This story on CNN.com caught my eye this morning. It’s about pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention who predict their members will cut affiliations with the Boy Scouts of America “en masse”:
For Southern Baptist pastor Tim Reed, it was Scripture versus the Scouts.
“God’s word explicitly says homosexuality is a choice, a sin,” said Reed, pastor of First Baptist Church of Gravel Ridge in Jacksonville, Arkansas.
So when the Boy Scouts of America voted to lift its ban on openly gay youths on May 24, Reed said the church had no choice but to cut its charter with Troop 542.
“It’s not a hate thing here,” Reed told CNN affiliate Fox 16. “It’s a moral stance we must take as a Southern Baptist church.”
Southern Baptist leaders say Reed is not alone.
Baptist churches sponsor nearly 4,000 Scout units representing more than 100,000 youths, according to the Boy Scouts of America.
That number could drop precipitously.
The Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, will soon urge its 45,000 congregations and 16 million members to cut ties with the Scouts, according to church leaders.
The denomination will vote on nonbinding but influential resolutions during a convention June 11-12 in Houston.
“There’s a 100% chance that there will be a resolution about disaffiliation at the convention,” said Richard Land, the longtime head of the Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, “and a 100% chance that 99% of people will vote for it.”
“Southern Baptists are going to be leaving the Boy Scouts en masse,” Land continued.
I can’t say I think the Southern Baptists will remain affiliated with the organization, which took one step forward then two steps back with its vote to allow gay members. This organization is known for its social conservatism, particularly its belief that the Bible says being gay, lesbian, etc. is a “sin” and not a valid alternate lifestyle.”
But, it’s not just Baptists who are planning to revolt. From the story:
The National Catholic Committee on Scouting, which is run with oversight from a bishop, said Thursday that allowing gay youths in the Scouts does not conflict with church teaching. Each bishop will decide whether or not to allow churches in his diocese to charter Scout units, the committee added.
“We ask that Catholic Scouters and chartered organization heads not rush to judgment,” said Edward Martin, chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.
But the Rev. Derek Lappe, pastor of the Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Bremerton, Washington, has already made up his mind.
“I do not feel that it is possible for us to live out, and to teach, the authentic truth about human sexuality within the confines of the Boy Scout’s new policy,” said Lappe.
The priest told CNN affiliate FOX16 that his parish will part ways with the Scouts and develop its own programs.
The fuck is the “authentic truth about human sexuality?” Surely he can’t believe he and the Catholic Church (you know, that *same* institution that preferred to protect pedophiles to protecting children) know the “authentic truth” about human sexuality. We all know their truth is whatever the Catholic Church shoves down the throats of their members.
So, these two organizations are basically pissed off the Boy Scouts of America decided to grudgingly take one small step towards full equality. They are now fuming over the Boy Scouts’ decision and are pouting.
I’m sick and tired of people hiding behind their faith and literal translations of the Bible to hang onto their bigotry. If it’s not a “hate thing,” then what is it? And please don’t say it’s part of your religion or that it’s in the Bible. There’s a ton of shit in the Bible that we don’t take literally, so that tired argument doesn’t hold water.
I’d venture to say it’s a hate thing. It’s bigotry and the refusal of those pushers of heterosexist, cisgender ideology to see beyond their privilege. Not only is this a hate and bigoted thing, it’s also one in which backers of heterosexist, cis-supremacist philosophies continue to preach that the GLBTQ community doesn’t deserve full equality.
Let’s just call this inevitable disbanding what it is: the Southern Baptist Convention and other like-minded organizations opposing full equality for a certain segment of society they deem as inherently inferior and unworthy of full, self-actualized citizenship. In vain, these organizations are hanging onto the last bit of political weight they have and asserting their everlasting desire to remain committed to oppression and bigotry.
