Scouts again pull approval of Unitarian church award

Scouts again pull approval of Unitarian church award

May 21, 1999
By Michael E. Young

Young Unitarian Universalists trying to earn the church's Religion in Life award through the Boy Scouts of America are learning firsthand how prickly that topic can be.

For the second time in a year, the Irving-based BSA has told the Unitarian Universalist Association that the Boy Scouts can't authorize the Religion in Life medal because of the denomination's teachings on God and homosexuality.

Last May, the Scouts told the Unitarian Universalists that they no longer had BSA authority to award the medals because of unacceptable language in the Religion in Life manual. The language "was just not consistent with Scouting's values, particularly regarding the commitment to duty to God and traditional family values," BSA spokesman Gregg Shields said.

The Boy Scouts dropped its objection when the Unitarian Universalist Association agreed to delete the offending language and produce a new manual.

But that's where things got sticky.

In announcing the revised manual last month, the Unitarian Universalists' president, the Rev. John Buehrens, noted that, in addition to the manual, Scouts would receive "a letter from me, along with resources appropriate to dealing with issues of homophobia and religious discrimination."

That wasn't what the Boy Scouts expected, Mr. Shields said.

The letter and added materials "are directly inconsistent with our values and contain the original language" that the Boy Scouts opposed, he said.

"That's contrary to the spirit of the agreement we thought we had reached," Mr. Shields said.

But Mr. Buehrens said the 250,000-member Boston-based denomination, which has four churches in the Dallas area, followed the agreement exactly.

The church did agree to issue a new edition of the Religion in Life manual, removing language objectionable to the BSA, he wrote in a letter posted on the Unitarian Universalist Web site.

But denomination officials also made it clear to the Boy Scouts that they would supplement the manual with other materials "showing forth our religious principles in relation to the issues that have been part of this controversy," Mr. Buehrens said.

"Unitarian Universalism has long been a strong supporter of equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, and we have a responsibility to our young people to instruct them in religious values which underlie our commitment to this struggle," he said.

Likewise, the Unitarian Universalist Association has a broader view of God than some other denominations. So Scouts would also receive a pamphlet titled When Others (Or You) Say God "designed to help young people from a pluralistic religious tradition understand some of the multiple ways in which the word 'God' is, or can be, understood," Mr. Buehrens said.

The church made sure the additional materials were clearly attributed to the Unitarian Universalist Association and not from the Boy Scouts, denomination spokesman Tom Stites said.

"The pamphlet about the [Religion in Life] award has the Boy Scout name on it, and our sense is they have a right to have a say in something that is printed under their name," Mr. Stites said.

"But the things they object to, and we disagree about, are matters of our principles and our theology. And we think it's important to give those materials to the kids to help them find a way to reconcile Scout language with their religious sensibilities."

So young Unitarian Universalist Scouts working to earn the Religion in Life medal still will receive those materials, with or without Scouting's endorsement, denomination officials said.

The Boy Scouts of America accepts that, if reluctantly.

"The award belongs to the UUA, so they can still make those awards," Mr. Shields said. "But the Boy Scouts retains the authority over awards that can be issued in a Scouting context.

"We're surprised the UUA is encouraging their youth to wear an unauthorized award."

Local Unitarian Universalist leaders seem saddened that differences between the two groups have led to such a split.

"This is not a local issue," said the Rev. Dennis Hamilton of Horizon Unitarian Universalist Church in Carrollton. "This is something the Boy Scouts did on the national level. And our attitude is to let them go through their negotiations and learning process and, in the meantime, we'll continue doing what we do."

And if a Unitarian Universalist Scout wants to earn the Religion in Life award, he should be able to do so, Mr. Hamilton said.

First Unitarian Church of Dallas - some older Unitarian Universalist churches use only "Unitarian" in their names - has sponsored Scout troops but doesn't now, said the Rev. Laurel Hallman.

But that has nothing to do with this dispute, she said.

"We have one boy right now who is about to become an Eagle Scout," Ms. Hallman said. "In fact, every year or two we have someone like that.

"The tragedy for us is having a boy who loves the Boy Scouts and loves his church, and then the Boy Scouts say some of the people he knows at church and some of the ways people talk about God in church are wrong."

UUA/Scouts Main Page

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100