Take Them Into The Woods: On Boy Scouts and Atheism

    I am pleased that the Boy Scouts are reconsidering their stance on banning gay members, as it is 2013, and that is a horrible policy. Gay children should learn how to make fires and play in the woods and perform good deeds in their communities just as much as straight kids do. That's all there is to it, in my eyes.

     In the wake of this development, I now see people speaking out against the Boy Scouts' policy banning atheist members. It is a similar kind of discrimination, so I understand the connection. Children who are raised atheist have about as much choice in the matter as children who are born gay.

     To me, though, the atheist ban makes perhaps even less sense than the ban on gays. You are not going to change a gay child by teaching him in the Boy Scouts, nor should you be trying to. I don't particularly agree with trying to indoctrinate or change atheist children, either. However, as someone who believes in essentially nothing outside of what I can observe, I can assure you that the best chance you have of convincing someone like me that God might exist, is to take them into nature and let them look around a little.

Now who might be up to that task?

Here's How You End the Debate About Whether Employers' Healthcare Should Cover Birth Control

Facts:

1. The reason most often cited by employers regarding the pay gap between men and women is that women take more sick days, which, on average, is marginally true.

2. The reason most often cited by women when they take sick days is menstrual symptoms.

3. The most common treatment for women with severe menstrual symptoms is hormonal birth control i.e. the pill, nuvaring, etc.


Any questions?