Boy Scouts of America: The Badge of Intolerance?

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A Special Message to Subscribers of Culture Watch, Education Review, Liberty and Justice for All Look for the next edition of Culture Watch on Thursday Boy Scouts of America: The Badge of Intolerance? Recent events involving the Boy Scouts of America have once again raised concerns about attempts to shove people and groups with traditional viewpoints on issues such as marriage, family, and sexuality out of the public square. As recently as July 2012, the Boy Scouts reaffirmed its long-standing membership policy regarding open homosexuality. Just a few days ago, however, the Scouts announced that they were considering changing course. The potential new policy, which could be decided on by as early as this week, would allow local sponsoring organizations to set their own policies. Why the sudden reversal? For years, the Scouts have been targeted for upholding traditional moral standards and belief in God. When the Scouts reaffirmed certain commitments last summer, the pressure only intensified. Some sources have disparaged the Scouts’ membership policy as intolerant and retrograde. Some corporate donors have stopped giving because of the Scouts’ stance. The Scouts controversy is just the latest reminder of how people or groups that stand up for traditional viewpoints on issues such as sex, family, and religion face intense and growing pressure to abandon those views. The Heritage Foundation has documented many instances illustrating how people with traditional viewpoints face growing burdens to right of conscience and religious freedom. When the Scouts’ freedom to uphold its beliefs was challenged in the past, it fought and won in the court of law. Today, the Scouts’ viewpoints are being challenged in the court of public opinion. Changing course now, in a policy that attempts to compromise by allowing different troops to choose different policies, will likely place the Scouts in more, not less, cultural, financial, and even potentially legal jeopardy. In addition, by abandoning its deeply held religious and moral beliefs in the face of intense pressure, the Scouts would also miss an important opportunity to demonstrate the strength of conviction that makes it a vibrant thread in the rich and diverse fabric of American civil society. Americans with traditional viewpoints face growing challenges to right of conscience and religious freedom. Today it’s the Boy Scouts. Who will it be tomorrow? Read more and Make your voice heard >> DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is the nation's most broadly supported public policy organization. Heritage established the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society in 2004 to educate government officials, the media and the public about the role religion, family, and civil society play in sustaining freedom and the common good. The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400 | heritage.org