The Religion in Life award, which is awarded by the UUA to scouts who
are UUs, continues to be the subject of dispute with the Boy Scouts of
America (BSA). Last year the BSA had withdrawn its support for UUA
awards because of its objections to how BSA's position on homosexuality
and religion was characterized in the UUA's Religion in Life Manual, which
UU scouts receive to prepare for the award. In May the BSA
agreed to restore the award after the UUA agreed to change the language
in the Manual, and the BSA also agreed that UUA could provide scouts with
an independent communication about the issues of homosexuality and religion.
But last month the agreement fell apart when BSA learned about two pamphlets
that will accompany the Manual: "When Others or You Say God," written by
Rev. John Buehrens, President of UUA, describes religious pluralism in
a language accessible to youth; "In Support of All People," by Rev. Keith
Kron, Director of UUA's Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender
Concerns, addresses the dignity of all people regardless of sexual orientation.
In his report to a GA workshop focusing on the controversy, Rev. Buehrens said, "I remain proud of how we've continued to stick to our principles and engage with the Boy Scounts civilly and with respect on an issue about which we disagree so strongly. But we have not been treated civilly or honorably by the BSA."
Rev. Buehrens grew up in Scouting and rose to the level of Life Scout. He said he is thankful for the many life skills he and other boys learn from Scouting. "Structured programs for teenage boys are desperately needed in a society where pressures on young males are more severe than is sometimes recognized, and where there is still a role for single-gender programs," said Rev. Buehrens. He noted that while a minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in New York he founded a boy scout troop to serve the children in a nearby welfare hotel.
Report from Michael Healy, Past Area President of the BSA in New England
Michael Healy is trying to bridge the gulf between UUA and the BSA.
Healy, a delegate from UU Area Church of Sherburne, Mass., also serves
as the area president of Area 1 (the New England area) of the BSA. He recently
returned from the national meeting of the BSA, and reported his views on
the controversy. Mr. Healy, who has been involved both in UUism and in
adult volunteering in the Boy Scouts, emphasized the many similarities
between the two organizations. The mission statement of the BSA "is to
serve others by helping to install values in young people and in other
ways to prepare them to make ethical choices during their lifetime in achieving
their full potential. The values we strive to instill are based on those
found in the Scout Oath and Law." The values include this:
"A Scout is reverent... It is your duty to repect and defend other's rights to their religious beliefs even when they differ from your own."Individual scouts are organized into units (troops), councils, areas, regions, and the national organization. Mr. Healy's UU church sponsors a Cub Scout unit. Sponsors are usually churches, including every major religion, but can also be clubs. "The BSA likes to use churches as sponsoring organizations because, among other things, they tend to be better organized and more committed than many civic groups," Healy reported. 23 percent of Boy Scout units are sponsored by Mormon Churches, and scouting is a required youth program for Mormon youth. Healy said, "Camping is just a platform for building ethical and moral values." He noted that studies show that a former scout, 30 years later, is more likely than the general public to return excess change mistakenly left on a lunch counter.
Healy noted that every major denomination has a committee that serves as liaison with the BSA, except for the UUA, and Healy suggested that UUA consider forming such a committee.
Healy reported that a big stumbling block between the two organizations is the BSA's lack of understanding of Unitarian Universalism and of the role of the UUA. "They don't realize the UUA's long tradition of involvement in social issues, so they don't understand the background of our concern with gay rights. They don't understand the loose affiliation of UU congregations, which leads to our mulitiplicity of views," Healy said. He noted that while the BSA does not welcome gay scouts or scoutmasters, it doesn't tolerate gay-bashing at any time, and teaches leaders to deal with gay parents of scouts sensitively.
Healy's specific recommendations are:
- encourage ongoing dialog between the UUA and the BSA.;
- press for UUA membership on the BSA's national religious relationships committee;
- form a UU committee to handle the relationship with the Boy Scouts as other denominations do; and
- support the St. Paul MN (Indian Head Council) resolution to revisit membership requirements for Boy Scouts. This council has proposed "that the executive board of the National Council, BSA establish a representative commission to examine the relevance and appropriateness of the present membership requirements for traditional BSA programs and report its findings to the executive board in the year 2000.
UU youth Jimmy Sheldon, from Los Gatos, Calif., recently made Eagle Scout and has drafted a Resolution of Immediate Witness to be brought up at this GA. The resolution encourages the UUA to work with local troops, councils, and the national organizations. Jimmy Sheldon is seeking the necessary 150 delegate signatures to put the Resolution of Immediate Witness on the agenda.
Rev. Buehrens said, "I have increasingly come to feel that it is inappropriate for UUA to be drawn into an organization-to-organization dispute with the BSA." He said that he supports establishment of a committee to work with the Boy Scouts on these and other issues.
He added, "It is clear that policy within the Boy Scouts is turning them into what they have never been before, a religious, creedal, organization." He said that UU involvement could help the BSA and allow it to open up to a multiplicity of views. "But it is necessary for us to recognize that we cannot do this work alone. It must be done from the grass roots, by those who are most concerned."
Mike Healy and John Buehrens both recommend that UU Scouts continue to work for and earn the UU Religion in Life Award whether the Boy Scouts currently endorse it or not, noting that many troops continue to allow boys to wear the award, and expressing hope that the dispute with BSA will eventually be resolved.
For further information on this issue, see the Deseret News article.
