Views of Homosexuality put
Unitarians, Boy Scouts in Conflict
By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette
20 Franklin Street
P.O. Box 15012
Worcester, MA 01615-0012
Wednesday, July 22, 1998
The Rev. John Buehrens recalled yesterday one of the high points of
his youth was attending the Boy Scout World Jamboree in Colorado in 1959.
In those “Eisenhower years” he met fellow Scouts from all over the world
and believes the experience prepared him for later leadership roles.
Now, as president of the national Unitarian Universalist Association,
which is based in Boston, he has come into conflict with the national Boy
Scouts of America over his religious denomination's liberal stance on homosexuality.
It's a conflict that he's willing to fight on behalf of Boy Scouts who
are members of the Unitarian church.
The national Scout organization told the Unitarians not to give out
any more of religious award emblems to Scouts of that denomination. Buehrens
said the Unitarians will continue to give the awards and they will continue
to sponsor Boy Scout troops.
The Unitarians, an international denomination that has its roots in
New England, are among several religious groups, including Roman Catholics,
Episcopalians and other Christians, Jews and Muslims that present Scouting
awards to boys of their traditions.
“Who's to say they won't be saying the same thing to the Catholics,
the Episcopalians and the other religious groups if they don't agree with
what they teach,” said Albert M. Toney III of Worcester, an advocate for
the rights of gay and lesbian people. Toney is a former Boy Scout.
“The Boy Scouts don't generally affirm gay and lesbian rights. We do,”
said the Rev. Alan Taylor, who is serving this summer at the First Unitarian
Church of Worcester. The Unitarian-Universalist Church, also in Worcester,
sponsors a Boy Scout troop, he said.
The Boy Scouts of America does not approve of homosexuality and will
not hire gays or allow gay males to join the organization. There have been
recent court challenges to their exclusionary policy, but court rulings
have been contradictory.
The Unitarian Universalist Association welcomes gays and lesbians into
their churches. “We teach that homosexuality is not a sin, but homophobia
is a sin,” Buehrens said.
The national Scout organization recently took offense at wording in
the Unitarian manual of beliefs and practices that discusses the “ongoing
concern regarding the homophobic and discriminatory attitudes of the national
leadership of the Boy Scouts of America.” The national Boy Scout organization
asked that the wording be changed and said it would not allow the Unitarians
to give out the awards until they did it. They also said Unitarian Universalist
Scouts cannot wear the emblem on their uniforms.
Buehrens said the manual is used in its religious instruction of its
young members. He said he does not want to challenge how they run their
organization, although his view on homosexuality differs, but it said,
“they cannot tell our denomination what we can teach,” he said.
Buehrens said he served as minister in Unitarian churches in Texas several
years ago and saw how some factions within the “religious right” plotted
their political takeovers. He believes the Boy Scouts' hardened stance
on homosexuality may be coming from conservative elements within the national
organization, which is based in Dallas.
Telephone calls to the national headquarters seeking comment were not
returned. Gregg Shields, national spokesman for the Scouts, told The Boston
Globe, “We respect other people's right to disagree with us and we simply
ask people to respect our rights as a private voluntary organization.”
© 1998 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Copyright © 1998 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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