It's not the same model as buying a car that suits you "sort of"; it's about principle.
If the scouts had a rule that said "We believe _____ to be beneath our code, so we will not allow them to join or participate," what would that blank have to be filled with in order for you to say to yourself, "That's just wrong?" ....Gays? ....The mentally challenged? ....People with HIV/AIDS? ....Blacks? ....Mormons? ....Catholics? ....Wiccans? ....Jews? ....Your own answer? So if it's okay to ban the group that makes you shift in your seat a little when you hear they've been banned, why is it then acceptable to ban any other group? You see, if you can fill that blank with the name of a group, then it's _you_ who have the problem, and you've just found a formalized group of people with the very same problem that you will probably feel comfortable with. To solidify this concept, gather a list of all the groups that exclude types of people based on a code, and you will see a pattern that will hopefully make you uncomfortable. Now before anyone starts in with the "choosing a car" or "church denomination" argument, cars don't take stances, and denominational groups (and Star Trek clubs, etc) are focused-interest groups that support a central highly-targeted focus. Scouts has a non-denominational focus that purports a wide-ranging set of general values, but excludes certain groups of people who may indeed share those values but who are assumed not to be the scouting leadership. Respectfully, Adam Phillip Churvis President Productivity Enhancement -----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. 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? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion is delivering applications solutions at at top companies around the world in government. Find out how and where now http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/showcase/index.cfm?event=finder&productID=1522&loc=en_us Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:245800 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
