The Exodus of Bigots Begins

For anyone who has watched the contentious debate within the Boy Scouts as to whether or not the organization should refrain from forcing out gay scouts, seeing a bigot backlash is not exactly surprising. After all, there were numerous threats from some that they would leave the Scouts rather than serve alongside gays. And now, we can see the first stirrings as some move toward the exit. One father has already detailed his plans to withdraw his son from the Scouts. Shamelessly, he blames the Scouts, rather than his own intolerance and prejudice, for his son's subsequent tears.

Perhaps even less surprising is the move by Southern Baptists to cut ties entirely to the organization, so outraged are they by the Scouts' belated, half-hearted decision to be tolerant of those who are different from them. The Baptists are having none of this, moving to vote on a resolution to urge member congregations to sever ties, a resolution that members emphasize is non-binding but may well prove to be the push some Southern Baptist churches need to say goodbye to the Boy Scouts. One member, Pastor Tim Reed, proclaimed that "God's Word says explicitly that homosexuality is a choice, a sin," in spite of the fact that Jesus himself said nothing about homosexuals in any of the Gospels and that the Old Testament prohibition against homosexuality is part of a long list of prohibitions that Christians routinely ignore, including directives against cutting one's beard and tattoos.

Before this is over, a number of Scouts will leave, and a number of churches and other organizations will sever ties. But the Boy Scouts will survive and in fact thrive without these intolerant individuals participating, and they can take comfort in the fact that not every religious organization is opposed to the change in policy. The United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Episcopal Church, the National Jewish Committee on Scouting, and, most remarkably of all, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, have all endorsed allowing gay scouts to serve openly. And this is a welcome development.

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