Reply #126: No way in hell I'd let my kid be a Scout. I refuse to be complicit

[Lyric]

in religious intolerance and homophobia, and I refuse to make lame-ass excuses for "individual troops" when the reality is that every successful troop, tolerant or not, contributes to the success of the overall organization--and that organization IS religiously intolerant and unapologetically homophobic. The only reason that the BSA is so successful as a national org is because good liberals lie to themselves and say, "Oh OUR troop is tolerant, so everything is just peachy." The fact of the matter is that every boy who becomes a Scout, helps to support the organization as a whole, if not financially then by keeping the "brand" alive and well for the next generation of innocent kids.

I have a nine-year-old son, and my family and I take him camping and fishing *ourselves*. There's also a group through our local UU church that the kids can go through during the warmer months for outdoor activities, and that group is fine with me. If your community doesn't have a group like that, then by all means, START one! You don't need someone else to put their "brand" on it and make it official. Any parent who's willing to spend the time is capable of being a perfectly awesome "group" leader for Scout-like activities. If we start our own alternatives, we can let the BSA sink into bigoted obscurity like it deserves.

The Girl Scouts, on the other hand, kick ass. This lesbian atheist Mom (and former Girl Scout) HIGHLY recommends them.