Scoutreach District Executive Ramon Loredo Jr., right, leads Boy Scouts in the scout
oath prior to soccer practice Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008, in San Jose, Calif. The Boy
Scouts of America are turning 100, and honing their survival skills for what
might be their biggest test yet: drawing Hispanics into their declining and mostly
white ranks. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
It was reported today that the Boy Scouts of America finds it necessary to target Hispanic youth for membership to stay afloat. In fact, they have hired a marketing firm to do just that. As it stands now, the Boy Scouts' membership is comprised primarily of Caucasian boys.
The membership roster of the organization, which is the largest youth group in the United States, has been declining since its peak in 1972, taking its biggest hits in the ‘80s and ‘90s after they banned gay and atheist leaders. It is also said that TV and video games have added to the plummeting membership figures. They currently have approximately 2.8 million members, half of what they had in 1972.
Because Boy Scouts officials recognize that the citizenship demographics of the United States have changed, they feel the need to target the group that seems to be most underrepresented in their ranks. As it stands now, only 3% of their membership is Hispanic, while the US census reports that one in five children under the age of 18 is Hispanic. Rick Cronk, Chairman of the World Scout Committee, said that they “either are going to figure out how to make Scouting the… organization for Hispanic kids, or [they’re] going to be out of business.”
I have said it before and I’ll say it again, the Boy Scouts is a wonderful organization when it comes to promoting the idea of family and the like. I enjoyed it very much when I was involved in Scouting with my son when he was a child. I think it would be a shame if they “went out of business.”
Having said that, I must also say that, perhaps, if the Boy Scouts were to shed themselves of their bigotry toward gays and atheists, they might see an increase in their membership. Considering the fact that they receive government funding and the like, they have no right to operate as a private organization that practices exclusivity and discrimination (not that it is ever okay in my estimation).
Comments
"...if the Boy Scouts were to shed themselves of their bigotry toward gays and atheists..."
Then they would cease to be the Boy Scouts organization and it would be a gross misrepresentation of the founders' and the majority of associated families' commitment to traditional moral values to retain the name. Personally, I don't see a need for, or value in, what would seem to be a relatively amoral club or organization. Why bother.
What a lot of people do not realize, is while BSA Corporate has a problem with Gay Leaders and Atheists (because it was founded as a faith based organization), troops on local level, even districts, have very little to do directly with the BSA head office. A lot of troops act as autonomous cells, and hence forth, or not nearly as homophobic as many believe. Especially the scouts themselves. Most of the homophobia comes from a few conservative leaders, that do not represent the majority of Boy Scouters.
Actually, Charles, the head office has come down more than once on local troops that dared to be more tolerant than the official policy allows. Some troops have had their charters revoked because of this. This is not "a few conservative leaders" - the BSA is bankrolled in a very large part by the Latter Day Saints, and it's pressure from them that has largely defined the BSA's policy regarding atheists and homosexuals. You're probably right in saying that the intolerance isn't as strong at the roots, but it dominates the organization regardless.
Dale - Nice to see that you think I am amoral just because I don't believe in your god. Makes me all warm and fuzzy to see Christian love in action once again. I hope you'll have a dozen beautiful and kind gay grandchildren. =)
It's the folks like Dale (especially when they are running the organization) that keep me from putting my son into the scouts. We live in a small town and I don't think we have a secular alternative yet. I know scouting is fun and you learn new skills doing it, but I really can't see myself supporting such a discriminating organization.
Johann - my apologies, but I was indeed referring to the loss of value in a traditional values-based organization that loses it's moral compass. I'm not sure you will appreciate it, but American ethical foundations, atheists included, generally fall in the Judeo-Christian tradition; you know, things like: liberty, responsibility, hard work, etc.
+ MarkusR - I think we all can agree that any clear sense of morality is a fairly complex issue which requires multiple considerations from different disciplines and factors to establish.
The Boy Scouts were founded upon a particular moral foundation, and it would just seem easier to start a separate organization for other, let's say, "less god-honoring" families, which I suspect may have difficulty substantiating any particular moral standards...which would naturally lend itself to not taking a stand on any moral issues, hence "amoral" in nature.
It's not a personal attack, but the results of my not understanding whether or not atheists can (or would even care to) justify and defend any clear sense of moral conduct.
Again, to MarkusR - It's human nature (especially when people are running the organization) that would keep me from putting my daughter into a Boy Scout program...or putting my son into a program where the male leadership (and the boys too) is openly prone to thinking and potentially acting on the same kinds of activity. Why provide objects of temptation?
Thankfully, the Boy Scouts discriminate against female membership, and gay leadership. In fact, a bit of discrimination is always healthy in civilized gatherings. It's the discriminating behavior that keeps it from degenerating into chaos and anarchy.
Claiming liberty, responsibility and hard work as exclusively Christian characteristics, Dale? Congratulations. Condescension *and* remarkable ignorance in a single post, for another Christian love combo. =)
The Golden Rule - to take one of the principles that Christians like to claim as their own, their precious, no one else can have them - has been around well before Christianity. Is it really so inconceivable to you that people can figure out how to treat each other well and work together to mutual benefit without believing in your god?
Obviously, tolerance towards atheism is not an issue for recruiting the largely religious Hispanic community. Accepting those who do not believe in God will not spur enrollment of Latino kids. If anything, it would prevent acceptance of the BSA program in that community. Ms. Hoaks may wish to see a change in the Boy Scouts, but Hispanic recruitment is the wrong basis for asserting the effectiveness of those changes.
If this discrimination against girls and women with disabilities without an age limit, I am so afraid to call the Boy Scouts of America from time-to-time, because I do not like making the BSA look bad. That is really not the case all the time, but I have the desire to be a Scout within the Boy Scouts of America because of my disability, and I want to earn merit badges starting now by being a lone scout, and also the Girl Scouts have lost their full-standard uniforms and I am tired of all of these changes and problems I am dealing with in the Scouts in general. It makes me very uncomfortable, afraid, scared in the dark, and it makes me so depressed that I sometimes would break down in tears and cry. I hope that the Scouting organizations will get better and we will all get the opportunities to be Scouts no matter what gender and age or disabilities and religions we are. To me this is a very good idea. Thank you for hearing my crying voice. This is America and America needs more girls and Women with disabilities in the BSA and the Girl Scouts of America. Thanks to you, and I hope you will email me back. Do not call me at work or home and do not send me letters by mail until I come and discuss it with my husband first in August before September. Thank you for the helping hands in this matter.
Cordially,
Valerie Klaassen
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