Letter: Political statements don’t belong in the Boy Scouts

Too bad for Kansas City. Before some people decided that the Boy Scouts should be making political statements, scouts was pretty much an all boys or all girls organization.

No 8-year-old boy or girl would be turned down except for being an atheist. Yes, it was believed that part of taking young boys and girls into adulthood would require some religious belief.

A scout was required to be reverent. So along with becoming trustworthy and loyal, friendly and courteous, a scout must be a spiritual being.

Not necessarily the member of any one church or even a single religion. And because troops and packs were sponsored by different churches and religions, each troop would and could take on its own character.

Groups of scouts may belong to the Roman Catholic Church and practice reverence under their church. There may be a Buddhist pack or troop, where most of the members were likely to devote themselves to their own brand of religious reverence. It didn’t matter to the national office how you worshipped your God as long as you did.

Now because the National Scout leadership for both girls and boys resists taking a stand against abor-tion, they toss out years of tradition, leadership and neutrality. Forgetting of course that the development of young men and women from children to honorable and religious young adults is the key to scouting success for over 100 years.

A scout in their development and their religious upbringing will choose the right path for themselves.

But what a shame now that all boys and girls, who need scouting, will be deprived of the education that knowing others and other ways to worship, will grow up with such a narrow view of the world.

William Ressegue