Pentagon Boots Boy Scouts

Chalk up another victory for the ACLU, which has been relentless in its pursuit of eradicating references to God, even those "religion-neutral and denomination-neutral expressions that are part of our country's heritage." (Limbaugh, David. "Toward Freedom of Religion." 2001.)

Eric Johnston, PlanetOut Network

The Boy Scouts of America, an organization that excludes gay boys and men, will be less cozy with the military in the future, thanks to an agreement announced Monday in which the Defense Department agreed to warn military bases worldwide not to directly sponsor Boy Scout troops.

This time the issue was God, not gays. The Boy Scouts requires its members to swear an oath to God. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, that policy violates the religious liberty of youth who wish to participate but do not wish to swear a religious oath.

The ACLU of Illinois sued the Pentagon in 1999, arguing that sponsorship of the Boy Scout amounts to religious discrimination.

"If our Constitution's promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based upon religious beliefs," said ACLU spokesman Adam Schwartz in reaction to the military's agreement to settle the case.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Defense Department has 60 days to issue a statement to U.S. defense facilities and military bases across the world making clear that Defense officials may not sponsor Boy Scout organizations. The settlement does not prohibit off-duty government employees from sponsoring Boy Scout troops on their own time.

"I think it's an excellent and long overdue development," said Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a religious liberty watchdog group dedicated to safeguarding religious freedom. "Groups that discriminate on religious grounds in that manner should not be sponsored by any unit of government."

Boston told the PlanetOut Network that while the issue of discrimination against gays by the Boy Scouts received widespread media coverage, many people aren't aware that "atheists, agnostics, humanists and skeptics are also not welcome."

Hmm, I guess they need to change the commissioned officer's oath, too:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).