The vote by the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on openly gay troop leaders last week was a blow to some religious conservative organizations that have long been connected to scouting, especially the Mormon Church, which has deep roots in the Boy Scouts.
The church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has used the Boy Scouts as its official program for young men for more than 100 years, according to Quin Monson, a political science professor at Brigham Young University.
"The church took the Boy Scout program and decided its values and mission aligned closely enough with that of the church's program for young men that they just wholesale adopted it," says Monson, who is Mormon, the father of a Boy Scout and a former Boy Scout himself. "Basically, if you are a young Mormon male, you join the Boy Scouts."
Monson just returned from two nights at scout camp with his son. He tells NPR's Rachel Martin that the secular and religious overlap in Mormon scouting. "In some senses, it's hard to tell the two apart," he says.
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6 comments:
there are other great programs available. they should have been preparing for this a long time ago.
Sex Offenders everywhere are rejoicing over this new development. Boyscout camp here they come!
If gays are a loud in the boy scouts Mormons should shun them.
To 5:38...so if u needed some sort of help to survive in a drastic situation where u didn't have skills....u would not accept help because they were gay? IGNORANCE!
Will Bethesda and Asbury Methodist churches continue to support scouting?
Banning gays will not eliminate pedophiles. A scout who just happens to be gay and over 18 is denied the right to be scout master?
You know gays tend toward high achievement and many our Eagle Scouts.
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