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Seattle church stands by gay Scoutmaster

Somerville

Somerville

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This is a new take on the whole "religious freedom" thing. A Seattle church has refused to discharge the Scoutmaster of their Boy Scout troop despite the national organisation telling them the guy has to go.

Seattle church stands by gay Scoutmaster

Boy Scouts of America may have revoked his membership, but openly gay Scoutmaster Geoffrey McGrath is continuing his role as a leader with the support of his church.

On any given Sunday, the Rainier Beach United Methodist Church opens its sanctuary for worship.

"All means all," said Rev. Dr. Monica Corsaro of Rainier Beach United Methodist Church. "All we care about is that you want to be in community and that's the way we live it, and to me that's the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that's what we follow."
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Now they've hired an attorney
McGrath and Rev. Corsaro believe BSA is infringing on their religious freedom, since the organization expects churches to choose their scoutmasters. Their attorney, Peter Mullenix, hopes dialogue may help them avoid litigation in their efforts to win back McGrath's membership.

"We are still exploring our legal options, and we hope no litigation is necessary. We want to work with the Boy Scouts toward a resolution that works for the kids of the Rainier Beach United Methodist Church. With that said, it may be time for the courts to revisit the question of whether a congressionally chartered, non-sectarian corporation is allowed to violate the states’ discrimination statutes," Mullenix wrote in a statement to KING 5.
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Despite the rhetoric they like to employ, the religious right's views on religion aren't universal among the devout. There is plenty of disagreement among the religious, and plenty who don't see their faith as requiring them to be socially regressive. Kudos to this church for being one of them.
 
They have no case. If they don't like the rules set by the Boy Scouts then they can choose to not have a troop. There is no god-give right for a church to have a troop and to force the Boy Scouts to bend to their will.

On a different point you are correct, this is news. Congratulations to the parents of that church for allowing a homosexual man to take their boys out camping. What we usually see in this debate is liberals fighting on behalf of homosexual scoutmasters being able to take OTHER PEOPLE'S SONS out camping, not their own. I do believe that this is a first where parent's have offered their own sons up to the experiment.
 
RiverDad said:
They have no case. If they don't like the rules set by the Boy Scouts then they can choose to not have a troop. There is no god-give right for a church to have a troop and to force the Boy Scouts to bend to their will.

On a different point you are correct, this is news. Congratulations to the parents of that church for allowing a homosexual man to take their boys out camping. What we usually see in this debate is liberals fighting on behalf of homosexual scoutmasters being able to take OTHER PEOPLE'S SONS out camping, not their own. I do believe that this is a first where parent's have offered their own son's up to the experiment.
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the boy scouts receive federal tax dollars, and i don't want my money going to a group that discriminates
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
the boy scouts receive federal tax dollars, and i don't want my money going to a group that discriminates
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And I don't want my tax dollars going to fund nutty liberal religious ideas. I guess it sucks for both of us huh?
 
Somerville said:
This is a new take on the whole "religious freedom" thing. A Seattle church has refused to discharge the Scoutmaster of their Boy Scout troop despite the national organisation telling them the guy has to go.



Now they've hired an attorney
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I have no problem with that. The church's congregation can decide for themselves. However, they should change the name of their local troop and understand they are no longer part of the BSA or BSA resources.
 
RiverDad said:
And I don't want my tax dollars going to fund nutty liberal religious ideas. I guess it sucks for both of us huh?
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Nutty liberal religious ideas like "government funding shouldn't support discrimination?"
 
The homophobia makes me nauseous that I was ever a member
 
RiverDad said:
They have no case. If they don't like the rules set by the Boy Scouts then they can choose to not have a troop. There is no god-give right for a church to have a troop and to force the Boy Scouts to bend to their will.

On a different point you are correct, this is news. Congratulations to the parents of that church for allowing a homosexual man to take their boys out camping. What we usually see in this debate is liberals fighting on behalf of homosexual scoutmasters being able to take OTHER PEOPLE'S SONS out camping, not their own. I do believe that this is a first where parent's have offered their own sons up to the experiment.
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What experiment?


Nosed around and found a piece by the Scoutmaster himself.

Guest: Geoffrey McGrath on getting ousted from the Boy Scouts of America for being gay | Opinion | The Seattle Times
 
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Sex and boy scouts have no connection to one another. So how the scout leadership spends their private time is not scouts concern unless the scout master fails to perform or gets arrested or something along those lines. As an active part of boy scouts it has never come up. But I am positive that at least at a local level here no one would care.
 
Kreton said:
Sex and boy scouts have no connection to one another.
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Except for that little, insignificant uproar back in the 80s which revealed that 1,200 scouts had been molested by their leaders and which led to the Boy Scouts getting serious about the homosexuality issue.
 
RiverDad said:
Except for that little, insignificant uproar back in the 80s which revealed that 1,200 scouts had been molested by their leaders and which led to the Boy Scouts getting serious about the homosexuality issue.
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Is that kinda like the scandal where Church leaders molested alter boys? Have alter boys been removed from the care of priests?

Seems some Cons like the idea of molestation to be kept in church.
 
RiverDad said:
Except for that little, insignificant uproar back in the 80s which revealed that 1,200 scouts had been molested by their leaders and which led to the Boy Scouts getting serious about the homosexuality issue.
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Child molesters and gay people are not one in the same. I I am guessing some of those molesters were conservatives. Should conservatives be banned from boy scouts? How about men all together?
 
I could see ousting him for something that he has done.

Ousting him for who he is, is wrong.
 
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