CCBC-Net Archives
BSA
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Keith Schroeder <kschroed>
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 07:57:53 -0600
I side with Jim on this one too. I've been involved in scouting for over 25 years. I have been in various leadership positions for those 25 years the last 12 being a scoutmaster. I've witnessed some miraculous changes in young men and have seen the key role a good positive male role model serves in a boy's life where they don't get that positive role model in the home. We also owe the excellent leadership skills that scouting develops in young people to many key leaders in our communities, country and in the world today. It saddens me to think that fellow library people would take glee in anything that could cause problems for our men in uniform. Scouting and the role it plays for the families of our soldiers cannot be downplayed. Thank God - yes God that the clause still allows service members to continue to assist with scouting and also to hold meetings in public areas.
I'm glad to see that there are others who also feel the way I do. There is still hope for a positive future for this country.
Keith Schroeder
Pardon me if I don't rejoice. Having had a son in cub scouts for the last three years, I know first hand the good that BSCUSA does for boys like my son in general, and for troubled youth in particular, and especially the sense of belonging it gives to the children of Military Services personnel stationed at home and abroad who have to move around from place to place every few years, sometimes every few months. It's a worthy organization.
Under equal access rules, I was glad to see this paragraph:
"The rule does not prevent service members from leading Scout troops unofficially on their own time, and Scouts will still be able to hold meetings on areas of military bases where civilian organizations are allowed to hold events."
By the way, girls can also join BSCUSA.
I don't think that there should be a religious litmus test in this country, either for or against having a belief in God, to decide if an organization or an individual is worthy of sponsorship or inclusion in activities related to governmental partnership. This is a violation of the First Amendment.
Have a wonderful day
Jim Elliott
----- Original Message ----- From: Ruth I. Gordon To: Pat Hogan ; Linda Perkins ; E. Fitzsimons ; ALSC List ; Ruth I. Gordon ; Suzanne Hildenbrand ; Dolly Greenman ; CCBC Net Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 10:44 PM Subject: RE: [ccbc-net] BSA
Another small victory for little things and--Big Grandma
Pentagon to Cut Off Boy Scouts From Bases
November 15, 2004 05:45 PM EST U.S. News Nov, 15.
CHICAGO - The Pentagon has agreed to warn military bases worldwide that they should not directly sponsor Boy Scout troops, partially resolving claims that the government has improperly supported a group that requires members to believe in God.
The settlement, announced Monday, came in a 1999 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which says American military units have sponsored hundreds of Boy Scout troops.
"If our Constitution's promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based on religious beliefs," said ACLU attorney Adam Schwartz.
The Pentagon said it has long had a rule against sponsorship of non?deral organizations and denied the rule had been violated. But it agreed to send a message to posts worldwide warning them not to sponsor Boy Scout troops or other such groups.
The rule does not prevent service members from leading Scout troops unofficially on their own time, and Scouts will still be able to hold meetings on areas of military bases where civilian organizations are allowed to hold events.
The settlement does not resolve other ACLU claims involving government spending that benefits the Boy Scouts, such as money used to prepare a Virginia military base for the Boy Scout Jamboree and grants used by state and local governments to benefit the Boy Scouts, Schwartz said.
Attorney Marcia Berman, who represented the Defense Department, declined to comment on the settlement Monday. But Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the message that will be sent to bases represents "a clarification of an existing rule that DOD personnel cannot be involved in an official capacity."
The original ACLU lawsuit named as defendants the Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Chicago Board of Education. The schools settled, agreeing not to engage in official sponsorship of scouting activities.
(SUBS 2nd graf to add date of lawsuit, last graf to correct to Chicago Board of Education, sted city.)
"You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty." --Jessica Mitford (191796)
Received on Wed 17 Nov 2004 07:57:53 AM CST
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 07:57:53 -0600
I side with Jim on this one too. I've been involved in scouting for over 25 years. I have been in various leadership positions for those 25 years the last 12 being a scoutmaster. I've witnessed some miraculous changes in young men and have seen the key role a good positive male role model serves in a boy's life where they don't get that positive role model in the home. We also owe the excellent leadership skills that scouting develops in young people to many key leaders in our communities, country and in the world today. It saddens me to think that fellow library people would take glee in anything that could cause problems for our men in uniform. Scouting and the role it plays for the families of our soldiers cannot be downplayed. Thank God - yes God that the clause still allows service members to continue to assist with scouting and also to hold meetings in public areas.
I'm glad to see that there are others who also feel the way I do. There is still hope for a positive future for this country.
Keith Schroeder
Pardon me if I don't rejoice. Having had a son in cub scouts for the last three years, I know first hand the good that BSCUSA does for boys like my son in general, and for troubled youth in particular, and especially the sense of belonging it gives to the children of Military Services personnel stationed at home and abroad who have to move around from place to place every few years, sometimes every few months. It's a worthy organization.
Under equal access rules, I was glad to see this paragraph:
"The rule does not prevent service members from leading Scout troops unofficially on their own time, and Scouts will still be able to hold meetings on areas of military bases where civilian organizations are allowed to hold events."
By the way, girls can also join BSCUSA.
I don't think that there should be a religious litmus test in this country, either for or against having a belief in God, to decide if an organization or an individual is worthy of sponsorship or inclusion in activities related to governmental partnership. This is a violation of the First Amendment.
Have a wonderful day
Jim Elliott
----- Original Message ----- From: Ruth I. Gordon To: Pat Hogan ; Linda Perkins ; E. Fitzsimons ; ALSC List ; Ruth I. Gordon ; Suzanne Hildenbrand ; Dolly Greenman ; CCBC Net Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 10:44 PM Subject: RE: [ccbc-net] BSA
Another small victory for little things and--Big Grandma
Pentagon to Cut Off Boy Scouts From Bases
November 15, 2004 05:45 PM EST U.S. News Nov, 15.
CHICAGO - The Pentagon has agreed to warn military bases worldwide that they should not directly sponsor Boy Scout troops, partially resolving claims that the government has improperly supported a group that requires members to believe in God.
The settlement, announced Monday, came in a 1999 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which says American military units have sponsored hundreds of Boy Scout troops.
"If our Constitution's promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based on religious beliefs," said ACLU attorney Adam Schwartz.
The Pentagon said it has long had a rule against sponsorship of non?deral organizations and denied the rule had been violated. But it agreed to send a message to posts worldwide warning them not to sponsor Boy Scout troops or other such groups.
The rule does not prevent service members from leading Scout troops unofficially on their own time, and Scouts will still be able to hold meetings on areas of military bases where civilian organizations are allowed to hold events.
The settlement does not resolve other ACLU claims involving government spending that benefits the Boy Scouts, such as money used to prepare a Virginia military base for the Boy Scout Jamboree and grants used by state and local governments to benefit the Boy Scouts, Schwartz said.
Attorney Marcia Berman, who represented the Defense Department, declined to comment on the settlement Monday. But Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the message that will be sent to bases represents "a clarification of an existing rule that DOD personnel cannot be involved in an official capacity."
The original ACLU lawsuit named as defendants the Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Chicago Board of Education. The schools settled, agreeing not to engage in official sponsorship of scouting activities.
(SUBS 2nd graf to add date of lawsuit, last graf to correct to Chicago Board of Education, sted city.)
"You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty." --Jessica Mitford (191796)
Received on Wed 17 Nov 2004 07:57:53 AM CST
