This is very unfortunate. I grew up in the LCMS, and was in a Cub Scout Pack and Troop chartered by our church. I've been an Eagle Scout for 24 years. Over the years I tried the ELCA and Wisconsin Synod, but came back to LCMS because they supported the BSA, while the Wisconsin Synod doesn't accept them (no lie - that was the deal breaker for me in joining a Wisconsin Synod church). This is seriously making me question whether the LCMS is the right place for me.

I'm a Cubmaster for a Cub Scout Pack serving two elementary schools in a low income neighborhood. Scouting has a positive influence on these boys, and in some cases it is the only positive influence in their lives. At all ranks in the Cub Scout program, the boys are now required to explore their 'Duty to God.' Again, for many boys the chapel services we have at camp are their only exposure to religion.

In all of my years in Scouting, there was only one instance where the topic of 'sex' in any form came up in conversation between Scouts and an adult leader. When I was a Webelos Scout, my dad was the Cubmaster and Webelos leader. That day in school, one of my fellow Scouts had been looking at the encyclopedia entry on sex. This Scout brought the topic up at our Webelos meeting, at which point my dad told the young Scout that this was a topic he needed to go home and discuss with his parents. That was the end of the discussion.

The Scouts have two deep leadership at all events, no one-on-one contact between adults and youth, and numerous other safeguards in place. When these are followed (by parents as well as by Scouts and Leaders), there should be no opportunity for anyone of any gender or sexual orientation to abuse a Scout. (I know homosexual does not equal pedophile, but this type of nonsense is what I hear most often in the homophobic rhetoric that this topic seems to bring out).

If sexual intercourse or sexual orientation comes up in the context of a Scouting event, in my opinion the way my dad handled it is the right way to do it - this isn't a topic that should be discussed in the context of Scouting, you need to talk to your parents, pastor, teacher, etc. If a leader of any gender or sexual orientation were to bring up the topic, I think that a Chartered Organization would be within their rights to ask that leader to resign because it isn't a topic that is, or should be, part of the Scouting program.

The fact that the BSA ever had a policy on this is in my mind ridiculous. Frankly it put them into the position they now find themselves, of having to reverse their stated policy and upset a lot of people. In my opinion, their current stance is the right one - no chartered organization should be forced to compromise their own beliefs on this topic. Some chartered organizations wanted a non-discrimination policy, while others (including the LCMS) want the right to choose leaders based on their religious beliefs. That's what the BSA has given all of us. The only thing the LCMS will accomplish by breaking ties with the BSA is that they will no longer have any say in who the Boy Scout leaders are for the units serving LCMS youth. If the LCMS stops chartering units, it won't stop LCMS members from joining the BSA, they'll just find themselves joining units chartered by other religious and civic groups. If you don't believe me, fine, but I see plenty of Wisconsin Synod youth in the BSA and they pretty much treat membership in and of itself as a sin.

Finally, I saw a Reverend above bring up 'morally straight.' As an Eagle Scout, I think the good Reverend needs to go back and review his Boy Scout Handbook. Being morally straight means "become a man of strong character. Be thoughtful of the rights of others. Be clean in speech and actions. Be faithful in your religious beliefs." You can't claim to be 'morally straight' under that definition if you aren't willing to be thoughtful of the rights of others.