The General US Politics Thread

None of the founders of the BSA were Mormon but I believe the church was heavily involved from the start. That's why these changes have been so slow.

This makes me happy. Boy Scouts is the one event I have put my son in and haven't let him drop because I feel it has so many positive benefits. But I always felt guilty over their homophobic policy.

Regardless why they are transitioning, I will take it and run with it.

The Mormon influence on the Boy Scouts is in the United States only, I think. BP was religious as well as Lady Olave, but not to the point of mixing the religion so.

Remember the history of it: there was the Boys' Brigade but this was Christian only. BP still mentions a "God" in all of his letters, and christianity in those regarding his first experiment (but then he was dealing only with british children) but during the jamborees and everything he only refered to "God" without allusion to specific christian religions.

Remember his history. He fought in Africa. He must have been very familiar with other religions and influenced by things not just from Africa but Hindu as well.

The Mormon influence in the Boy Scouts organization of the United States dates back to a funding of it they did once again. They slowly rolled from that and the Mormon Church in the U.S funds a lot of the Boy scout stuff...and the tendrils of money seem to run deep.

The Boy Scouts do require belief in a higher power and many of their classic traditions use the word god or allow for prayer. But luckily many of the people I have encountered don't stress that issue and just acknowledge it. That is a rare thing here in the south but I think that is mainly because many of the people who are into boy scouts here are more educated and open minded even if they happen to be deeply religious.

Poorer or more sheltered people send their kids to church camps.

Do they get to hear about God at Church Camp?

It should be noted that a lot of these are American peculiarities. I was in the OG British Scouts and we didn't exclude gay kids.

edited 22nd May '15 11:51:03 AM by Achaemenid

So was I. I also remember there was a greater focus on The Queen.

I think Boy Scouts should let atheists in but that's not as big of an issue as letting gay people in.

This guy is such an example of Refuge in Audacity that it's kind of awesome. Reminds me of a real version of Councilman Dexhart from Parks and Recreation.

Eh, 17 (especially late 17) is kind of that gray area in regards to "corruption of a minor". Also gotta laugh at the implications of slavery, since I'm fairly sure that slaves weren't permitted to wear the more ornate stuff like that. And hey, if they're a happy couple, more power to them.

That said, holy Implausible Deniability regarding the excuse they tried passing.

For the record, I think what they originally were going to charge him with is a terrible misuse of "child protection" laws and even the plea deal is kind of iffy.

I was confused by the slavery reference too at first, but rereading, I think the implication was that both he and his significant other were dressed like plantation owners, not that he looked like the owner and she like a slave.

edited 22nd May '15 1:00:11 PM by Hodor2

The Obama administration is expected in the coming days to announce a major clean water regulation that would restore the federal government’s authority to limit pollution in the nation’s rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands.

Gallup Poll shows that people are increasingly identifying themselves as socially liberal, a sign that the "America is a center-right nation" myth might slowly be dying out.

Boy Scouts allows atheists.

The poll is good news. Now to just get people to act on it in the polls.

I am not so sure about the poll. It reeks of WEIRD. Plus 1k is a relatively small sample...the methodology is there but I don't have time to read it right now, lulz

I think (correct me if I'm wrong) the idea is that while they are faith-based (and were initially Christian faith-based), they allow atheist members- it's just that those members would need to put up with some religious language.

In contrast, they used to ban homosexual members and leaders, seemingly out of a believe that All Gays Are Pedophiles.

The boy scouts of America would prefer you believe in a higher power than yourself. To have faith. They would prefer it to be a religious faith but they have since amended their wording to allow that faith does not have to be religious to be valid.

They also have optional religious based awards involving almost all religious organizations from the abrahamic to shinto, ba'hai, and zoroastranism. There is talk of opening Wiccan and/or Pagan equalivents but the issue there is finding a unified authority that can be held accountable to sign off on those, let alone unified objectives that apply to those faiths is proving difficult.

The BSA is all about building character, so I can see why they chose faith as a virtue to encourage. I am glad that they have just expanded it to include secular views of faith.

Atheists are not barred from being scouts or leaders at all.

You sure about that? I've been told you can't be an atheist and be a Scout. I'm pretty sure my book even says the organization believes it's a fundamental part of having good morals.

Considering that Eagle Scouts have gotten their status taken away for coming out as atheist and it's still one of the things they regularly kick even boys out for, I'd have to say that no, they don't allow atheists in the scouts, but if you particular council is more welcoming than most and not reporting it to the main BSA, then you're lucky.

But the official policy is still no atheists.

Then half of my son's council is against regulation and a good quarter of the scouts.

For once Arkansas is actually doing something right.

I am surprised.

The U.S. Congress on Saturday blocked two bills aimed at authorizing the mass electronic surveillance of Americans. In a rare 1:00 a.m. vote, both the proposed Patriot Act's short-term extension and the USA Freedom Act failed to get the necessary number of votes.

good for them! Finally the patriot act can die the death it deserves

Out of curiosity, how dependent are the security services on the PATRIOT act? Like the Department of Homeland Security for example (I know, it's a department not an agency but still)?

I find it darkly amusing how these acts are named in an almost defiantly ironic way. PATRIOT is only patriotic if you include spying on your own citizens in that adjective, and freedom is pretty much the opposite of what you get with lots of surveillance.

its not defiantly ironic, its calculating. If someone questions it you can always try the "Are you against something PATRIOTIC!" hammer first.