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Court won't hear appeal on Boy Scouts land rental

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Dan82, May 3, 2010.

  1. Dan82

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    http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/03/court-wont-hear-appeal-on-boy-scouts-land-rental/

     
  2. L|L

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    I'm torn. On one hand, it's the scouts that suffer. But the other, maybe they'll change their bass ackwards policies.
     
  3. Chip

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    It would be nice if they would, but the likelihood of that is near zero. Apparently something like 70% of boy scout funding comes from..... the mormons. And we know what losers they are when it comes to willingness to change their views on... anything.

    The only reason they stopped discriminating against African-Americans, 40 years ago or whatever, is that their "living prophet" (equivalent of the Pope) *miraculously* got a "Message from God" the day before an IRS ruling was to go into effect revoking their exempt status for discrimination.
     
  4. Emberstone

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    what the boyscouts wanted to do was turn a profit by leasing land they owned out to others, which, given that the boyscouts are funded by, and basically run by religious organizations, would be circumventing laws that make it illegal for churches and church groups to be used to sell and lease land for a profit... if I remeber, it is because the land is designated tax free as church land, and to turn a profit by leasing it out to none church functions is a form of tax evasion.

    I still believe that for violation of people's human rights, the catholics and the mormons, both who fund and support the BSA should have their tax status revoked. Then they can lease all the land they want.
     
  5. Tim

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    ... I know plenty of boyscouts, and just because one of their "mottos" is that, does not make them a religious group.

    That's like saying anyone who says "THANK GOD!" when they find an open camp site is a religious group, to be honest.
     
  6. Chip

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    That's odd. The article implies the opposite, that the City of San Diego leased land to the Boy Scouts, which the City should not have done since the Boy Scouts are a religious group.

    No, actually nonprofits are free to run for-profit operations, they just have to separate the accounting of that part of their operations and report and pay taxes on any income therefrom. I believe they would also have to pay real estate taxes if the land owned was used primarily for for-profit operations. But done correctly, it would not affect their charitable status.

    The problem is, the Boy Scounts want to have it both ways. They tried to talk out of both sides of their mouth and got caught. In court a few years back, they argued that as a private, religiously-affiliated organization, they were legally allowed to discriminate against gay teens. The court, if I remember correctly, found for them and granted them that right. But now, when it isn't convenient to be a religious organization, they want not to be.

    Shady as hell if you ask me.
     
  7. paint

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    I think the reason they can decide who's apart of the group is because they are a private group, not because they are a religious organization. So they're still saying that...they are just a private group, so the government can lend land to them. So they're in a thin corridor, on a floor lined with eggshells. I think that sorta sucks, because there is then a chance the group would be destroyed in the tensity of two opposing sides. I'd rather see them adapt and still be a reputable program. They got a ways to go....
     
  8. Chip

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    Actually I think you're right, and as soon as that decision was handed down, a large number of cities and corporations withdrew funding because their policies prohibited discrimination. Time Magazine did a huge cover story on this about 6 or 7 years ago and basically described the whole problem with the Mormons and how it's not likely to change because such a large part of BSA's funding comes from the Mormon church.
     
  9. Shevanel

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    I'm Catholic and I was a boyscout for a number of years.

    What exactly does this have to do with LGBT News, Rights, Issues or Equality? =/
     
  10. Chip

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    I think the point is that the Boy Scouts have a long history of blatant discrimination against gays -- both gay scouts and gay scoutmasters. They have defended their right to bigotry in the media and in the courts.

    And the Boy Scouts bigotry comes, according to nearly all sources, directly from the Mormon Church, which provides a large portion (30%? Don't remember exactly) of BSA's national funding. Some -- perhaps many -- of the BSAs want to change their rules and be more accepting of gays, but the Mormons have explicitly forbidden it, under penalty of withdrawing all of their funding.

    So it does seem to be very much an important issue with regard to LGBT rights.