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December Newsletter Page Three |
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| Candlelight Again
... continued from Page 2 ... It will always be incumbent upon the individual to work to uphold the rights promised in our Constitution and Bill of Rights because with rights comes responsibility. It is also the responsibility of the voters to inform their representatives in Congress about what issues they believe need to be addressed and how they want them to vote. Going along for the ride is not participating in the democratic process. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS Jay Noble 12/10 Jack McElroy 12/14 Richard Parrish 12/15 Jessica Noble 12/21 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX UUA vs. Boy Scouts of America Beecher Threatt Friends, here is a short summary of the controversy between UUA and BSA.Many Boy Scout troops are sponsored by churches, including UUA churches. Boy Scouts earn merit badges and other types of awards. Merit badges help the boy to advance to Eagle Scout. Other awards can be worn temporarily on the uniform, if approved by BSA. Currently, BSA allows religious emblems of over 35 faiths. Each faith has a program that the boy completes, then the church awards the emblem to him. These faiths include the ones you would usually think of, plus others such as Meher Baba, Hindu and Buddhist.
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, In 1992, UUA passed a resolution opposing BSA's discrimination against agnostic and atheist scouts and discrimination aimed at gay scouts and scout leaders. In 1993 the UUA revised its Religion in Life award manual, which is the guide for a scout to earn the UUA religious emblem. The BSA withdrew its authorization for the UUA religious emblem in a letter, part of which stated: "The current version of Religion in Life does not adhere to Scouting policies and is inappropriate for distribution to Scouting youth in connection with the administration of the Religion in Life religious award. Until such time as the UUA materials can be redrafted to a form acceptable to the Committee, youth may not be awarded Unitarian Universalist religious emblems in Scouting or wear the emblem on a Scout uniform. This includes the Love and Help emblem as well." After negotiations between the two groups, UUA thought an agreement had been reached and agreed to revise its manual to remove the language the BSA found offensive. It posted the following on its website: "The new edition of Religion in Life will be available from the UUA Bookstore this summer. Along with each copy, the Association will separately provide a letter from me [UUA Youth Director], along with resources appropriate to dealing with issues of homophobia and religious discrimination."
Immediately, the Religious Relationships Committee of the BSA sent the following in a letter to UUA, with regard to the website posting: Unfortunately, this simply reopens the entire issue of using boys as a venue to air your differences with the policies of the Boy Scouts of America. These circumstances were not contemplated when Mr. Deimler wrote his letter [re-authorizing the emblem]. Therefore, Boy Scouts of America is not in a position to authorize the awarding of the Religion in Life emblem to Scouts and the wearing of that emblem on a Scout uniform." see Boy Scouts Page 4
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