If it makes him happy, I think you just have to let him go one day. His friends obviously have a huge influence on him, so don't be the bad guys who won't let him be with his friends. Just teach him to never stop asking questions, to be curious about the world and to question authority. Even as a christian he will be fine. Just talk with him from time to time about what he believes and tell him what you believe. He should know that it's okay to have different opinions.

I wonder if they are required to hand out prophylactics now that girls can be boy scouts?

My nephew is an atheist. He did fine in the Scouts.

His Mom is Jewish - she was one of the troop leaders.

I'm pretty sure it depends on where you are and who is running the troop. You'd find out fast because your kid will tell you. In this case I might say "If the religious part of this group bothers you I will let you leave before the year is up". A one time agreement.

My nephew loved his time with scouts. They had no issue with the kid who was gay in his troop either.

After school Satan is where i would send my kids.
[afterschoolsatan.com]

I don't like the Boy Scouts because they are misogynistic, or were.
Boys get to build shelters, tie knots, learn cool things like Morse Code, Braille, flag signals, go on camping trips, etc., but the girls get to wear long, ugly SKIRTS and sit around inside eating cookies.

BORING. And stupid. I only attended once, then quit in disgust. I hear that now they must accept girls in the Boy Scout activities, but I still think it's stupid. I do much better camping and doing things on my own than following some group around, following orders, missing out on all the wildlife and tracks.

As positive as some aspects of scouting may be, I'd have a real hard time with this. If you allow it you're condoning an organization that does what it does in terms of religious freedoms.

On the other hand, it's a kid that wants to do outdoors related shit with friends.

So ya. I did not help. Sorry.

I have a friend who is heavily involved in Boy Scouts of America. Her husband is a troop leader, her son is working on his Eagle Scout Project and she is a co-leader and like treasurer or something for the troop. She's been encouraging me to get my 8yo involved and her primary argument is "scouts is inclusive and not religious." There is one blurb about god or a higher power in their pledge. She says in their troop they choose to define that concept as "the voice inside of us that propels us to do good." So, it sounds like as an organization they are essentially secular, but that troops can have an individual lean.

If it were me, I wouldn't allow it. Interestingly enough, this issue came up here a long time ago, which led me to find out that BSA was chartered by the US Congress, so I find its belief requirements wholly unconstitutional.

So this sent me down a rabbit hole. I found Camp Fire as well as Navigators USA. Navigators sounds better. Is St. Paul too far away?

I was in scouts when I was a kid. Both my parents were athiest, and I was too, kind of. I had a great time and came out with the same view on god as I did entering it. I recall no mention of god or faith. I don’t know if the experience is the same today, but that was mine. I would say let him go.

Don't let him join he'll get molested

I believe, and maintain that as a parent or any educator it is our responsibility to teach children how to think, not what to think.
If your child believes in a God, there is nothing wrong with that. But challenge it.
As far as the scouts go, if there are few other program around, then let them. There are other values that the organization has, that are worth it. Just challenge the bad ideas and nuture the good ones, like Socrates.

I was a boy scout and I played along with there religion stuff, but I knew I was just pretending. I do believe that it is a good organization that teaches responsibility to young boys

I would not let a son or daughter join the scouts for as long as I had control of the decision, ever. It is a religious indoctrination organization as much as it is a social organization and a skills organization. Religion is not a harmless difference of opinion.

I do not claim that this is the "right way" to do it, just my two cents.

I hear there are secular groups here and there. You might inquire. On the other hand, I was in the Boy Scouts and it didn't destroy my life. Learned a lot, wasn't converted, and had a helluva good time.

The most God ever entered into the boy scouts when I was in, was they met in churches and one pledge or oath mentioned God one time. It was strictly a memorized bit. After that, it was a very valuable part of my early years.

Concede. At some point he's likely to see that the values you've instilled in him aren't congruent with those of the scouts and (hopefully?) that will be the time he chooses to break away. By denying him that opportunity, you're providing an element of intrigue and possibly seeding resentment. You can also raise your concerns with the troop leader.

Let him join the boy scouts and have fun with his friends. Does he know your an Atheist?

It can’t hurt.

I have 2 sons that are Eagle Scouts and they are both godless heathens. It was a great experience for them and I might add they are both very successful adults.

I recommend the Scouts even though I disagree with their faith requirement. The Scouts teach kids lessons that will help them the rest of their life. The concession for faith is worth it. I hope your son will find that reason and evidence are superior to faith later on in life.

Maybe as a member of the Scouts you can get the Scouts to give up the religious requirement.

When my son wanted to join I allowed him to sign up. Scouts ended up not accepting him but they never contacted us to explain their reasoning.

BSA Declaration of Religious Principle

[meritbadge.org]

I understand your situation. My nephew and his wife have allowed their son to be in Scouts. He loves it so much, and it's given my nephew the opportunity to
spend more father/son time with him. They're going camping this weekend, and kiddo is super-pumped for it.

I really hate that he's involved with that organization, but he's not my kid,
I wasn't asked for my opinion, and I didn't stick my nose where it didn't belong.

Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I let him know that not everyone
believes in the same god he does, some people don't believe in any gods
at all, and none of that makes him better than them, or makes them "bad"
people. He seemed to accept that. Haven't told him yet that I'm an atheist. I will when he's a little older.

If I had a young son, I would NOT have him involved with the BSoA, under
any circumstances.

I would support it. My kids went to church with their Catholic cousins and my parents. I dated a minister for more than a decade. She mostly did hospice chaplaincy and they participated in volunteer work with her and some of her church group. They had friends who were of varying religious persuasions and they went to some youth meetings and such with those friends. I supported all of that and more. And I had honest, frank, on-going conversations about it all. It was very useful in having practical real life dialogs about existential issues, diversity, friendship, social injustice, and just about any other topic you can imagine.

All of these organizations offer positive and negative influence. And all of it is there as a way for you to dialog with your child. Be open to dialog and let them explore the world as it exists now while they are in your care everyday.

My three are adults now and well inoculated against blind faith, but open to different paths for themselves and others.

this must be an american thing certainly the scouts over here are not religiously affiliated that said unless the religious aspect is so overt i feel he would probably get a lot out of it my kids loved the camping aspect and it gave them skills for when they were teenagers and wanted to go with school friends for a day or 2 without adults plus they made friends with other kids. Ild be more worried he is coming home from school saying he believes in god if your raising him in a secular/atheist household good luck