> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gruss Gott [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2007 11:28 PM
> To: CF-Community
> Subject: Boy Scouts Of America
>
> My wife and I had an interesting debate on the BSA.
>
> Her position:
> Because the BSA bans atheists and Gays from being BSA leaders, we
> shouldn't let our fictitious children attend any BSA events because
> then we'd be implicitly endorsing their discrimination and possibly
> funding it.
Just to be clear: they ban atheists and gays, period. Not just from being
leaders but also from being scouts. While it's not formalized they also
present a clear conception of "God" which tends to exclude polytheistic
beliefs (Hinduism, Tribal beliefs, etc) and non-personified beliefs
(Buddhism for example) and strongly favors a strict Christian
interpretation.
> My position:
> Lots of groups have these same rules: Catholic Church (some sects),
> Jewish Church, etc., but also stand for the Golden Rule, honor, etc.
> If our children were to attend events and there was an implicit or
> explicit agreement not to discuss their discriminatory reasoning, then
> it would be ok. (I think there's a larger principle here about
> favoring a homogenous society vs. a tolerant society too)
>
> So who's right?
Well... neither. It isn't a matter of right or wrong, I think.
Rather it's a compromise: can you still support a group when you disagree
with some of their policies (I assume you disagree with the BSA on the
discrimination issue)? Where's the line drawn?
The decision is personal. Simply put: nothing's perfect. How much
imperfection are you willing to accept before you choose not to accept the
thing being reviewed?
Do you buy that car even tho' it lacks a sunroof? Do you attend a Jamboree
even tho' the scouts lack certain fundamental American values?
Another way to say it is: how much cheese do they have? In the classic
experiment a rat will accept a certain amount of pain (electric shock) to
obtain a certain amount of food ("cheese"). At some point however the pain
becomes too great for any amount of cheese. So, do the Boy Scouts have
enough cheese for you to accept that level of shock?
For my part (being an atheist and having gay family members) I can't bring
myself to support the scouts in any way (despite having had a very happy
time as a scout in my youth). Honestly I find the Scouts (and many of the
other groups you mention) clearly hypocritical: the principles they claim
are done a disservice by the policies they apply.
I am further incensed organization defends its discrimination by claiming
privacy rights and yet still accepts millions of dollars of public funds
annually. I don't actually get to make a decision to support or not: my tax
dollars are doing it regardless of my wishes.
Jim Davis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
Create robust enterprise, web RIAs.
Upgrade to ColdFusion 8 and integrate with Adobe Flex
http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=RVJP
Archive:
http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:245798
Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm
Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
