A good friend of my son’s is in a Boy Scout troop (well, Cub Scout webelo, to be exact) and my son has been bugging me to allow him to join the Cub Scouts.  He wouldn’t be in the same troop as his friend, but he’s willing to give it a go.

And then they had to come out with this.

I fully realize the Boy Scouts is a private group and can dictate membership as they see fit, but it is very discouraging to see that they promote an official agenda that is discriminatory.  Although I did read somewhere that the Boy Scouts do receive money from the Department of Defense, so perhaps they aren’t as totally private as they would like to say they are.

So as a parent what do you do?

Do you try to locate a local troop that may not heartily embrace the “official” BSA party line?  I have heard that in my area, many of the troops march to the beat of their own drummers, so to speak.

Do you try to work and change from within?

Or on principle, do you refuse to join an organization that holds beliefs counter to your own?

I’m very interested in what you all have to say.