{"id":186152,"date":"2014-04-22T19:20:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T00:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2014\/04\/22\/why-the-boy-scouts-leadership-need-to-be-fired-and-it-offices-should-moved-from-texas-to-a-civilized-place\/"},"modified":"2014-04-22T19:20:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-23T00:20:00","slug":"why-the-boy-scouts-leadership-need-to-be-fired-and-it-offices-should-moved-from-texas-to-a-civilized-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2014\/04\/22\/why-the-boy-scouts-leadership-need-to-be-fired-and-it-offices-should-moved-from-texas-to-a-civilized-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Boy Scouts Leadership Need to be Fired, and it Offices Should Moved from Texas to a Civilized Place"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is<\/strike> was a boy scout troop in the Seattle area whose leader is openly gay, and BSA ejected him from the scouts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When the church at which his troops were based refused to discharge him, because they oppose discrimination, and the BSA closed down those troops<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Church Pledges to Resist BSA\u2019s Demand and Remain Open and Inclusive; Scouts for Equality Deplores Boy Scouts\u2019 Callous Act as a Discriminatory Attempt to put Politics before Boys<\/span>

<\/span>In a startling and discriminatory move, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) revoked the charter of Seattle Troop 98 and Pack 98 for its refusal to remove gay Scoutmaster Geoffrey McGrath. The BSA revoked the charter of Rainier Beach United Methodist Church\u2019s (RBUMC), a Seattle church whose two Scouting units serve a neighborhood with few other positive opportunities for local youth.<\/span>

<\/span>\u201cThe Boy Scouts\u2019 decisions only serve to hurt a group of boys who need the values and leadership of someone like Scoutmaster McGrath,\u201d said Zach Wahls, Executive Director of Scouts for Equality, a national organization dedicated to ending the BSA\u2019s ban on gay members and leaders. \u201cUnfortunately, the BSA\u2019s decision calls into question its commitment to leadership and values by perpetuating an outmoded policy rooted in fear and discrimination. History will show that today\u2019s announcement is a self-inflicted wound.\u201d<\/span>

<\/span>The controversy surrounding Troop 98 emerged in March, when an NBC News report on the inclusive troop prompted the BSA to question the sexual orientation of Scoutmaster Geoffrey McGrath. McGrath, abiding by the Scout\u2019s commitment to trustworthiness, acknowledged his sexual orientation to the BSA, which in turn, responded by revoking McGrath\u2019s status as Scoutmaster.<\/span>

<\/span>Since then, support for McGrath has been overwhelmingly positive. The entire Seattle City Council, as well as more than 20 Washington State legislators, have expressed their support for Rainier Beach United Methodist Church\u2019s right to determine its own leadership for McGrath\u2019s ability to remain a Scoutmaster. Most important, RBUMC Rev. Dr. Monica Corsaro has stood by McGrath and has refused to remove him from his post. BSA is taking this action in direct contradiction to the inclusive religious beliefs and wishes of Rainer Beach Methodist Church.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It makes no sense to support the BSA until the leadership gets its head out of its collective asses.<\/p>\n

If they are sponsored by your house of worship, or your church, you should consider finding some other organization that better represents a moral view of our society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is was a boy scout troop in the Seattle area whose leader is openly gay, and BSA ejected him from the scouts. When the church at which his troops were based refused to discharge him, because they oppose discrimination, and the BSA closed down those troops: Church Pledges to Resist BSA\u2019s Demand and Remain …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[967,1056,1030],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bigotry","category-charity","category-lgbtq"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}