When children grow up in the United States, they’re told they can grow up to be anything they want. They’re told they were born free and equal. We try to promise every kid the same advantages and chances in America … until now.

Last week, a judge agreed with the Boy Scouts of America stating they do not have to allow a child into their organization who does not believe in God.

The BSA came to the boy’s school hyping how much fun Cub Scouts was. The agnostic boy’s father brought him to the Scout’s recruiting meeting to join. However, the application for BSA membership requires an applicant to subscribe to a belief in a God.

The boy’s father signed the form with the stipulation that his on could remain agnostic. The local council returned the application denying admittance to the boy. They claimed agnostic boy scout was an oxymoron.

The Boy Scouts was founded by Lord Baden Powell, a British military hero, in 1909. It was designed to give the delinquent kids of early 20th-century England another outlet besides the streets. Powell tried to teach the boys a duty to God and country while teaching them useful skills; they learned a responsibility to help their fellow man with the skills they have.

Powell took the first crew of Boy Scouts to Brown Sea Island, an isle off the British coast, not knowing what to expect. He came away with a youth movement which today has encompassed the world.

The Boy Scouts was brought to America in 1911 when a lost businessman was helped to his destination by a British scout. The man was so impressed with the scout that he took the idea back to America; it spread like wildfire.

An idea, created 83 years ago, has affected millions of lives. Scouts, girls and boys alike, have subscribed to a “morally” clean way of life. In the United States, it has taken on the persona of the “American kid” teaching loyalty and bravery to our youth.

It’s hard to believe that an American icon, such as the BSA, has apparently been revealed as a snobbish, country-club like organization. The Scouts now claim to be a private organization with the ability to turn away anyone they see fit. That’s interesting considering the honorary president of the BSA is the president of the United States.

Whether the scouts want to accept their role or not, they have evolved into a public organization capable of wielding a tremendous amount of power. Religious discrimination does not belong in the Boy Scouts of America nor does it belong in the minds of American kids.

It’s a fact that the BSA is afraid to evolve into an organization capable of dealing with the real problems of all American youths.

They claim allowing agnostics into their circle would be revolutionary and destructive to their ideas. The Boy Scouts seem confused with the difference between revolution and evolution. Allowing agnostics into their ranks can only breed new understanding and religious tolerance. It’s too bad they’re afraid to skate; they could do a lot for America if they would just grow up.