Boy Scouts triumphant, ACLU trounced in common sense ruling
The AP reports that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling and allowed the Pentagon to continue its support of the National Boy Scout Jamboree.
Two Chicago-area “religious leaders,” aided and abetted by the ACLU, sued the Pentagon in 1999, whining that the Boy Scouts should not receive public support because Scouts require members to swear an oath of “duty to God.”
But the court displayed better sense than the men who filed the suit. “Even assuming that it is correct to characterize the BSA as a ‘religious’ organization, this statute is for the purpose of assisting the military in persuading a new generation to join its ranks and in building good will. This is a secular and valid purpose,” the court wrote.
The ACLU shot back; “We continue to believe that government funding to support private activities which exclude persons on the basis of their beliefs is unconstitutional,” American Civil Liberties Union attorney Adam Schwartz said.
The ruling is positive for two reasons. First, it protected the rights and traditions of the suits primary target; The Boy Scouts of America. But just as importantly, it protected the suits secondary target, our military; upholding the rights and traditions of our servicemen and women.
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