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In reply to the discussion: NBC News: Boy Scouts Close to Ending Ban on Gay Members, Leaders [View all]Xithras
(16,191 posts)If you believe that "hatred and bigotry" are core values, then you didn't pay much attention to the values that are actually laid out in the program . As a reminder, these are the core values that scouting is built around: trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courteousness, kindness, obedience to family, cheerfulness, thriftiness, bravery, cleanliness, and reverence (not just as faith, but of the world around us).
I was a leader for many, many years, and two of my sons are scouts. I challenge you to name one "oath" used in scouting that is "hateful". In fact, the only thing about any of the oaths or pledges that are even REMOTELY "bigoted" are the three words "Duty To God" in the Promise, which is exclusionary to atheists (and yes, I do want that changed as well). There is absolutely NOTHING, in any of the programs, that teaches the superiority or inferiority of group x over group y, whether we're talking about gender, race, culture, or anything else.
The prohibitions against homosexuals and atheists exist outside of the program and aren't included, or even remotely referenced, in any part of the scouting program that the boys participate in. They're certainly not mentioned in any of the oaths. They are outside sanctions imposed on local units (which are largely ignored, fwiw) by the national organization outside of the program, and it's completely disingenuous to call them a "core value". It's a stupid limitation placed on scouting by a handful of Texas bigots, and an anomaly when contrasted against the inclusiveness that is otherwise one of scoutings core values.