The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has long been both closely tied to the Boy Scouts of America and uneasy with the Boy Scouts’ increasingly liberal stance on gay and transgender men and boys, took a measured step Thursday toward distancing itself from Scouting.
The church, which automatically enrolls every boy who attends a Mormon congregation as a Boy Scout, will stop participating in Varsity and Venturing, which are teen programs for high-school-age Scouts. For the time being, the church said Thursday, it will still enroll 8- to 13-year-old boys in the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.
The decision is not because of the Boy Scouts’ policies on LGBT inclusion, the church said in a statement. “The BSA has always allowed the Church to operate its programs in ways that are consistent with our standards and beliefs, and they have been very supportive.”
Instead, the church said simply that the teen programs have been “historically difficult to implement within the Church,” while Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts “currently meet the development program needs of boys from ages 8 through 13.” The church will instead create its own youth programs for teenage boys.
Effie Delimarkos, a spokeswoman for Boy Scouts of America, said that 130,000 boys ages 14 to 18 participate in Varsity and Venturing through Mormon Church troops, making up more than 5 percent of the Boy Scouts’ 2.3 million youth members. The Mormon Church is the Boy Scouts’ largest partner — about 20 percent of Boy Scouts are Mormon.
The Boy Scouts began admitting gay Scouts in 2013 and transgender Scouts this year, and the Mormon Church has not objected to either decision. Who can lead a Scout troop has been a more controversial question.
In 2015, facing a lawsuit, the Boy Scouts lifted its ban on gay men leading Scout troops. The LDS church reacted immediately with a statement that it was “deeply troubled” and that “the century-long association with Scouting will need to be examined.”
A few weeks later, the church said that it would stick with the Boy Scouts for the time being but would “continue to evaluate and refine program options that better meet its global needs.” Thursday’s announcement about the teen programs was the first decision to come out of that evaluation.
Liam Green
bump
Brody Sanders
Bump
Gabriel Gonzalez
Good move. The Boy Scouts have been taken over and converged by raging faggots.
Benjamin Lee
Based christfags
Nathan Edwards
see also kansas churches backing out of girl scouts because of the same reasons
it's an exodus to the American Heritage Girls and co.
Having such uniforms it should be ovious from miles away that it is a faggot activity.
Anthony Wood
It's kinda funny here
Jews, Muslims and Christians (Mormons included) all came out against fag marriage here
It seems like the US has a heap of Christians and Jews that aren't actually such; they're agnostics in disguise
Ian White
Somebody should create a fashy scout movement around traditional values. Unless they're insane, no parent would want to send their kids to a gay summercamp.
That's funny, because in the Southeast USA, conservative parents sometimes send their suspected gay kids to camps intended to convert them.
Levi Williams
We must live in the world, but not of the world. Despite the taunting of the great and spacious building, the church will never condone LGBT marriage. The day they do is the day the church isn't true anymore.
t. Eagle scout mormon
Adrian Flores
California voted against gay marriage a few years ago but the verdict was overruled by the supreme court.
Gabriel Roberts
Protect your children, God speed
Tyler Hughes
>pic related jesus christ it's like a fag version of the nazi youth
Easton Sullivan
>you must hate gays to believe in Gd
Adam Evans
> This past Sunday, I attended an open and affirming church. I found it online through a news article that described this church as a "haven for the LGBT community."
> When I arrived at the church, I noticed that many of the cars in the parking lot were sporting worn-out "I'm With Her" bumper stickers... When I entered the hallway that led to the church sanctuary, I was greeted at the door by a middle-aged man. He was huge and looked like he could play in the NFL.
> He also happened to be wearing a white dress and red lipstick. This isn't something you see in many conservative churches.
Henry Jenkins
It's like he's flaunting it in our faces that he's a pedophile which he is.
Juan Morales
>it's a Sup Forums doesn't read the whole article episode It specifically says that they're cutting ties with Venture and Varsity scouts. Sup Forums would also like to know that venture and varsity scouting is already pretty much dead
Jacob Nguyen
Dis.
Sup Forums never learn.
Joshua Nelson
Well fuck them then, but the Boy Scouts are still pozzed either way.
