I
assure you that the Boy Scouts of America do NOT have any relationship with Planned Parenthood of America. They do not allow gays to be scout leaders, and also prohibit atheists and agnostics from membership as inappropriate role models.
They require that scouts say the Pledge of Allegiance, 60% of scout troops are affiliated with religious institutions (ours is in a Catholic church and has a strong relationship with the Knights of Columbus), and has always recognized spirituality as an integral part of scouting. As Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell said, in the first Scout handbook "“No man is much good unless he believes in God and obeys His laws.”
The Scout Oath states:
Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and
morally straight.
According to the Bylaws of Scouting, “The Boy Scouts of America maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God. In the first part of the Scout Oath or Promise the member declares, ‘On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law.’ The recognition of God as the ruling and leading power in the universe and the grateful acknowledgment of His favors and blessings are necessary to the best type of citizenship and are wholesome precepts in the education of the growing members.”
Ain’t no shame in any of that.
In contrast, the Girl Scouts allow lesbian leaders and allow members to exclude or substitute another word for “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. There is a Christian alternative to the GSA that was formed in protest, the American Heritage Girls:
ahgonline.org/ , some of which are affiliated with Catholic churches:
ahgonline.org/uploads/dioceseofrockfordendorsement.pdf. I know there’s one down at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Tucson.
The Boy Scouts are one of the last refuges for conservative, traditional people in America.
