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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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Rejoice that the B.S.O.A. killed two birds with one stone, opening up scouting for gay kids and getting rid of a hate group and their supports. It is a good thing that the Southern Baptist have removed their poisonous influence from scouting. Now they need to remove themselves from Christianity and do God a favor.
Seems that is what the Baptist are supporting too.
This is truly good news! The less these kids are exposed to hate-filled bigots the better off they will be. It's a good thing when we keep these types away from children. Bye-bye bigots.
Yes, it is a hate thing....nothing like religion to bring out the worst in mankind, ignorance, bigotry, racism, misogynists.
Who would Jesus hate? Most likely todays christians, he would be revolted by them.
all they do in the boy scouts is gay stuff these days
"all they do in the boy scouts is gay stuff these days"
Sociologists and psychologists hold that some of the emotionality in prejudice stems from subconscious attitudes that cause a person to ward off feelings of inadequacy by projecting them onto a target group. That's right folks homophobic people like this are just insecure and immature.
Jesus also preached tolerance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIdBuK7_g3M
Why did you change your name? You posted the same video on page 95, do you think no one is going to realize you are the same guy?
disanitnodicos was your name.
Sorry Comrade Huebert. I thought it didn't get posted.
Also you never answered my questions. How does accepting gays undermine western society?
Principles of equality undermine western society by eliminating the hegemony of white men. The idea that different people be treated equally is horrifying!
The scouts are better without this hate group.
And the Baptists are better off without the hateful and sick gays. Everyone's happy (a least as happy as a gay can be) so what's the problem?
As an Eagle Scout that was a member Catholic charted troop I have to wish good luck to the Baptists leaving the organization. While I'm sure that you will be reasonably happy with the programs that your denomination directly provides, it sadly won't provide the well rounded experience of scouting. Religion is not the major focus of Scouting, unlike the Ambassador program. Scouting is about guiding our youth into becoming well rounded moral citizens (who should have some sort of belief in a higher power, whatever that might be to them). Our membership goes on to achieve great things in the world, many becoming leaders in their chosen fields. The ambassador program looks to be really good at producing future pastors and missionaries. I don't wish to dismiss the important work that these positions do, but its not even remotely the same thing.
As for Gays in scouting... It was already a thing. Most of the boys in my and other troops knew which scouts were probably or certainly gay. Whats changed is now they can be openly so, which in most cases still isn't going to happen because of the common peer pressure that exists in adolescent boys. What is really happening is instead of kicking out a boyscout who is openly gay, the organization will protect that scout's decision to be open by punishing those who act in a disrespectful and/or harmful way towards that scout. Acting in this manner towards somebody is not acceptable behavior in any scout, and certainly shouldn't be accepted by somebody who is supposed to live by the teachings of Christ. IMHO the BSA's decision is even more courageous and moral than stripping away thousands of boy's charters (and all of the equipment and money attached to those troops, and yes, those troops can have a significant amount of money and assets) like an angry child threatening to take the ball home when they don't get their way.
Very well said. Thank you.
This does not surprise me. I was a Baptist for 40+ years but cut ties more than 20 years ago because of the hatred taught in Baptist churches. I went looking for another denomination that was closer to my beliefs and finally threw them all out. It's all fairy tales and made up stuff from centuries ago. When will people get smart and realize that.
What happened to "Thou shalt not judge". Also what about the church being safe for children form molestation form leaders. This is one reason why I do not attend church anymore, they judge the way you dress and judge is your not a member ect.......
its about time the scouts cleanse themself from the southern baptist. I cut my ties from them (SB) many years ago and still live with scares from thier beliefs.
The one VERY positive thing that I see in this story is the fact that the population in general is changing and becoming tolerant of people that are "different". The Baptist "adults" chose not to change. It's reminiscent of 50 years ago when Baptists congregations were White or Black and this was because of the Baptist level of tolerance. Look how STUPID they look today. The second VERY positive thing that tis will do which not only affects Baptists but also Mormons, Catholics etc. is that they will see people LEAVING these churches in DROVES EN MASSE.Because the young aren't buying into to the "OLD DYING" leaders dead ideas. I for ONE am glad to see the intolerant "war loving" Christian churches dying off. Maybe to be followed by Christian churches and followers that followed the genuine Jesus and his philosophy to " Love Thy Neighbor as Yourself".
Very well-said!! Very well indeed. Amen.
You know how I know that you didn't actually read the article? The Mormons and most other churches do support the BSA's decision to allow gay scouts.
End Xtianity and lslam for the betterment of mankind.
Buh-bye. Don't let the door hitcha inna ass on the way out. The BSA has to do what's right, not what the Baptists want.
So to drop the scouts does that make serving God and Loving Ur neighbor eaiser to go to heaven when all of you os perfect adults are dead and one of the biggest do right jobs you have done was to give up on these kids that the Bible said to suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not. This generation will make their way in this world based on what they feel is the best way to go at least they are thinking of All God's Children which is more than can be said for the Southern Baptist Church.
I have writter a book for teens and young adults please buy and read: Crossroads of Life by Almeta Turner
You could not possibly have written a book. If you did, you self-published it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-04VDrCbM
How did you paste the video?
"How did you paste the video?"
Do help this troll.
You just paste it and then pray real hard.
LOL! Fundie
The pro scouters are taking america straight to hell!
No Tracy prejudice trolls like you are the evil in our society.
Tracy ... hell is fictional ... as are dragons, demons, heaven, gods, angels, leprechauns, ghosts, trolls, unicorns .... all mythical fictional make believe.
Hell doesn't really exist. It is only in your belief system that it does. Try being open-minded and not so foolishly gullible. No god needed or wanted, in fact your imaginary friend is the reason you hate and come across as a bigot. Without your imaginary friend, you'd have no justification to hate gays. If you don't like gays, turn off your computer-one of the inventors was gay; move away from society and live in a cave...gays are not going anywhere and they are all around you. People who think like you should not have children...we want the next generation to be intelligent and not closed minded bigots.
Nonsense! I can only shake my head at the ignorance of that remark. I hope you have a more tolerant time in your *next* lifetime!
Get over it, Tracy. There is no god, and there is no hell.
LOL!!!! You luzer gayatheists are just going to have to find out the hard way. It's actually kind of humorous! LOL!!!!!!!!
billf: Sorry, once again you're wrong...we've determined that you're opinion is backwards and bigoted. You're a fool and extremely gullible. If you don't like gays move as fa away from society as possible, they are not going to hide any longer and not all Atheists are gay...I know a number of christards that are gay and better christians than you could ever hope to be. You know FAUX news might be a better spot for you to spread your hate, unless of course you enjoy being constantly corrected. No matter what way it is looked at, you're still wrong and bigoted.
I don't think gays should be discriminated against in the boy scouts just as I believe these churches should be able to pull their support for the boy scouts if they want.
Sadly the children in the boy scouts will pay the price either way with either tolerated bigotry or less funds.
Sometimes you just can't win.
Haha...the fundies are chewing their own leg off! Nice to see....hate organizations like the Baptists and BSA deserve each other 😛
I think you mean that you are chewing your BF's middle leg off. Those morning bone rs can be hazardous to a gay's health! LOL!!!!!!!
Baptisit or any other group Vote with your feet. Time will tell the tale.
Morals 1, no morals 0 way to go Baptists! You rock!
"Morals 1, no morals 0 way to go Baptists! You rock!"
Supporting prejudice and bigotry is moral in your book, you're one sick person.
How silly to think gay people don't have morals. They have as much morality as heteros. Christians are just as immoral as any other group.
Better stated as hate and bigotry 1, equality 0
Gay is OK. Get to know a few and you'll see. Drop the ancient myths and folklore that causes the fear of gays. The nicest people I know are gay.
My friend, "morals" is a very relative term. For people like many Baptists, "morals" is a tribal shibboleth to make them feel superior to other people they just don't understand. Actual morals - real ethics - for Christians - involves taking to heart the words of Jesus to love others, to judge not lest you be judged, and to take the rafter out of your own eye.
You are beyond ignorant Tracy. Christardation had zero morals, at least when it comes to people like you. Try seeking some medical attention for the delusions
You got it Tracy!
They're the nicest people you know because you are gay. Just take that "R" out of your name and be honest about it.