Counterpoint if I may; The Boy Scouts relied heavily on funding from the Government until political pressure (to get them to adopt gays & to renounce their beliefs in God mainly,) reduced their funding dramatically. This coupled with a steep drop in enrollment forced them to get funding elsewhere. In stepped COLDS (great acronym.) and they increased their contributions.
Sad to say that the BSA is a shell of what it once was. They helped me & my brother tremendously by giving us confidence and strong father figures (where ours was a terrific example of what not to do,) when we were young.
End of rant    

I can only hope my children are all born punkers, wishing only to sprout hot pink mohawks.

I also hope your boys all make wise decisions of their own inclinations. I guess I'd be concerned that the BSA meets at an evangelical church, which means probably that one parent of one scout belongs to the church, and will try to pervert the true point of the scouts.

And I, actually, would make an awful parent, because I would be giving my kid a lecture about the evils of evangelical churchs and many of their sadly possessed followers.    

Dilf - I don't expect the villagers to come after me with pitchforks because of my atheism. And the local Boy Scout/Cub Scout organization wouldn't likely kick me and mine out, either. For one, I've got that Pinewood Derby shit down cold. And the Sysmidgets aren't terribly interested in sports, so this is one of the few extra-curricular activities they're involved in. Again, I'm not saying that my boys shouldn't take part. I'm just pointing out that there are things about the organization as a whole that don't sit well with me.    

Firstly, I will tell you I am a scientist. My parents took a pretty cool (as in hip, rather than temperature) stance on the whole religion vs. science thing. They let me decide, but answered questions I raised with honesty. I soon came to the realisation that I don't "do" faith. We won't get on to the whole belief "argument" - which isn't even an argument.

I'm guessing (maybe incorrectly) that you're not a man of faith either, and if so then your views on the world are not dogma or beliefs.

What I wanted to say in a round about way is that I don't think we should idly sit back and tolerate the views espoused by organised religions any more than we should listen to, and respect, the opinions of a serial killer.

Do we laugh at Scientology? Of course, it's crazy talk - right? Yes, but no more so than Christianity, Islam or Judaism (O.K. I know I'm picking on essentially the same faith - but you get my point). So why do I constantly hear people argue that I should respect one load of fairy tales over another just because it is a longer held tradition?

I tend to keep these sort of things to myself most of the time as we're a small group of people that are generally reviled, and I'm careful about sticking my head over the parapet.    

Having said all of that the Scouts in England were set up by Lord Baden Powell, who was a fundamentalist Christian, so that would sit just fine with our lot.    

I'm going to hell according to Evangelists, too, so if they're right you won't be lonely.

But I don't think all organizations with a loose "Christian" affiliation should be held suspect. Our YMCA and the Explorers program is wonderful. And the stress is on "character," like honesty, and helpfulness, and integrity, and all that other crap that won't get them anywhere in the business world.    

Yes, because the world needs more unwanted babies. It really does. Just ask it.    

Amen, Bob. I feel just as entitled to raise my daughter according to my beliefs as my mother did in raising me. Though she is a person of deeply held religious faith, my mother recognized my right to come to my own conclusions as I got older, and I expect my daughter to do the same. If she ends up falling on god's side, that's her right, but until that point, Hubby and I are raising her according to our beliefs as atheists.

That aside, Hubby was a scout and knows all kinds of absurdly useful stuff as a result, like making fire and tying knots and building shelter. His brother was a scout, too, and learned how to have gay sex with his scout master. I guess that's useful in a different way.    

I'm just coming here to be snarky and say I really don't like that Flounder asshole and I think he probably smells like fish.

I mean, I REALLY don't like him.    

um, hi. i am horrible, and distracted. but i meant to say thank you very very much for your lovely gift, which will surely inspire some weird assed burlesque on my part.

nude on the moon!    

I got my gifts too! Nudity and star creatures! And bees! Oh my!

I heart you endlessly and without shame.    

I don't get shit! Not even a Burger King bobble head!    

Don't feel bad, Ubie. At least you get comments.

I don't even get THOSE.