Some Religious Leaders Need Lessons in Religion –

You Know, That Compassion, Understanding, Tolerance Thing That Is Supposed to be Part of Good Moral Character

With the announcement that the Boy Scouts will drop their policy of bigotry and prejudice and now allow openly gay boys to join the Scouts, several religious leaders are displaying their true feelings about how they view people who are different.  The results are disappointing but not surprising.

Southern Baptists are expected to vote on a resolution about the Boy Scouts on Wednesday at their annual meeting in Houston. The resolution, not yet public, will probably urge them to prepare to cut ties with the Scouts.

Of course part of this is the revelation that the Scouts, contrary to popular belief that the organization is non-sectarian, are seen as a method for some churches to inject their own faith onto the young men who are Boy Scouts.  The head of the Southern Baptists opposes his churches cutting ties with Boy Scouts, but unfortunately it is not because of tolerance on his part, it is due to wanting to proselytize.

The Rev. A.J. Smith says it's too early for Southern Baptists to give up on the Boy Scouts.

Smith, president of the Association of Baptists for Scouting, disagrees with a recent move by the Boy Scouts of America to allow openly gay scouts. But that's no reason for churches to cut their ties with the Scouts, he said.

"There is still an opportunity to reach youth for Christ with the gospel through Boy Scouts," said Smith, who is pastor of Bay Springs Baptist Church in Shelby, Ala.

But other members of the Southern Baptist organization are pretty adamant about not having gay Scouts.

A number of prominent Southern Baptist leaders, including Russell Moore, the new president of Nashville-based Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said they are disappointed with the new Scout policy. . . .

Moore said that Southern Baptists don't want to kick boys out of Scout troops because they have same-sex attraction. But he thinks the Scouts no longer teach that sex is moral only when it takes place in a marriage between a man and a woman.

Okay Boy Scouts, time to stand up for honor here.  Are you a non-sectarian organization teaching young men good living skills, or are you a front for churches to try and impose their religion on the members of the Scouts.  Time to practice what you preach (pardon the pun).