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?

Give it a go I say. He can learn many valuable skills with the 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.

I was a scout...and yes I had to recite prayers at every meeting...and March as the troops flag bearer at every Corpus Christi Parade...but apart from that nonsense..I got a lot out of it..it was character building actually..and taught me manners..respect for nature..elderly people and civil duty..to name but a few things....

Let the kid go...it was never really about faith in God...it was always more about having faith in yourself and your fellow scouts...

Our job is to give them options, so eventually they can make an informed decision and chose whatever makes them happy. It's their life, not ours. He wants to join the boy scouts and you are concern about any potential damage, think about the resentment he will develop against you likely because he will be missing spending time with friends and nothing else. Try to understand those concerns are yours, not his. Don't make him pay for it.

Trust your son, let him join. I loved being a boy scout, don't remember it as a religious experience at all. All my good memories are about camping, outdoors, and great friendships!

Religion is a very small part of the organization and see if you can find a more secular den mother/master. That way it is even less. A troop really is about what the den mother/master wants to do at meetings.

The Boy Scouts that aren't Mormon controlled don't really push religion. They teach many valuable skills that will help help him for life. I am an Eagle Scout and would love to help, but in this area you have to be Mormon, or they won't let you be involved.

I am not much for indoctrination, so giving him freedom to choose is paramount. Just realize that the scouts have an agenda and tend to have some religion mixed in (depending on the local leaders) so be ready to answer questions.

I think a lot will depend on the local adult leadership. Several friends and I were all semi-out as atheists while we were in Boy Scouts, and had no issues -- one atheist friend made it to Eagle. But I suspect other scout troops may have a stronger religious bent.

Being up north, I would suspect your odds are better at the troop leader being more moderate approaching this aspect of the org. No guarantees, but my advise is to just talk to the troop leader about it and get a feel on how much this will be a focus; may only be an occasional prayer. Given the diversity of Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, etc. in America, I myself would play safe with a moment of silence if I was leading the troop. Honestly, I'm sure he's more excited about doing the outdoor stuff with friends from school.

You can't force religious beliefs. He may just want to be with his friends. That said, I had major problems with the Boy Scouts as a child. Their supposed moral teachings were sorely lacking. Their behavior didn't live up to my morals, even as a 10-year-old. Of course, maybe he needs to learn that for himself.

I was in the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts the God and believe thing they really didn't push when I was a kid it was more about the outdoors and survival and just plain old having fun camping hiking and being there.
That being said of course it's your call.

I was a den leader for several years and found that in that position I was able to stress inclusion and play down dogma. But there is an eliment of religiosity that one encounters. A lot depends on the posture of the other adults involved as well. At some point though Santa has to be unmasked.

I think the benefits of the program outweigh the problem. When you enroll, are you allowed to choose which troop he would be in? I would contact different troop leaders and ask them directly how much religion is involved in their leadership, and let your son decide. I think at 10 years old he should be given the choice.

I was in scouting when I was a kid. I don't recall the experience has overtly pushing religion and am more aware of that aspect of it now, as an adult, and I don't like it. I wouldn't prevent your son from participating. I think the best thing you can do for your son is teach him to be a critical thinker. Teach him to do his own research on this and other topics and come to his own conclusion. That's what I have tried to do with my two kids and neither of them are believers.

Be careful not to make scouts an enticing forbidden fruit. He'll want it all the more.

I personally would allow him to go and then talk to him about the things he is learning. I wouldn't try to change his mind about anything, just ask questions and prompt him to think through things. I do that with my kids and they are pretty good about coming up with reasonable answers.

Let him go, but also build a plan to expose him to other religions. The thing that made me realize theism was false was hearing them all spout the same thing, "we're right and the others are wrong".

Let him join. If you resist, then there's a chance he will resent you and could strain your relationship for years. Always be upfront with him and share your concerns. Hopefully, he will do the same. This would probably be a good time to tell him the truth about Santa. Tell him there are stories adults tell children to stimulate imagination and creativity but are not true (i.e. Santa). If these children do not discover the truth themselves or told by someone else, then they continue to believe in these untrue stories, pass it down to their children and so forth. This can lead to misinformation and false beliefs (i.e. religion and gods)

My personal thought is that there is far more to be gained from Scouts than reasons not to join.
Many in my family and lots of friends/kids (almost all atheists) have been involved with Scouts and have benefited from the experience.
Obviously, as in any organization, there may be aspects that aren't perfectly aligned with each of the members ideals, and keeping a good line of communication open is key.

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

The opinions on Scouting will be positive or negative based on the experience of the poster. I was in Cub Scouts even though I grew up as a JW and being a member of Scouts was banned but my buddies were all in cubs so my mother relented and let me go on the sly, it was a good experience. I didn't go to Scouts because of the hazing requirements and even at 11 I valued my freedom enough to not give into that peer pressure. I came back for Rovers in my teens because camping with girls was too good a thing to pass up, we did a lot of crazy stuff and it was a safe environment to mature in compared to some of my other peer groups that included punk rockers, nerds, bikers, mods and some other groups that didn't groove on camping.
I became a Scout Leader when the local troop was falling apart, in the worst part of town the Scout Troop had been reduced to a couple of kids from under privileged families in a church basement with a couple of old church matrons having them work on badge work. I changed the program back to the Scouting I remembered, got the kids outside, tripled the enrollment in a year and took them all camping and taught them woodcraft. I left the troop when I took on overseas projects but I am still in touch with some of the kids who now have kids of their own. There were sexual predators in the Scouting movement but I made it clear what would happen to them if I caught them doing anything harmful to the kids, they behaved themselves as far as I know.
The Scout Leader will make all the difference to your child's experience, if the kids express any concerns then get them out, otherwise you should let them have a lot of fun learning a lot of valuable life lessons.
And yes, the holy roller idiots asked me if I believed in a higher power and I said I did because hey who knows but I don't believe and god and haven't since I was a Boy Scout, it is still a requirement that they ask this question. I also received a Distinguished Conduct Medal from the Chief Scout of Canada who represents the Queen, the only Scouter to receive such an award in my region, so much for immoral atheists.

As a brownies leader we ask the girls to attend church for parade special occasions Rembrance Sunday etc some turn up some don't let him try out scouts see what happens. From what I've heard groups can't force belifs on young ones. Xx