Church says it will defy Scouts' order on badges

from The Boston Globe

May 19, 1999
By Diego Ribadeneira, Globe Staff

Accusing the Boy Scouts of America of discrimination, the Unitarian Universalist Association yesterday vowed to defy the organization's latest order to stop giving religious awards to scouts who are Unitarians.

After apparently reaching a compromise on a dispute between the two groups over their opposing views on gays, the Boy Scouts of America revoked the authority it had granted the Unitarians to give out the awards.

''If they intend to start ripping badges off scout uniforms when our children earn a religious award, they are going to look very peculiar,'' said John A. Buehrens, president of the 250,000-member denomination. ''We will continue to award the badge and our young people will continue to earn it.''

A liberal denomination with historical roots in New England, the Unitarian Universalist Association is headquartered in Boston.

Last May, the Scouts, reacting to the church's ''Religion in Life'' manual, which contains language promoting gay rights, told the Unitarians not to give out the award. The Boy Scouts consider homosexuality immoral and the organization forbids gays from joining.

But as part of what Unitarians say was their agreement made with the Boy Scouts last month, church officials removed the language but planned to include a separate document with the manual stating that the Unitarians strongly disagree with the Boy Scouts' position on gays.

"Two Boy Scout officials sat here in my office and said it was okay,'' Buehrens said.

But a Boy Scouts spokesman said the separate document was never discussed as part of any compromise. ''It was not discussed in the meeting,'' said Gregg Shields. ''That document reopens the whole issue of using boys as a venue to air the Unitarian Universalist Association's objection to scouting's commitment to duty, to God and to traditional family values.''

This story ran on page D18 of the Boston Globe on 05/19/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.

UUA/Scouts Main Page

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