Your article is from 2014. 10 years ago all of your other checks were NO as well. I can’t find anything recently about atheists with a quick search, just old stuff like that.
It’s still a core part of their membership:
Scout Oath “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”
More:
https://dutytogodbsa.org/portfolio/what-does-duty-to-god-mean/
it is, BUT, if you read between the lines of the requirements, there’s plenty of room for pragmatic atheists (in pragmatic packs/troops). It’s not perfect, but overall Scouting has absolutely embraced inclusiveness.
Not when you’re interviewing for your Eagle they haven’t. Describing how you serve your higher power is still a question at the final interview before receiving it. Either you lie as an atheist, or you tell the truth and don’t get your Eagle. So either violate what it’s supposed to mean to be a scout (integrity and honesty) or you throw away what you’ve worked so hard for for years.
And that’s ignoring the fact that many troops are hosted via churches, especially in southern areas.
I wish there didn’t have to be any reading between the lines. They’re sooo close…
if you read between the lines
A big part of Scouting, at the organizational level, is fund raising. Without funds, you can’t afford the uniforms or the events or any of the things that make Boy Scouts a social group.
Historically, the Mormon Church has been a major contributor and facilitator of Boy Scout troops, particularly through the American Midwest and Southwest. Catholics and Methodists are other large scale feeders for the organization. Yes, you can read between the lines. But show up with your “pragmatic atheist” merit badge, and you’re not going to be particularly well received by other troops who came up through religious organizations.
Jews and Muslims haven’t have it particularly easy integrating with the Boy Scouts, either.
If they haven’t made a public statement that they’ve stopped excluding atheists, why should anyone assume they’ve changed their policies?
