Scouts Make Preemptive Move Against ACLU's Threats
by Chad Groening
March 15, 2005
(AgapePress) - The Boy Scouts of America organization has taken a step to save thousands of local public school systems from being used by the ACLU.
Just last month, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), threatening to sue public schools that charter Boy Scout groups. The ACLU contends that schools' sponsorship amounts to religious discrimination and violates the separation of church and state. Baptist Press says according to information on the ACLU website, the group also views various Scout emphases -- such as allegiance to God and country, a resolve to help others, a commitment to remain morally straight, and character development -- worthy of legal action.
In response to this latest legal warning, Boy Scout national spokesman Gregg Shields explains the BSA defused the threat simply by transferring the charters to parent-teacher organizations or churches.
"Boy Scout troops will still have the same rights to meet in school buildings as any other community-based group, but the charter will not be held by the school administration," he explains. "So we'll still be in the school; we'll still use the school building, if we did before -- simply the school administrator will not have to endure litigation from the ACLU."
Shields says the ACLU knows the Boy Scouts are prepared to defend themselves against endless litigation, and therefore decided to change its strategy and threaten third-party organizations like public school systems. Without this adjustment from the Scouts, he says, the situation could potentially be very expensive for schools.
"This could sap thousands or even millions of dollars from schools that are already financially strapped to provide education," he says. "So instead, the Boy Scouts of America has chosen to protect the resources of our education partners by simply moving the charters from the public schools to organizations like parent-teacher organizations or religious organizations."
The ACLU has targeted the BSA numerous times in the past few years, particularly since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the youth organization has a constitutional right to exclude homosexuals from positions of authority as Scout troop leaders. Despite that ruling, the ACLU continues to consider such a policy discriminatory.
