 |
|
|
|
|
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 » |
  About this blog
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.  |
|
|
|
Interestingly, I'll be few if any people who wouldn't join Boy Scouts because of their anti-gay policy now will. Oh those sanctimonious libs!!
Sad day for the Boy Scouts and a sad day for the USA We are losing our religious beliefs but no fear, the LORD WILL get us lined out someday.
Sorry, but because of my religious beliefs and the fact that I actually read the Bible, it's a wonderful day. Because I believe in Jesus who was called a sinner by the Pharisees for eating with the sinners and drinking fermented wine. The same Jesus who compared God to a woman in the parable of the lost coin, came to women first after resurrecting, and was one of the first advocates for women as you can see. Pharisees were not allowed to look at a woman, and Jesus taught them. One day you Pharisees will be judged by God. The REAL God. The God who was angry at Job's friends for comparing him to a vengeful God just like you did.
How does this supposed "lord' get us lined out? Does that mean "lined up" to persecute people for who they are? People who use the bible and religion to persecute other people are evil incarnate and id there were a hell, they'd be burnin' in it.
I was in RA's and Boy Scouts, and, wouldn't you know, some of those kids grew-up to be gay. I assure you, they were *always* gay. When one of them told me he was gay when we were 27, my reply was, "No kidding, Dave. I've known that for at least the last 12 years." He was relieved that I didn't care, and I loved the guy, like I always did. Fortunately, he had other people in his life who loved him for who he was. The only ones aiming to "line us out" are those who are afraid. There isn't a being or essence or other deity out there who is going to "damn" us. Please learn to love yourself and the wonderful world (including the people) we live in, and enjoy the heaven that exists all around us today.
Where Sin Abounds Grace does much More Abound !!! But One of these Days we all will stand before the Throne and give a Reason for everything we've Done and every Word we've Spoken.....And I will Say, ' I TRUST IN JESUS My great Deliverer
My strong Defender
The Son of God
I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer
My Lord forever........The Holy One !!!
Maybe at sometime there will be a few Southern Baptist leaders who will bring their congregations into the next century... in their case, the thirteenth.
hey, that's cute... until you realize it's true...
How about the Boy Scouts leaving the baptist church? I was raised in Texas in the baptist church and there isn't a larger group of hypocritical, closed minded bible thumpers on the planet. Luckily for me I escaped both the church and Texas after graduating high school. The best move I ever made.
What I learned in the Boy Scouts had some value, but the teachings in the nutty organization that is the southern baptists NEVER made any sense and I knew it even at a young age.
So go. LEAVE. Religions have the world in a turmoil, and this one is at the front of the pack but ever so humbly. NOT.
Trust me, you won't feel that way once you're in hell...
"Just the facts"- Those types of threats only work on children, whom we only wish to protect from the likes of you.
Robert... It's not a threat. It's a fact. And your disbelief in it does not change it...
Well, I guess I must repeat myself. I don't believe in fairytales or the threatening of children, and that's a fact.
Robert… And must I repeat myself as well? I stated, "And your disbelief in it does not change it." So what part of that did you not understand?…
****
JustTheFacts
Robert... It's not a threat. It's a fact. And your disbelief in it does not change it...
If it is a fact, as you say..............Prove it, or STFU !
Best news I've heard all day!
Allright! Good for the scouts, and good progress for this country.
not a sign of progression of society, but perversion of society. When society becomes perverse, society creates perverts, just like you
Perverted! Why I have never!
And to think these goons have non-profit status. Time to look at that isn't it?
the reason the conservatives are losing influence: they won't get out of the dark ages
christians CAN'T "get out of the dark ages" on this one...unless they rewrite the bible. or pick a new religion.
Don't wear clothes made of more than one fabric (Leviticus 19:19). Seems as if that one could be unlearned.
So basically they're telling kids, "You have to hate who we hate, or we'll hate you, too."
It's not a great way to get people to join up and hear their message. Or raise kids. Or be a decent human.
YES. Exactly. My parents grew me up telling me to hate, and I became liberal anyways. It doesn't work, and it causes bitterness. It's all of the problems of the adults being forced on the kids.
the bible doesn't "hate" gays, its just says its a sin. christians aren't supposed to "hate" anyone...but they're not supposed to condone sin either.
You have to hate whoever God hates. If you do not hate who God hates, then he considers you a friend of his enemy. And all friends of his enemy shall be cast into the lake…
James 4:5 …know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Good riddance! The less contact our kids have with organized bigotry through religion, the better!
probably a good idea to keep the kids away from the Baptists so that they don't catch evangelical CRaZy
Ramen
All these cults just cherry-pick the ancient tomes to try and justify their bigotry.
Why aren't they stoning sinners and chopping off hands?
At least the barbaric middle east is truer to their book.
Oh wait, the southern baptists really _would_ like a christian taliban in power here.
Because Jesus made a new covenant.
So, they want to eliminate a channel for reaching the lost. Christ always went where the sinners were. The church of his day castigated him for it. Sounds like the Baptists really needs to do some soul searching. WWJD? Minister, not ostracize.
christian organizations arent willing to FUND organizations that dont teach/embrace christianity...its THEIR money after all, you want their money..you follow their doctrines.
As an Eagle Scout and a Christian I am disappointed in how a Christian organization which purports to follow Christ can be so mean and hateful to children. We live in the world of humans and not the world of Christ. Christ understood this and with the metaphor of the Good Samaritan he showed how we as humans can make the physical world a better place. Scouts builds character, teaches boys how to become men, and teaches skills for life. I pray for the Baptist church that they can realize the errors of their ways and reconsiders their spiteful actions.
They'll never realize the error of their ways because their way is nothing but errors. They contort the beautiful message of Christ to suit their own hatred. In their world, if there is no "Them" to hate, then there is nothing binding "Us" together. The good news is that their hatred has become so transparent that the entire country is noticing and it is the beginning of the end for the truely anti-Christian evangelicals. Good riddance to them because they have stained the name of Christ long enough.
Well, good riddance. The only people you are hurting, though, are your own kids.
Did you know that approximately 80% of Southern Baptists think the World is less than 10,000 years old. It's true, I'm not making that up !
[sarcasm] They expanded their horizon. They used to think it was only 6,000 years old. [/sarcasm]
You can't fix stupid, either!
The cult has always been an important training ground for unskilled blue-collar workers in the south. In return, local businesses broker power-sharing deals to ensure their little conservative communities don't change. It's a cycle of dependence that only benefits the blabtist cult and the local business community. A sick synergy of sociopaths.
No great loss to the scouts. I'm sure many true christian churches, you know the ones that truly follow judge not lest ye be judged, love thy fellow man, etc will be happy to sponsor scout troops. Let the judgemental, my way or the highway crowd pitch their hissy fit. The scouts are far better off without them.
Memorizing Bible verses... Yeah, that sounds like LOADS og fun! 😉
There has always been gays in the scouts. Everyone knew but scout rules required them to hide it. Is it christian of you to ask them to lie?
There are other scouting organizations already, THE BPSA (Badden Powell Service association) and such. BTW girl scouts and boy scouts of america where created by an act of congress, but nobody remembers that nowadays