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Flame » in reply to Re: My family is not good enough for the BSA

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Mary Anne — (archived)

<"Good enough" is a value judgment. Your kid just didn't feel like he fit in. A Catholic kid would not fit in at B'nai B'rith Youth either, but this is not a moral judgment on either the Catholic kid or B'nai B'rith. Given this, you seem a bit bitter about it.

Bitter? My little boy was approached in a public school by an organization that promised him fun with other boys and camping and interesting projects. Only later did he discover (we grown-ups twigged to it before he did) that, had he said anything about his religious beliefs, he would have been thrown out on his ear. It was advertized and sold as a program for every boy, but that was a bare-assed lie. Moral judgments mean nothing to children. Being left out means a great deal. He understood that he could either be accepted for pretending to be who he wasn't, or rejected for being honest about who he was. There was no option for honest acceptance.

Bitter? Why on Earth should I be bitter?

When he was just starting out, he had to fulfill some religious requirement to be accepted into the Cub Scouts. His father acted as his "clergy", and the prayer he said was the chorus to the Rush song, "Free Will". This was not recited in front of the pack, however.

He's 22 now. He's a political conservative, and a fine writer. He doesn't do public service in general. He'll do things for the library, where he was always welcome, and for his sisters' schools. He's still an atheist, and I think he'd rather lose a few fingers than do anything for the Boy Scouts.

Regards--
Mary Anne

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