-ice, etc.
sp-ook… as in sp-ooky, sp-ooked
strip-per
ti-t......as in const-itution, att-itude, t-itle, ent-ity, alt-itude, beat-itude, etc.
tw-at.....as in wristw-atch, nightw-atchman, salt-water, etc.
va-g......as in extrava-gant, va-gina, va-grant, va-gue, sava-ge, etc.
who-re....as in who're you kidding / don't forget to put in that apostrophe!
wt-f....also!!!!!!!
x.xx…
There's another phrase that someone found, "wo-nderful us" (have no idea what sets that one off).
Here is the trick for all to see: consti<b></b>tution
It's the 21st century and I can't type ho.mo sapiens to describe humans. Good thing this isn't an academic or biology blog.
One day those prejudiced churches will come to realize the error in their thinking in that God did not exclude any one of His children for any reason from His house. But by the time those churches who discriminate against others come to realize that, God would have already judged them accordingly and they will surely have to pay the price.
Scouts are for gay people... Doesn't matter if your gay or not... Still gay!!
Filthy humans ... you are still living in the stone age but too ignorant to realize it.
You matter not!
Good riddance to bad rubbish. Baptists should just go away and leave everyone else alone.
I can't believe your arrogance and hypocrisy. You don't want inclusion. You want to take over and force others out. You believe in freedom for perversion but not for religion. You're a very miserable and ugly person.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mahatma Ghandi
You have no idea what you are saying. Your ignorance is incredible.
exactly
(the quote, not the first response just to be clear)
Good one. Their Christ is their Money.
Good riddance!
Adios, don't let the door hit ya "where the good lord split ya!"
So many hypocrites in this world...you know straight little Jimmy as a Boy Scout goes on a camping trip and automatically comes home gay...for Catholic churches to ban the Boy Scouts really takes the cake considering how many of their priests are gay or pedophiles (not to mention the millions of dollars many of their churches have had to pay-off altar boys who were abused). You all need to wake-up from your sleepy 1930s dreams and join the 21st century!
You unbelievers are too odd in what you believe. You condemn one and condone the other.
Keeping Gay boys out of scouting is going to be quite a chore, especially the undeclared ones, as most boys act Gay to some extent. They are weak, effeminate, and have high squeaky voices. Many walk around like Pee Wee Herman, roll their eyes, mince, and dress strangely. They squeal and giggle. They hate girls, especially the younger ones.
The bible also talks about stoning people. If they are going to be true to the bible they really need to start doing that, at least to their members that do something listed in the bible as worthy of stoning them.
Boy Scouts??!... When I was growing up I was going with my family and friends to the beach, playing sports all the time... Why scouts?? Do these churches really need to do that to try to recruit followers??.... Screw you charlatans!!
Good riddance!
When I was a scout, it wasn't relevant whether the scouts in the troop were Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or some other denomination. I don't think any troop should be run by a church because then it would exclude some scouts who come from different religions. In the end, being a scout is about boys growing into good men who care about their community and help all people.
I agree. Half my troop was Jewish and my family was atheist, and the Scoutmaster was a lesbian. We ignored the biblical claptrap aspect and just focused on teamwork and survival skills. I have very fond memories of that time and learned much which proved useful later in life.