In recent years the Boy Scouts of America have been challenged in the courts and by some governmental agencies to reconsider its inclusion of "duty to God" in the Scout Oath and so as a requirement for participation in the program. For some, these challenges have centered around issues of "separation of church and state" when Scouting has received various kinds of support from government entities (a currently ongoing case challenges support received from the Department of Defense by allowing the BSA to hold its quadrennial National Jamboree on the grounds of Fort A. P. Hill in Bowling Green, Virginia). For others, the challenge has been more philosophical in origin: Isn't it possible that purely humanist values can provide a basis for the ethical principles enunciated in the Scout Law without appeal to God?

For these and other reasons, some have asked why the Boy Scouts of America haven't followed the practice of the Girl Scouts of America in recent years in allowing its members to substitute for "God" some other "words they deem more appropriate" when reciting the Girl Scout Promise. (See the discussion by Jay Mechling included on this site by clicking here). There are of course many different reasons that have and could be offered for why the BSA has not adopted a similar policy.

Obviously one can respond on the basis of historical commitments going back to the founding of the BSA (some of which are also discussed in the Mechling material available elsewhere on this site by clicking here). One might also simply note that the same article in the "Bill of Rights" that prohibits the "establishment" of religion (the basis for the "separation of church and state") also guarantees "the free exercise" of religion, and so along with the guarantee of "free association" the Boy Scouts of America should be able to set whatever requirements for membership they wish. Admittedly oversimplifying the issues, it is that argument that has been upheld in the courts so that the BSA has not been compelled by legal injunction to change its practice. But even for those within the Scouting movement itself, it should clear that historical precedent and legal permissibility are very weak grounds for continuing a practice apart from some other compelling rationale. After all, the BSA has in the past decades changed its historic practices by expanding the leadership roles that may be held by women Scouters within the organization.

Without pretending to speak officially for the BSA, we would suggest that there is a rationale for continuing to embrace religious devotion--understood in its broadest sense (see the page on "Tolerance" in this section of this website)--as a fundamental value of Scouting in our increasingly secular society. While ethical systems can and have been built on many foundations, we believe that there is a fundamental value in committing oneself to something beyond humanitarian ideals. "Duty to God" looks not only to an ultimately authoritative sanction for ethical conduct, it appeals beyond our individual selves, our societies, and even our highest aspirations for assistance in living out those standards of conduct.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in a speech delivered shortly before his election as Pope Benedict XVI, articulated this understanding of both religious tolerance and devotion. As reported in Newsweek magazine (15 August 2005, p. 29), he argued, "It is not the mention of God that offends those who belong to other religions, but rather the attempt to build the human community absolutely without God." According the Christopher Dickey, who wrote the Newsweek article, Ratzinger argued, "If the only moral standards are supposed to be those calculated by governments and individuals ... then society loses its way."

A similar argument had been developed at much more length by Huston Smith, a leading scholar and author of popular books on the world's religions, in his Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief (HarperCollins, 2001). Smith argued that rather than fostering morality and ethical conduct, materialism and consumerism not only have undercut morality but have suffocated the human spirit. He championed a society that honors the human spirit by the authentic practice of religious traditions as the vital source of human wisdom and the moral compass by which humanity must steer our lives.

Certainly religions teachings have historically been abused and served as the basis for attacks on others. But it is equally certain that the predominate influence of religion on human cultures has been overwhelmingly positive. One check on the abuse of religion is the insistence that one's own religious devotion must always be held in conjunction with tolerance for the religious convictions of others. It is precisely these twin values of devotion and tolerance that Scouting has promoted since its founding.

Tolerance is, of course, a value that should be extended not only to those of a different religious devotion but also of no religious devotion as well. Might that in itself be an argument for a change in practice by the BSA? Not when there is a fundamental belief that religious commitment helps a person to achieve his or her full potential because of a firm conviction that human beings are spiritual as well as material. Just as Scouting promotes values such as being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, courteous, kind ... precisely because it recognizes that not all people exhibit these values in their conduct, so Scouting promotes the value of "reverence" because of a firm belief that it too is a fundamental ethical value that helps humanity to reach its highest potential.

Copyright © 2005 Scouting and Religious Diversity
Last modified: 10/10/05