Bush Urged to Reconsider Pentagon Directive on Boy Scout Troops
CNS ^ | Nov 18 04 | CNS
 

By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Morning Editor November 18, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - A Republican congressman wants President Bush to get directly involved in defending America's Boy Scouts.

Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) said he stands with the American Legion in support of the Boy Scouts.

The American Legion this week blasted the Pentagon for agreeing to inform U.S. military bases worldwide that they may not directly sponsor nongovernmental organizations, including Boy Scout troops.

The Pentagon's directive settles a lawsuit filed in 1999 by the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which accused the Boy Scouts of religious discrimination for requiring a belief in God. Such groups should not be sponsored by U.S. government entities, the lawsuit said.

Rep. Jones said he has sent a letter to President Bush, asking him, as commander-in-chief, to investigate the matter further.

"Many of the men and women in the military who live on these bases have children who may want to be a member of the Boy Scouts," Jones wrote to Bush. "These devoted parents who serve this nation do not make much money as it is, and sadly they are sometimes asked to give their life in defense of freedom.

"If a base commander decides that the base should sponsor a local chapter of the Boy Scouts for the children of these parents, why should they not be allowed to do so?"

Jones said the ACLU has "continuously attacked the Boy Scouts for one simple reason: it is an organization founded in a commitment to God and morality."

Jones concluded, "I know you share my passion to protect America and keep it a moral nation, and I hope that you can urge a reconsideration of the Defense Department's decision to compromise its values to a group like the ACLU."

Jones pointed out that the military has had a partnership with the Boy Scouts for almost 100 years. The Navy even has its own scouting organization known as the Sea Scouts, whose parent group is the Boy Scouts of America.

"I am outraged to think that the Pentagon and the administration would bow to an organization like the ACLU." What's the next target, Jones wondered: chaplains on military bases?