Is The Boy Scouts of America Public or Private?
Tuesday, August 02, 2005 By Wendy McElroy On Sunday, President Bush addressed a Jamboree of more than 30,000 Boy Scouts in Virginia. He stated, “through the generations, scouts have made America a stronger and better nation.” Those critical of the Boy Scouts of America argue that the Boy Scouts’ exclusion of gays, atheists and females makes America more divided and divisive. One side wishes to strengthen the Boy Scouts; the other wishes to destroy the Boy Scouts by forcing politically correct changes upon it. Over the past two decades, the Boy Scouts has been both a flash point and the ground of sustained struggle between traditional and PC values. The central issue is whether the Boy Scouts is a private or public organization. If it is a private organization, then the Boy Scouts does not and should not have to justify its membership policies. It enjoys the same freedom of association and conscience as an individual. A private Boy Scouts of America has the same right to exclude gays as
