Pat Robertson: 'Pray Boy Scouts Make the Right Decision'
Televangelist Pat Robertson recently spoke out against the possible plans to lift the gay ban in the Boy Scouts, saying on his show, "The 700 Club," that he believes the youth organization, as a private institution, should be allowed to decide who may join its rankings and who may not.
"This isn't a public organization that the state needs to get involved in … The Boy Scouts should be free to do what they want to do, and the board should feel free to do what it wants to do, and that's just the way it is," Robertson said on a Tuesday airing of "The 700 Club," the flagship program of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
"This organization has done so much for so many young men," Robertson continued, speaking of the century-old youth organization.
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"The question is, are there predators as Boy Scouts? Pedophiles that would come in as Scout masters? If they are, then of course parents wouldn't want their sons being involved in the Boy Scouts or their daughters being involved in the Girl Scouts," Robertson added.
"Our prayers are with [the Boy Scouts national board] that they will do what they feel is right for them, not what the political (sic) correct crowd thinks is right for them," Robertson concluded.
Last week, the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would begin considering whether to change its original policy, which forbids openly gay members and leaders, to allow individual troops to decide whether to allow gay membership.
After a three-day meeting at the Boy Scouts national headquarters in Irving, Texas, the Boy Scouts of America's board of directors announced on Wednesday its plans to postpone the vote regarding the lift of the gay ban until May, so that both those opposing and supporting the ban may have time to discuss the issue.
"After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America's National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy," the youth organization said in a statement.
Groups from both sides of the aisle have publicly professed either their support or opposition for the ban, with some arguing that the youth organization is caving to national pressure by lifting the ban, and others arguing that the institution will be considered discriminatory against gay people should it keep the ban.
Pro-family organization the Family Research Council, joined 41 allied organizations on Monday to urge the Boy Scouts to keep the ban and "not surrender to financial or political pressures by corporate elites on the issue of homosexuality."
In contrast, several current and former Boy Scout leaders rallied near the organization's headquarters in Texas, claiming to hold a petition that carried 1.4 million signatures opposing the current gay ban, as CBS News reports.
Additionally, U.S. President Barack Obama also opposes the ban.
The ultimate vote regarding the Boy Scouts' gay ban will occur in May 2013 at the Boy Scouts National Annual meeting.
