AFA's Bryan Fischer Falsely Claims LDS Church Went Soft On Gays In Boy Scouts Because They Secretly Want To Legalize Polygamy

Ever since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints broke ranks with other socially-conservative denominations and announced their acceptance of the Boy Scouts' decision to accept gay Scouts, I've been wondering when the other shoe was going to drop and we would get criticism from those organizations.

Well, the other shoe has now dropped. On May 28th, 2013, Right Wing Watch reported that Bryan Fischer, who was hired in 2009 by the American Family Association (AFA) to serve as their director of issue analysis for government and public policy, is claiming that the LDS Church has gone soft on the homosexual agenda because as the homosexual agenda advances, the next domino to fall is going to be the ban against polygamy, and that because the homosexual agenda may be the secret to restoring polygamy to America, this would vindicate Mormon doctrine on plural marriage from the very beginning. He admits he has no evidence supporting his claim, though. See an accompanying story on HuffPo. Here's a video clip of Fischer making his rather spurious claim on his Focal Point radio show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnrIx5ehmdM



A brief review of the American Family Association website revealed no criticism of the LDS Church by name, so Fischer may be speaking strictly for himself rather than for the AFA. However, Fischer's misinformation still needs to be rebutted. In 1890, the LDS Church issued a revelation indefinitely suspending the solemnization of plural marriages by the Church; this was canonized as Official Declaration 1 and appended to the Doctrine & Covenants. Furthermore, Church officials ask members during worthiness interviews to certify that they do not affiliate with any apostate groups, which also means any religious organizations practicing plural marriages. In addition, any Mormon found to be practicing plural marriage is subjected to a disciplinary council and subsequently excommunicated. Finally, since the 12th Article of Faith states "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law", the Church will not reinstitute plural marriage so long as it is contrary to the law of the land. Don't forget that it was the Savior Himself who said "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and render unto God that which is God's".

Furthermore, the LDS Church has made it abundantly clear that although they will accept Scouts with a homosexual orientation, they will not accept any sexual behavior outside of legal heterosexual marriage, period. In the letter from the First Presidency distributed to all American congregations which announced the Church's decision on the Scouts, the Church reiterated its firm commitment to upholding these standards and to protecting and strengthening boys and young men.

It should also be noted that Bryan Fischer has a reputation for making fanciful and emotional statements at times as he gets carried away in his passion to defend traditional cultural values. This tendency attracted the unwelcome attention of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which expanded its reach in 2010 to designate his American Family Association and other pro-family groups as "anti-gay hate groups". However, many suspect the SPLC widened their reach in order to attract more donations; their chief trial counsel Morris Dees makes over $300,000 per year and lives in a palatial trophy home in Montgomery, Alabama. The SPLC also has a flagrant left-wing political bias, as indicated by the sidebar on their Hatewatch blog which exclusively lists links from hard-left progressive websites.

In the final analysis, I have no desire to pick a fight with the American Family Association, since they line up with us on so many other important cultural and social issues. In fact, as President Boyd K. Packer said back in 1993, feminists and intellectuals within LDS ranks pose a greater threat to the safety and security of the LDS Church than occasionally-misguided allies such as the AFA. But when someone puts out misinformation about our Church, we must rebut it, even if the source is well-intentioned. I hope the AFA will re-direct itself back to confronting the real enemy -- Satan.

LDS Church Accepts Compromise Decision Announced By Boy Scouts To Allow Gay Scouts While Banning Openly-Gay Leaders

On May 23rd, 2013, the Boy Scouts of America announced its decision on gays in the organization. Of the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council who cast ballots, 61 percent supported the proposal to allow gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders. The decision takes effect on January 1st, 2014. In their statement, the Boy Scouts stressed that they still would not condone sexual conduct by any Scout –- gay or straight, saying "The Boy Scouts of America will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organization to be consumed by a single, divisive and unresolved societal issue".

Because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day expressed its willingness to live with this compromise back on April 25th, their reaction is of primary interest. And the LDS Church has issued an official statement indicating that they accept the decision, while reiterating the need for all participants in their Scouting units to abide by LDS Church standards, which are spelled out in the For The Strength Of Youth book and which prescribe total sexual abstinence outside of heterosexual marriage. A letter signed by the First Presidency of the Church reaffirming of Church policies and standards will be sent to every LDS congregation in the United States. Here's the most important part of the statement:

The Church's long-established policy for participation in activities is stated in the basic instructional handbook used by lay leaders of the Church: "young men … who agree to abide by Church standards" are "welcomed warmly and encouraged to participate" (Handbook 2: Administering the Church [2010], 8.17.3). This policy applies to Church-sponsored Scout units. Sexual orientation has not previously been -— and is not now -— a disqualifying factor for boys who want to join Latter-day Saint Scout troops. Willingness to abide by standards of behavior continues to be our compelling interest.

These standards are outlined in the booklet For the Strength of Youth and include abstinence from sexual relationships. We remain firmly committed to upholding these standards and to protecting and strengthening boys and young men.

The Church appreciates BSA's reaffirmation of its commitment to "duty to God," which includes service to others and moral behavior—central principles of our teaching to young men. As in the past, the Church will work with BSA to harmonize what Scouting has to offer with the varying needs of our young men. We trust that BSA will implement and administer the approved policy in an appropriate and effective manner.

Some other socially-conservative religious denominations are unhappy with the decision. Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee, said "We are deeply saddened. Homosexual behavior is incompatible with the principles enshrined in the Scout oath and Scout law". Richard Land, a senior Southern Baptist Conference official, can't imagine any Southern Baptist pastor who would continue to allow his church to sponsor a Boy Scout troop under these new rules, and advised Southern Baptist churches to withdraw their support of Scout troops and consider affiliating instead with the Royal Ambassadors, an existing SBC youth program for boys that combines religious ministry with Scouting-style activities. Baptist churches sponsor Scout units serving more than 100,000 of the BSA's 2.6 million youth members.

The Assemblies of God, another conservative denomination which oversees units serving more than 2,000 Scouts, said said it could no longer support such units and predicted the policy change will lead to a mass exodus from the Boy Scout program. They suggested its own Royal Rangers youth group as a positive alternative. Meanwhile, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting responded more cautiously, saying it would assess the possible impact of the change on Catholic-sponsored Scout units. Texas Governor Rick Perry has also expressed disappointment with the decision, saying BSA "has been built upon the values of faith and family for more than 100 years, and today's decision contradicts generations of tradition in the name of political correctness."

Rank-and-file LDS reaction is rather sparing, with discussion appearing on By Common Consent and the LDS Freedom Forum. Kathryn Skaggs expresses approval of the LDS Church's response. However, one person who identified as LDS posted the following on Stormfront:

I share Governor Perry's disappointment. It looks too much like the Scouts caved in to political correctness, which merely encourages more political correctness. If you think the gay rights lobby will stop here, you're sadly mistaken. The struggle will never be over for the American civil rights industry, because it provides too many jobs to too many activists. Like the Soviet Union during its existence, the civil rights industry maintains that what's theirs is theirs, and what's ours is always negotiable.

I'm also disappointed that the LDS leadership is breaking ranks with our Baptist and Assemblies of God brethren and sisters. However, this is where the test of faith comes into play. I intend to exercise faith that the LDS leadership is acting in accordance with the wishes of the Lord, not because they are inerrant, but because they have been ordained and set apart for their positions. Sustaining the brethren means allowing them room to exercise the Lord's will on behalf of the entire church and exercising faith that they are indeed enjoying the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Remember, Abraham had an even more severe test of faith -- he was asked to offer his son Isaac up as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed, and the decision actually turned out well for him and Isaac. We have enough anklebiters and naysayers in the Bloggernacle -- I don't intend to become another naysayer.

LDS Church Expresses Satisfaction With New Boy Scouts' Gay Proposal; Mixed Reaction Among Conservative Mormons

Update May 23rd: The Boy Scouts announced that they have voted to allow gay Scouts in the organization while continuing to disallow openly-gay adult leaders. The LDS Church has accepted this decision. Updated post HERE.

On April 20th, 2013, the Boy Scouts of America announced that the National Executive Committee will submit a proposed resolution to its approximately 1,400 voting members on May 20th that would remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone and would maintain the current membership policy for all adult leaders of BSA. The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting. The full text of the resolution is available HERE. At the time, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints merely said they would review the language and study the implications of the proposal.

On April 25th, the LDS Church delivered their answer. They expressed satisfaction at what they call a good-faith effort to address a complex, challenging issue, and said that the BSA proposal constructively addresses a number of important issues that have been part of the on-going dialogue including consistent standards for all BSA partners, recognition that Scouting exists to serve and benefit youth rather than Scout leaders, a single standard of moral purity for youth in the program, and a renewed emphasis for Scouts to honor their duty to God. This is a clear-cut indication that if the new BSA proposal is adopted as currently written, the LDS Church will not pull their Scouting units out of BSA.

Reaction: There was a mixed response from Mormons who are socially conservative. On LDS Freedom Forum, reaction is decidedly mixed. One person supports the Church's decision, saying that just because a boy may have experimented with homosexuality once or twice doesn't mean he should be typecast as "gay" the rest of his life, and adding that BSA is NOT planning on changing the Scout motto. But another person disagrees with the Church's response, and said he sent the following letter to lds.org:

"I agree completely with loving our fellow man and accepting the sinner while not the sin. As an adult I see the benefit of associating with different people. However, I cannot accept or support the church's position on Boy Scouting. Our youth are being taught values and standards that will have to carry them throughout their lives. This includes values of morality and sexuality. Our children are already being bombarded with the need to accept homosexuality in schools, with the television shows and movies they see, in news stories. Associations involved with the LDS Church should be a respite from these unwholesome influences. It is admirable to teach our children the need to accept all people with love and understanding in spite of their imperfections. It is another to say we support and endorse an organization which teaches these practices should be allowed. We teach our children to eschew evil, and yet send them into an organization that says evil is okay. Isn't the troubled turbulence of youth difficult enough without getting this mixed message?"

Dr. Stephen Jones, the former BYU professor who was gently kicked to the curb by the school for daring to deviate from the Official Authorized Version Of 9/11, is also skeptical about encouraging more perestroika towards gays, writing "A friend of mine deals with North Sanpete High School in Utah, and said that a big trend there now is for students to say that they are 'gay'. There seems to be a lot of support (and attention) given to those students who make this announcement". I knew it! The secondary purpose of placing these Gay-Straight Clubs in our schools is recruitment, and Dr. Jones has just provided the proof, although North Sanpete is not on this 2010 list of Utah high schools with GSA clubs.

However, another conservative LDS blogger, Kathryn Skaggs, is absolutely supportive of the Church's statement, characterizing it as "brilliant". While that may be a bit over the top, Skaggs points out that the statement is totally consistent with not only our current outreach to gay church members, but it also impresses her as the way the Savior Himself would have responded. Kathryn Skaggs' credentials as a faithful culture warrior are unimpeachable.

Those who are concerned about the possibility that the LDS Church may be wavering in their fundamental definition of sexual morality should take comfort from three different addresses delivered at the 183rd Annual General Conference which assure us that the Church remains firmly committed to defending traditional sexual behavior:

President Boyd K. Packer: During his address, he said “Tolerance is a virtue, but like all virtues, when exaggerated, it transforms itself into a vice. We need to be careful of the tolerance trap so that we are not swallowed up in it. The permissiveness afforded by the weakening of the laws of the land to tolerate legalized acts of immorality does not reduce the serious spiritual consequence that is the result of the violation of God’s law of chastity.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks: In his address, he said "Latter-day Saints understand that we should not be of the world or bound to the tradition of men, but like other followers of Christ, we sometimes find it difficult to separate ourselves from the world and its traditions. Some model themselves after worldly ways because, as Jesus said of some whom He taught, 'they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God' (John 12:43). These failures to follow Christ are too numerous and too sensitive to list here. They range all the way from worldly practices like political correctness and extremes in dress and grooming to deviations from basic values like the eternal nature and function of the family".

Elder David A. Bednar: In his address, Elder Bednar firmly reiterated the LDS Church's standard of sexual morality, saying "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a single, undeviating standard of sexual morality: intimate relations are proper only between a man and a woman in the marriage relationship prescribed in God’s plan. Such relations are not merely a curiosity to be explored, an appetite to be satisfied, or a type of recreation or entertainment to be pursued selfishly. They are not a conquest to be achieved or simply an act to be performed. Rather, they are in mortality one of the ultimate expressions of our divine nature and potential and a way of strengthening emotional and spiritual bonds between husband and wife. We are agents blessed with moral agency and are defined by our divine heritage as children of God—and not by sexual behaviors, contemporary attitudes, or secular philosophies".

Boy Scouts To Submit Proposal Accepting Openly-Gay Scouts But Rejecting Openly-Gay Adult Leaders; LDS Church To "Study" Proposal

When the Boy Scouts of America first announced its intent to re-visit their ban against openly-gay Scouts and adult leaders in January 2013, many suggested each Scout troop be allowed to craft its own policy. While commendable, it would result in a hodgepodge of confusion. One Scout troop which bans gays could be flanked by one that doesn't.

In order to minimize this confusion, the Boy Scouts have now crafted a proposal which will result in a uniform policy across the board but address the concerns of social conservatives who do not want openly-gay adult leaders involved in Scouting. On May 20th, the National Executive Committee will submit a proposed resolution to its approximately 1,400 voting members that would remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone and would maintain the current membership policy for all adult leaders of the Boy Scouts of America. The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting. Here's the specific language of the resolution, which, if adopted, would take effect on January 1st, 2014:

Youth membership in the Boy Scouts of America is open to all youth who meet the specific membership requirements to join the Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, Sea Scout, and Venturing programs. Membership in any program of the Boy Scouts of America requires the youth member to (a) subscribe to and abide by the values expressed in the Scout Oath and Scout Law, (b) subscribe to and abide by the precepts of the Declaration of Religious Principle (duty to God), and (c) demonstrate behavior that exemplifies the highest level of good conduct and respect for others and is consistent at all times with the values expressed in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.

There are about 2.7 million youth members of the Boy Scouts and about 1 million adult leaders. About 70 percent of units are chartered by faith-based organizations. Because 34 percent of Boy Scout troops nationwide are co-sponsored by the LDS Church as of October 2012 according to prominent LDS blogger Joanna Brooks, the reaction of the Church is of interest. More recent figures from BSA indicate that 37,000 troops and 420,000 youth members are sponsored by the LDS Church. In the Boy Scouts' Great Salt Lake Council — one of the largest in the country with 5,500 troops and 73,400 youth — 99 percent of the troops are sponsored by the LDS Church. LDS Church spokesman Michael Purdy issued a statement saying, "Church leaders will take the time needed to fully review the language and study the implications of this new proposal. We note that BSA will make a final decision on this matter at their National Annual Meeting next month."

Update April 27th: On April 25th, the LDS Church delivered their answer. They expressed satisfaction at what they call a good-faith effort to address a complex, challenging issue, and said that the BSA proposal constructively addresses a number of important issues that have been part of the on-going dialogue including consistent standards for all BSA partners, recognition that Scouting exists to serve and benefit youth rather than Scout leaders, a single standard of moral purity for youth in the program, and a renewed emphasis for Scouts to honor their duty to God.

A Southern Baptist Convention spokesman, Roger Oldham, said the SBC would prefer that the Boy Scouts maintain the ban on both gay youth and adults. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, also reacted unfavorably, saying "The policy is incoherent. The proposal says, in essence, that homosexuality is morally acceptable until a boy turns 18 – then, when he comes of age, he's removed from the Scouts." Perkins fears that the proposed change, if adopted, would subject the BSA to crippling lawsuits because it would no longer be able to argue that excluding gays was integral to its basic principles. The Family Research Council has been circulating an online petition urging the BSA to keep the ban. And in Utah, the Boy Scouts' Great Salt Lake Council – one of the largest in the country with 73,400 youth members – said a survey showed that more than 80 percent of its leaders opposed lifting the ban.

Prognosis: There's a good chance the LDS Church could accept the new policy and keep their Scouting units in BSA for the time being. While the LDS Church continues to support its traditional definitions of sexual morality and marriage, and continues to oppose homosexual behavior along with all other forms on sexual behavior outside of marriage, the Church has supported gay nondiscrimination ordinances, particularly in Salt Lake City. Thus they could look upon it as a discrimination issue rather than a morality issue, particularly in concert with continuing the ban against openly-gay adult leaders. Some of the leading gay rights organization have already said that as far as they're concerned, it is only a first step.

LDS Church Expresses Satisfaction At Boy Scout Decision To Defer Gay Question Until May 2013; Other Social Conservatives Marshaling Opposition

Update April 20th: The Boy Scouts of America will introduce a compromise proposal on May 20th that will allow openly-gay Scouts, but continue to ban openly-gay adult leaders. Updated post HERE.

On February 6th, 2013, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced that they intend to defer action on a resolution to allow local Scout units autonomy in admitting gays until May 2013. In their statement, BSA said that due to the complexity of the issue, they needed more time to further engage representatives of Scouting's membership and listen to their perspectives and concerns. The decision is already attracting some criticism from some pro-family groups, though; officials with the Southern Baptist Convention have said their youth group, Royal Ambassadors, was gearing up this week for an influx of new members if the ban was lifted. Others expressed the concern about having a split policy, with the Rev. William Tarbell, a retired Presbyterian minister, saying “What happens in one troop affects Scouting everywhere. You change the policy for a few, you change it for everyone.” Another person is worried that if the ban is lifted, local troops that choose to exclude gays will get sued by "lawyers lying in wait with the gay agenda". In addition, the American Family Association has launched a campaign to get AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson to resign from the BSA board because he's been leading the charge to get BSA to accept openly-gay participants; Stephenson even cut AT&T funding to the BSA, which would seem to be a direct personal conflict of interest for Stephenson. On the other hand, President Barack Obama is the most prominent advocate urging BSA to end the ban on gays.

Also believed to be instrumental in the decision to delay a final resolution was an effort by the Great Salt Lake Council, one of the largest in the country with 5,500 troops and 73,400 youth members, to organize a coalition of 33 Scout councils from all around the country to urge the national executive board to delay the decision, indicating in a statement that time must be allowed for accurate polling data to be collected from stakeholders at all levels and all areas in an unbiased way. Although the Great Salt Lake Council is independent of the LDS Church, its location implies strong LDS influence.

As promised, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has weighed in, issuing the following statement:

The recent announcement that BSA planned to make a policy change in its standards for membership and leadership has triggered intense debate from many segments of society. We believe BSA has acted wisely in delaying a vote on this policy issue until the implications can be more carefully evaluated.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is carefully assessing the consequences of this policy change on the Church’s program to build and strengthen young men, but it has not commented on it and a decision will not be made until we have assessed all of the implications. We caution others not to speculate about our position or to assume that individual Latter-day Saints inside or outside the Scouting movement speak for the Church. Neither has the Church launched any campaign either to effect or prevent a policy change.

This statement should not be interpreted as an indication that the LDS Church is wavering on its fundamental position on homosexuality. Last week, the LDS Church joined with other religious organizations in filing two briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court defending the federal Defense of Marriage law commonly known as DOMA and a California state law, Proposition 8, which restricts the definition of marriage. Thus the LDS Church is simply smart enough to choose the most productive battlefields upon which to campaign for traditional cultural values.

There is some division within LDS ranks on the issue. The Millennial Star published the BSA statement, and comments to Mormon-owned secular media like KSL Channel 5 and the Deseret News indicate support for the LDS position. The issue is also being discussed on the LDS Freedom Forum HERE and HERE. But while the majority of Mormons support maintaining the ban against openly-gay participants in Scouting, a group called Mormons Building Bridges, which orchestrated LDS participation in Salt Lake's Gay Pride parade in 2012, is working to convince BSA to end their ban on gays in scouting (one must be a Facebook member to view their Facebook page).

Because the BSA proposal would allow each local Scout unit to decide on gay participation, I see no reason why the LDS Church, which nationally has more Boy Scouts than any other denomination with 37,000 troops and 420,000 youth members, would abruptly sever ties with BSA if they decide to allow it. The LDS Church permits full membership by celibate gays, so the conflict would be minimal. However, individual LDS members, concerned that this is merely another step in the campaign by gay rights advocates to normalize homosexuality, could decide to pull their boys individually from Scouting.

Boy Scouts Of America Weighs Ending Nationwide Ban Against Openly-Gay Participants; How Will The LDS Church React?

Update May 23rd: The Boy Scouts announced that they have voted to allow gay Scouts in the organization while continuing to disallow openly-gay adult leaders. The LDS Church has accepted this decision. Updated post HERE.

Update April 20th: The Boy Scouts of America will introduce a compromise proposal on May 20th that will allow openly-gay Scouts, but continue to ban openly-gay adult leaders. Updated post HERE.

On January 28th, 2013, numerous sources are reporting that the Boy Scouts of America organization is considering ending the nationwide ban against participation by openly-gay boys and adult leaders, despite the fact that the litany of past sexual abuse of scouts involved male homosexual leaders with male Scouts. Although there is a clinical difference between homosexuality and pedophilia, the line between the two became quite blurred as a result of these scandals.

The best story, including public reaction, was published by The Blaze, although there are 2100 comments appended to NBC's story. However, because it is a controversial issue, BSA is considering merely removing the national ban and allowing local scouting groups to decide for themselves whether they will admit gay youths and leaders rather than imposing mandatory permission of homosexual participation from the top down by the national organization. Deron Smith, a media representative for the Boy Scouts, said “The chartered organizations that oversee and deliver scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with their organization’s mission, principles or religious beliefs. BSA members and parents would be able to choose a local unit that best meets the needs of their families. Under this proposed policy, the BSA would not require any chartered organization to act in ways inconsistent with that organization's mission, principles, or religious beliefs.". This issue could be resolved soon; the discussion is nearing its final stages, and if approved, the change could be announced as early as the first full week in February, after the BSA's national board holds a regularly scheduled meeting. Update February 6th: BSA decides to defer decision until May 2013.

But one of the reasons for the change is economic. Some organizations have waged economic warfare against BSA to pressure them to change. More recently, amid petition campaigns, shipping giant UPS and drug manufacturer Merck announced that they were halting donations from their charitable foundations to the Boy Scouts as long as the no-gays policy was in force.

Naturally, this leads to questions on how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would react, not only because BSA is the official youth program for boys, but, according to prominent LDS blogger Joanna Brooks, 34 percent of Boy Scout troops nationwide are co-sponsored by the LDS Church as of October 2012. The Salt Lake Tribune is currently reporting that the Church has 420,977 youths in 37,882 Scouting units. This means that if the LDS Church objected to the change, and decided to disaffiliate all their troops from BSA, it could inflict a mortal blow upon BSA. KSL Channel 5 reports that BSA conferred with Mormon leaders, as well as Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist sponsors of Boy Scout troops who also prefer to exclude openly-gay participants, before making this new announcement, but none of them have officially reacted, although the Tribune reports that the LDS Church will make no official statement until the decision is announced after next week’s BSA national board meeting.

But considering that BSA says they have already talked to LDS leaders and BSA is still considering going ahead with the change, this implies that the LDS Church can live with the change and won't object. Consequently, I don't foresee the LDS Church disaffiliating all their Boy Scout troops, since they will retain the freedom to exclude openly-gay participants. Nevertheless, it is disturbing that BSA is caving into public pressure and weakening their standards, considering that there is an alternative organization called Scouting For All that caters to openly-gay participants. Even more disturbing is the seeming obsession that gay rights lobbies have with our youth; they seem fixated on getting youth who are unsure about their sexuality to admit they're gay, come out of the closet and publicly proclaim their homosexuality as the only acceptable choice. First, they inundated our high school and middle school campuses with Gay-Straight Clubs, and now they want a foothold in the Boy Scouts. The gay rights lobbies would have more credibility if they would focus on adults and leave the youth to their parents.

Unofficial LDS Reaction: Discussion has already broken out on Mormon Dialogue and LDS Freedom Forum, where reaction is mixed. KSL Channel 5 also records several comments reflecting Mormon reaction (after the jump):

Although 34 Percent Of Boy Scouts Nationwide Are Mormon, Only Two Percent Of Boy Scout Sexual Abuse Cases Are Connected To Mormons

By now, most readers know that the media has released the contents of numerous files documenting sexual abuse within the Boy Scouts. The primary media source is the Los Angeles Times, which obtained two decades of files, submitted as evidence in a court case, as well as case summaries from an additional 3,100 files opened between 1947 and 2005. Both were provided by Seattle attorney Timothy Kosnoff, a serial litigator who has sued the Boy Scouts more than 100 times. The dossiers, which included biographical data, legal records, Scouting correspondence, boys' accounts of alleged abuse and media reports, represent all surviving files kept by the Scouts as of January 2005.

The Los Angeles Times account also includes a searchable database and a location map. In the Search box beneath the lower left hand corner of the LA Times map, you can type in a city or a state, and all the entries for the requested location will be displayed beneath. KTVX Channel 4 identified three people who were LDS members at the time they offended; Eric Hacking from Orem, Leroy Harvey Richins from Provo, and Gerald Burgie of Ogden, and in a separate story, reported that Burgie is currently in a Texas prison serving a sentence for child porn. I also discovered a fourth offender who was a Mormon; Kenneth Rarick, who was in Fairbanks, AK in 1982. In response to a KTVX query, LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said, "....the Church has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind and is extremely proactive in its efforts to prevent it and help victims when it does occur."

It is because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses Scouting as the primary youth program for boys that attention has been directed toward the Church as well. So LDS blogger Joanna Brooks decided to research the issue to find out if LDS Boy Scout troops had been more or less susceptible to sexual abuse than other troops. And on October 19th, 2012, she published her findings in Religion Dispatches:

Today, a whopping 34 percent of Boy Scout troops nationwide are co-sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But sources who have scrutinized the BSA’s so-called “perversion files” report that fewer than 2 percent of the cases documented therein are connected with Mormons. It is believed that LDS Church may have handled child abuse cases internally rather than reporting them to BSA officials.

Of course, it is also possible that some cases were never reported at all, but merely swept under the rug. Sexual abuse of youth did not receive the public scrutiny 10-20-30 years ago that it gets today. In 1995, the Mormon Alliance published its own findings, which are available through this portal. Nevertheless, Brooks' analysis still shows that LDS Boy Scout troops had disproportionately fewer incidences of sexual abuse than other troops. And while Brooks is a faithful member of the Church, she hardly has a reputation for being a shill or apologist, so her conclusions can be trusted.

LDS Scoutmasters have a greater incentive than most to control their behavior. In addition to facing criminal justice, LDS Scoutmasters who sexually abuse their charges also face Church discipline -- which in this case, most often means excommunication. Then, after they return, their records are annotated for the rest of their lives, so that they are not placed in positions of unsupervised contact with youths.