Boy Scouts Rescind Offer to Unitarians

The Boy Scouts of America have rescinded an offer to reauthorize the Unitarian Universalist Assn. to issue its Religion in Life award to Scouts who are Unitarians, adding a new wave of contention to a battle that many felt had been fought and settled.

The Boy Scouts’ decision was conveyed to the Unitarians, a progressive church with roots going back to colonial times, , just weeks after Unitarian President John A. Buehrens declared in a letter to his denomination: “It pleases me to tell you that this conflict has been resolved.”

At issue are disagreements between the Boy Scouts and the Boston-based Unitarians over whether homosexuals should be allowed to participate as Scouts or Scout leaders, and whether and in what form Scouts should be required to profess a belief in God. A Unitarian plan to distribute the church’s own materials on the issues to Unitarian Scouts working toward the award prompted the Boy Scouts’ latest action.

The conflict began last May, when a Boy Scouts representative approached the Unitarian association about its Religion in Life manual, which Scouts read to earn the award. The award is a badge that designates a Scout’s proficiency in the tenets of his faith.

The Unitarians responded with a claim that the Boy Scouts were not entitled to place political or theological restraints on Scouts who are members of the denomination, which rejects most orthodox Christian tenets and allows its members broad freedom of belief.

In late April, after months of negotiations, a compromise was reached--or so it appeared.

But one week later, on May 7, Lawrence Ray Smith, chairman of the Boy Scouts’ religious relationships committee, rescinded the agreement.

Smith said in a brief letter to Buehrens that the Boy Scouts could not reinstate the Religion in Life award for Unitarians because of the church’s plans to distribute its own materials on homosexuality and religious beliefs to Unitarian Scouts working toward the award.