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A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 9 May 2018

Mormons severing all ties with Boy Scouts, ending long bond

By BRADY McCOMBS
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The
Mormon church said Tues-
day it will sever all ties with
the Boy Scouts of America
at the end of next year and
place its remaining 425,000
boys into a gospel-focused
youth program it is devel-
oping. The move ends a
nearly century-old relation-
ship that was based on
their shared values.
The announcement by The
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and Boy
Scouts didn’t come as a
complete surprise after the
religion last year removed
185,000 boys between the
ages of 14 and 18, signal-
ing that an end to the long-
time alliance was near.
Joining the Boy Scouts
is practically automatic
among Mormon boys, and
the religion has long been
the biggest sponsor of Boy
Scout troops in the United
States. The Mormon boys
who will be leaving repre- In this July 22, 2013, file photo, Andrew Garrison, 11, of Salt Lake City, looks over the Rockwell exhibition at the Mormon Church
sent about 18.5 percent of History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah.
the 2.3 million youth in the Associated Press
organization. The Mormon faiths, the Mormon church a statement the new pro- focus on church-related in the first phase of the new
church said in a statement opposes gay marriage and gram that will start in 2020 activities and community policy, and the pace is ex-
that the move is about teaches that being in a ho- will “help all girls and boys, service. More than half pected to intensify this sum-
creating its own youth pro- mosexual relationship is a young women and young of the church’s 16 million mer under a nationwide
gram that it can use for its sin. The church initially said men discover their eternal members live outside the multimedia recruitment
increasingly global mem- it was “deeply troubled” identity, build character U.S. and Canada. campaign titled “Scout
bership, but the two orga- by the Boy Scouts’ policy and resilience, develop life The Boy Scouts of America Me In.” The Boy Scout
nizations’ values clearly change on gays but stayed skills and fulfill their divine in a statement thanked the movement had been en-
have been diverging in re- with the organization af- roles as daughters and sons thousands of Mormons who trenched in Mormon cul-
cent years. The Boy Scouts ter receiving assurances it of God.” The still to be de- have served as scout lead- ture for as long as anyone
decided in 2015 to allow could appoint troop lead- veloped program that will ers and wished the religion can remember.
gay troop leaders and an- ers according to its own re- likely include outdoor activ- well on its new program. The In 2013, the church put on
nounced last year it would ligious and moral values. ities and character building organization said individual an extravagant theatrical
allow girls in its ranks. The The religion has also tra- similar to Boy Scouts, but it Mormons who wish to stay production inside its 21,000-
Boy Scouts last week said ditionally used separate won’t be modeled after in Boy Scouts would be in- seat auditorium in Salt Lake
it will change its name next youth programs for boys Boy Scouts or use ranks. The tegrated into other troops. City to commemorate the
year to Scouts BSA. and girls. 14-to-18-year-old boys that The Boy Scouts’ move to 100th anniversary of its alli-
Like other conservative The Mormon church said in left the Boy Scouts already allow girls, announced last ance with the Boy Scouts.
October, marked the or- A Boy Scout training com-
ganization’s latest momen- plex in West Virginia is
tous policy shift. named after former Mor-
The organization already mon church President
has started allowing girls Thomas S. Monson, a long-
into the Cub Scouts. So time member of the Boy
far, nearly 4,000 girls have Scouts’ executive board
/arubatoday/ joined roughly 170 Cub and a major supporter who

Scout packs participating died earlier this year.q