Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 12 May 2017
Mormon church severs some of its ties to the Boy Scouts

By BRADY McCOMBS mon church for more than when the younger boys admitting girls, but that its Thursday’s announcement
Associated Press a century because of their will be withdrawn from the decision was made inde- represents a first step to-
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The shared values. Joining the Boy Scouts.Like other con- pendently of that. ward something that has
Mormon church, the big- Boy Scouts is practically au- servative faiths, the Mor- Matthew Bowman, a Mor- been in the works for years:
gest sponsor of Boy Scout tomatic among Mormon mon church opposes gay mon scholar and history a Mormon-run scouting-
troops in the United States, boys. marriage and teaches professor at Henderson type program that could
announced Thursday it is be used in congrega-
pulling as many as 185,000 tions around the world.
older youths from the orga- The church has 15.8 million
nization as part of an effort members, nearly 6 in 10 of
to start its own scouting-like them outside the U.S. and
program. Canada. Scouting is avail-
The Church of Jesus Christ able only in the U.S. and
of Latter-day Saints said Canada.
the move wasn’t triggered “The long game here is the
by the Boy Scouts’ decision church looking forward to
in 2015 to allow gay troop a time when Americans are
leaders, since Mormon- even more of a minority in
sponsored troops have the church than they are
remained free to exclude now,” Bowman said.
such adults on religious Mormon teenagers who
grounds. want to continue working
But at least one leading toward the Eagle Scout
Mormon scholar said that rank will be able to do that
the Boy Scouts and the on their own while also par-
church have been diverg- ticipating in the new pro-
ing on values in recent gram, said church spokes-
years and that the policy man Eric Hawkins.
on gays was probably a The Boy Scout movement
contributing factor in the has been entrenched in
split. An 11-year-old boy looks over a Boy Scout-themed Norman Rockwell exhibition at the Church Mormon culture for as long
History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Mormon church, the largest sponsor of Boy Scouts
Saying it wants a new, sim- troops in the United States, announced Thursday, May 11, 2017, it is pulling older teenagers from as anyone can remember.
plified program of its own the organization as the religion takes a step toward developing its own global scouting-like In 2013, the church put on
that is more closely tailored program. an extravagant theatrical
to Mormon teenagers, the (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) production inside its 21,000-
church announced that seat auditorium in Salt Lake
boys ages 14 to 18 will no Boy Scouts of America that being in a homosexu- State University, said the City to commemorate the
longer participate in the spokeswoman Effie Deli- al relationship is a sin. The schism reflects the two 100th anniversary of the
Boy Scouts starting next markos said the organiza- church initially said it was organizations’ diverging faith’s alliance with the Boy
year. The church said the tion is saddened by the de- “deeply troubled” by the values, with gays and girls Scouts.
decision will affect 185,000 cision but understands the Boy Scouts’ policy change among the issues on which A Boy Scout training com-
teens; the Boy Scouts put church’s desire to custom- on gays but stayed with the they are moving apart. plex in West Virginia is
the number at 130,000. ize a program. organization after receiving “The church is wedded named after Mormon
The loss is only a fraction of About 280,000 Mormon assurances it could appoint very much to traditional church President Thomas
the 2.3 million youths in the boys ages 8 to 13 will re- troop leaders according to gender roles and they see S. Monson, a longtime
Boy Scouts of America, but main in the Scouts while the its own religious and moral the Boy Scouts of America member of the Boy Scouts’
the organization has been church develops its pro- values. increasingly move away executive board and a
grappling with declining gram, the Mormons said. In Thursday’s announce- from that,” Bowman said. major supporter. Charles
membership for years and The Boy Scouts estimated ment, the church said that “That means that they Dahlquist II, a Mormon,
has enjoyed an unusually their number at 330,000. it learned recently that the have come to see it as less holds the top volunteer po-
close bond with the Mor- The church did not say Boy Scouts are considering of a hospitable place.” sition with the Boy Scouts.q
Removal of Confederate icons stirs nuanced, varied reactions

By KEVIN McGILL statue from the busy New “It’s history. You can’t Opinions among New Or- Landrieu, the first white
GERALD HERBERT Orleans street that still bears change history. The Holo- leans residents vary and are mayor of mostly black New
Associated Press the name Jefferson Davis caust happened. They built nuanced when it comes to Orleans since his father
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Parkway. Police on horse- a China wall,” she said. Landrieu’s move but the Moon held the job in the
statue of the Confedera- back stood sentry nearby, “You can’t destroy history.” mayor has remained insis- 1970s, called for removal of
cy’s president had been in the event of demonstra- Troy Banks, a 53-year-old tent — even amid blistering the monuments amid the
hoisted from its stone ped- tions. black man who shared a criticism from some allies lingering emotional after-
estal in the pre-dawn hours Patterson, who is white, bench with her was equally — since he first pushed for math of the 2015 massacre
and the blue glint of po- has taken part in anti-rac- dubious and critical of pro- the monument’s removal in of nine black parishioners
lice lights was still visible ism demonstrations and testers on both sides of the 2015. at a South Carolina church.
two blocks away outside doesn’t share the rever- issue. “Today we continue the The killer, Dylann Roof, was
the corner laundromat ence some white Southern- He hopes Landrieu makes mission,” Landrieu said in an avowed racist who
where Carol Patterson sat ers hold for Confederate good on a pledge to en- a statement on the Davis brandished Confederate
as diverted rush-hour traffic figures. sure that the monuments statue. “These monuments battle flags in photos. The
rolled by. But she thinks Mayor Mitch wind up in a museum or have stood not as historical slayings re-charged the
“It’s entertaining,” Patter- Landrieu’s initiative to re- some other place where or educational markers of debate over whether Con-
son, 74, said of the hubbub move four monuments to they can be viewed in a his- our legacy and segrega- federate emblems repre-
surrounding the Thursday Confederate-era figures torical context. “That would tion, but in celebration of sent racism or an honor-
morning removal of the was a mistake. be beautiful,” he said. it.” able heritage.q