Holly New

Columnist

The debate about Boy Scouts of America (BSA) allowing gay members is not really about homosexual people at all. In reality, it’s just another long-winded debate about privacy.

BSA is an independent group with Christian foundations. According to the BSA website, 70.3 percent of all units are chartered to faith-based organizations. This means 70 percent of all Boy Scout troops are supported by churches. Why should a religious institution be forced to support actions that go against its morals? This debate is strikingly similar to that of forcing religious universities to pay for birth control. To some, prohibiting gay people from joining the BSA may be wrong, but forcing people to support things they don’t agree with is just as bad.

A lot of debate has circulated about the Boy Scouts accepting federal funding. I agree that if an institution takes federal funding then the public should have a say in how that institution is run. With that said, I would rather call for BSA to decline future funding than to change its values any day. If Boy Scouts were to cut all ties with the government then this issue could truly disintegrate.

The question this issue really comes down to is who gets to decide how a private organization is run. The government supports institutions like Planned Parenthood, which performs actions many tax-paying citizens are against. BSA is simply another institution that performs actions some people are against. At some point we need to let people be. If someone doesn’t support what the BSA stands for then they shouldn’t join. We all have to admit we live in a society of different morals and beliefs, and that should be respected.

 

AJ Edwards

Columnist

With the election of the first black president, and women having the right to vote, one would think we’re doing a good job at the whole “all men are created equal” thing, right? Wrong.

Boy Scouts of America is going to allow for openly gay youths to join, but the organization is still debating whether to allow gay adults to serve as troop leaders. . According to CBS’ Albert Flores, this is largely due to the large amount of religious partners the BSA has and their negative views on homosexuality.

This is absolutely disgusting. I thought we already surpassed the whole discrimination thing, yet here we are claiming homosexuals cannot be leaders in the BSA. Even worse, the BSA is using religion to hide their prejudice. I thought the understanding of the Christian faith was only God could judge someone. What gives the BSA or its partners the right to cast that judgment? Are they claiming to be holier than God?

“I feel it’s discrimination,” said James Green junior journalism major and former BSA member. “The Christian organizations I know of teach you to respect one another regardless of [sexual] orientation.”

What I don’t understand is the BSA’s issue with homosexuals aside from their backward religious views on homosexuality. Is it the assumption that homosexuals abuse children? According to a study by Gregory Herek, psychology professor at the University of California at Davis, research “does not show that gay or bisexual men are any more likely than heterosexual men to molest children.”

Let’s face it: This is just discrimination hiding behind religious beliefs. God created man; therefore, he created gay people. God’s supposed to love all his children. It’s time the BSA realizes it needs to stop doing what its book tells its members to do and instead do what’s right.