To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
And Which Religion Is That?
The 9th Circus is hearing a case (uh... SCOTUS, just a heads up... I'm sure this is headed your way) over whether or not the Boy Scouts is a religious organization.
Lawyers representing BSA pointed out that the organization has no theology, and the pledge to "do my duty to God" is part of a larger pledge of good citizenship. There is very little reference to religion in the manual, or in scouting in general. (There is a badge. ONE badge. And you get to choose which religion you get it in. Sorry, I don't think "agnostic" or "atheist" is an option for that particular badge. Almost every other one is available- or you can work with a minister to work up one if yours isn't available).
I only have one question for the ACLU lawyers. If BSA is a religious organization, which religion does it represent? You don't even have to get technical... which general belief system does BSA adhere to? Can't be Christianity... what about the Muslims? Not Judaism... that leaves out all of those Buddhists. Can't be Deism... we'd be forgetting the Hindu Scouts.
Well? Anyone? Bueller?
The hour-long session visited a host of issues surrounding a ruling in 2003 by U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones. He found that leases for 18 acres of Balboa Park and a half-acre of Fiesta Island were unconstitutional because they violated the separation of church and state. The Boy Scouts, which require members to take an oath “to do my duty to God,” are a religious organization, Jones ruled.In a nutshell, a lesbian couple and an agnostic couple, both with Scout-age boys, filed a suit against San Diego because the city leases part of Balboa Park to the Scouts, and they feel "excluded" from using the park. (Honestly, their kids could still be in Scouts... they're just being... opportunistic, IMO.) The ACLU, of course, has taken the case.
Lawyers representing BSA pointed out that the organization has no theology, and the pledge to "do my duty to God" is part of a larger pledge of good citizenship. There is very little reference to religion in the manual, or in scouting in general. (There is a badge. ONE badge. And you get to choose which religion you get it in. Sorry, I don't think "agnostic" or "atheist" is an option for that particular badge. Almost every other one is available- or you can work with a minister to work up one if yours isn't available).
I only have one question for the ACLU lawyers. If BSA is a religious organization, which religion does it represent? You don't even have to get technical... which general belief system does BSA adhere to? Can't be Christianity... what about the Muslims? Not Judaism... that leaves out all of those Buddhists. Can't be Deism... we'd be forgetting the Hindu Scouts.
Well? Anyone? Bueller?
