The company that I work for just came out with a policy statement about their contributions to charity organizations. Specifically with respect to the Boy Scouts of America. In a nutshell, when I do any volunteer hours for scouting through church, I can record my hours at work and the company I work for will donate ~$10 an hour for every hour I work. Our Ward over the past few years has received thousands of dollars per year from my company because we have about 6 of us who donate serious time to scouting. This money didn't have to go up to the stake and so we used it to buy all sorts of cool scouting equipment. Not anymore, read on, I'll summarize at the end.

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All,

There have been recent reports in the news that have raised questions about [company] support for the national Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and our support for volunteer hours for local troops and councils where our employees are engaged. First, to clarify, [company] did not provide funding to the national Boy Scouts of America organization. The [$dollar amount] in funding from the [company] referenced in some articles as the total payment for 2011 was donated not to BSA but to local Boy Scout troops or councils where our employees volunteer their time through our [company] volunteer program.

Regarding our volunteer program, as you know, [company] matches the amount of time employees volunteer to eligible non-profit organizations with dollars from the [company] when volunteer hours are reported. The [company] has an existing non-discrimination policy that states that we do not contribute to organizations that discriminate in the delivery of services. Last April a decision was made to require organizations that receive funding to confirm that they adhere to [company]s non-discrimination policy in writing. We understand not all organizations that currently receive funding will be able to acknowledge their services are available to all, and we respect their right to make that choice and for our employees to engage. However, we will not be able to support them with matching dollars from the [company] from this point forward.

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The bottom line is that my company is not going to put up with the BSA discriminating against Gays any longer and they are putting their money behind it. I salute them!!!

Best news Ive heard all day!

That is great news!

Scouting was originally intended as an organization that would help inner city boys find a better way of living and give them goals to work toward.

Of course, over the last century, things have changed with the BSA organization:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/boy-scout-bullied-denied-eagle-rank-gay/story?id=17401340#.UG9jxVErh8E

Now I sort of feel like if the fucking Mormons want to OWN the Boy Scouts of America and turn them into the Bigot Stormtroopers of AmeriKKKa then they can PAY for it ...in every way.

+1

xyz Wrote:
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> Scouting was originally intended as an
> organization that would help inner city boys find
> a better way of living and give them goals to work
> toward.

Where are you getting that from?

Boy Scouting was created in England by an atheist who was also possibly (but I'm not sure) gay.

I have read about a few "Eagle" Scouts sending their award back over this issue. I had one of the most inspiring scoutmasters. I obtained my eagle at age 13. My scout master was so great with the scouts, monthly camp outs, week night fishing trips in the summer and very education about the outdoors. I owe so much of who I am today to him. He had some ideas that were not inline with the TBM's and was excommunicated. Tragically he died in a fire. I love my scout master and thank him for all that he gave up to teach the scouts about the outdoors. But now, I cant stand the organization of the boy scouts, money hungry, conspiring and sneaky bastards. I am considering sending my award back after reading about the young man in California who was denied his award because he "came out".

It's made me start wondering whether we want our boys involved with the BSA any longer. Does anyone know of any kind of alternative organization that provides the same kind of activities?

Do they have Orienteer clubs where you are? Or a traditionalist scouts branch?

These focus on the skills needed to camp, hike, navigate, survive, ski, canoe, rock climb, etc without all the preachy 'God and Country uber alles' or revoking-of-membership-if- you're-gay stuff, that seems to have diluted and perverted the original aims of scouting.

Independence, self respect, self-reliance but also cooperation with others in learning and mastering complicated new things are what they teach. That's it.

I think that's just what we are looking for. If our sons are going to have to complete a "Duty to God" requirement, then the BSA is not the place for them.

I just googled alternatives to boy scouts. There are several news articles and blogs with this topic. I didn't dig in but there is material out there.

But your company will tolerate BSA discriminating against Atheists.

Come on Dave, everyone knows that all Atheists are Gay ;-)

And without morals.