A presbyterian asks about the BSA membership requirements change

Last Saturday I attended the Denver Area Council's University of Scouting, a day of coursework and training (some mandatory, some elective) for adult leaders in Boy Scouts of America programs. These annual events are, for me, a reminder of why I am a Scouter. Even as a hard-shell Calvinist, I am encouraged to be surrounded by the best of humanity, people who are sincerely interested in helping others and in enabling America's youth to grow into healthy and mature adults.

But then there's what is ungainly called the "BSA membership requirements change;" i.e., the decision to open up membership to boys of avowed homosexual orientation as of January 1, 2014. The DAC took the bull by the horns and scheduled a two-hour session during the University of Scouting to introduce the new policy and take questions. To my surprise, only a half-dozen or so Scouters attended, and, so far as I could tell from the questions and comments offered, I was the only one opposed to the change. I was listened to with courtesy and care, and my questions were taken seriously. (It may have helped that I was asking questions, not making speeches.) To his everlasting credit, the Scout Executive (i.e., the Council's CEO), John Cabeza, spent about a half-hour with me after the session broke up, as did the two presenters.

The new policy states that membership in the BSA cannot be denied to a young person on the basis of sexual orientation alone. My question was whether I, as an adult leader, would be constrained from clearly stating my Biblically-informed beliefs about sexual ethics (in appropriate contexts, of course), or whether a religiously-informed chartering organization could use its Scouting program to further its teachings on sexual morality. I knew both of these were fine on January 1, 2013, but I wasn't sure what would happen on January 1, 2014.

[Note: Scouting units are chartered by organizations such as schools, Churches, clubs, etc.; chartering organizations are free to use their Scouting programs to further their own agendas for educating young people so long as those are not in conflict with BSA policies.]

The takeaway: my conscience is not bound (an important issue for a presbyterian; see the Westminster Confession of Faith on Christian Liberty). I can continue to act with integrity when I put on my uniform. Moreover, Scouting units which would teach Biblical sexual ethics in the past can continue to do so. The only change is that they may not exclude youth on the basis of sexual orientation.

In fact, I was told that chartering organizations can put narrower constraints on their membership requirements for youth: for example, a Church could limit its Scouting program to its members. That was a surprise to me, and I have to do more research before I can say that's accurate information.

So, as a presbyterian clergyman, my membership in the BSA puts no constraints on my conscience. In that sense, I can continue to serve as an adult leader. Sadly, that narrow concern does nothing to allay my concerns over the BSA's future. One of the presenters at Saturday's session said, "It would be a shame if a 15 year-old boy had made Life rank and was well on his way to Eagle, but then had to leave the program because he decided he was homosexual." Replace "homosexual" with "atheist," and you can see where we're headed.

Salving my conscience may turn out to be cold comfort.