Scout Law still requires members to be "reverent" to a higher power

May 09, 2024

The Boy Scouts of America will soon be no more.

After 114 years, the group just announced that, beginning in February, it’ll rebrand as Scouting America in an attempt to reflect its new more inclusive ways.

Boy Scouts of America President Roger Krone announced Tuesday that the name change is part of an evolution as the organization seeks to ensure that everyone feels welcome.

"We are an organization for all. It's time our name reflects that," Krone said during a virtual news conference during its annual meeting in Florida.

"Scouting under the name Scouting America will enable us to chart a course towards continued growth, relevance and impact." 

That sounds innocuous enough. Except the rebranding isn’t really about reflecting a change in the BSA. When you have over a century’s worth of brand recognition, or you’re a company people have come to know, you don’t switch it up for a temporary news cycle. (There’s a reason Twitter’s switch to X has been so widely mocked.)

The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name because, to many Americans, it no longer represents boys learning useful skills and becoming model citizens.

It became a haven for sexual predators; the BSA faced over 82,000 lawsuits from alleged victims. It became known more for who was excluded than who was allowed in; over the course of several years, the BSA finally opened its doors to gay troops (2013), then gay leaders (2015), then trans boys (2017), then girls (2019). None of that, however, reversed the overall declining membership and none of that changed the massive payouts necessary to settle those cases. The group eventually filed for bankruptcy.

In 1972, the BSA had 5 million members. Today, membership is just over 1 million.

Usually, it takes an oil spill to do that much damage to your company’s reputation.

So the rebranding makes sense in that light. But if the change is supposed to reflect how the group is now “an organization for all,” the reality is very different. Because as inclusive as the BSA now claims to be, there’s still one group of people they will not allow into their fold: atheists. We’re forbidden from being troop leaders or members.

The organization’s Scout Oath includes the phrase “I will do my best to do my duty to God.” The Scout Law includes the goal of being “reverent” to God. If you can’t abide by those, then you’re unable to be a member or leader. The group’s Declaration of Religious Principle states very bluntly that “The BSA maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God.” Even though the BSA says the definition of God is up to individuals (similar to Alcoholics Anonymous), the belief is required.

As a private organization, it’s within the group’s rights to do that, but it’s also a reason atheists have balked when public school districts welcomed the BSA into their buildings or the government promoted the organization.

Somehow, a group that “seeks to ensure that everyone feels welcome” will make changes to everything except the silly traditions that keep open atheists out of the organization. It’s not like the BSA can’t do it; they’ve changed pretty much everything else!

If the BSA insists that it’s in the business of teaching kids values like loyalty, kindness, and friendliness, there’s no good reason to continue banning a large swath of people who might want to join. Who exactly would they be alienating by letting atheists in? Religious organizations? Those groups, particularly Mormons, have long abandoned the organization in order to double down on their own faith-based bigotry. Conservatives? They hate the BSA already. Don’t worry about them!

And if the Boy Scouts seriously wants kids to learn about diversity and inclusion, they shouldn’t be promoting non-religious bigotry within their own bubble. Somehow, the (unrelated) Girl Scouts have never excluded atheists and they’ve been doing just fine. The sky didn’t fall. Nor would it fall if the BSA took the simple step of saying everyone can join regardless of their faith.

Reverence was never a worthy goal to begin with, anyway.

Instead of actually opening up to everyone who shares the group’s values, they’re changing the name and hoping no one notices. It won’t work. You can’t change the window dressing and convince everyone it’s a different place.