|
|
||
Boy Scouts of America shouldn't want the government help it receives. Date published: 4/10/2005
SHORTLY BEFORE Christmas last year, a group of Boy Scouts gathered near my office in Richmond. They had assembled to protest the ACLU's lawsuit against the Department of Defense for funding the Boy Scout Jamboree. They were also doing a little fund raising, selling caramel-covered popcorn to passers-by. Dutifully, the Scouts sent emissaries up to the ACLU office bearing a complimentary tin of popcorn. We thanked them for the gift and told them to contact us if anyone interfered with their demonstration. We let them know that we would be the first group to defend their constitutional right to protest against us. At the time, I didn't know much about the lawsuit that had caused the Scouts to take to the streets. It had been filed by the Illinois ACLU, not the ACLU of Virginia, where I work. But I knew the issue: government funding of a religious organization. It is important to keep in mind that the ACLU lawsuit does not question the value of the Boy Scouts, a highly regarded organization that works worldwide with teens to mold them into good citizens. Neither is the lawsuit seeking to break new legal ground regarding the well-established constitutional prohibition against government funding of religious groups. The sole issue here is whether the Boy Scouts of America is a religious organization. If it is, then it can't receive government support. If it isn't, then it can. Of course, nothing involving the knotty legalities of church and state is ever quite that simple. The Scouts' celebrated oath begins, "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God." If the oath were the start and finish of religion for Scouts, I doubt there would be much of a controversy, much less a lawsuit. Despite our nation's firm resolve to maintain separation of church and state, we allow nominal, generalized government-supported references to religion. Government meetings, for example, may open with a nonsectarian prayer. Congress inserted the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. For most of our nation's history, it was common for witnesses in court to swear on the Bible, and there are still many other official government oaths that refer to God.
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
|
|
|||||||||||||
