Opinion

Scouts & the public square

The Boy Scouts’ decision to change their position on gay scouts may — or may not — buy them some peace with those who have been working overtime to drive them off the public square.

But what will be the fate of those institutions that play equally vital roles in the civic life of our cities and communities but cannot change their practices because of what they believe to be religious law?

Judging from the Scouts’ experience, the signs are not hopeful.

Back in 2000, the Supreme Court, without taking a view on the Scouts’ position on homosexuality, found the Scouts entitled to their own beliefs and to have them reflected in their hiring.

In practice it was a Pyrrhic victory. For the Scouts faced an unrelenting campaign against them. They were dropped by United Way chapters. They had their tax-exempt status threatened. And from San Diego to Philadelphia, city authorities tried to rewrite the terms of the Scouts’ arrangements with city parks, schools and the like.

The Scouts were not alone. In Illinois, Catholic Charities has been forced out of the adoption business because it will not place babies with same-sex couples. Here in New York, Salvation Army soup kitchens were put in jeopardy when the City Council City Council passed an ordinance requiring all organizations with city contracts to offer benefits to the partners of gay employees. And so on.

In short, the Scouts are only the first act of a highly charged clash. We’d like to hope that, left to their own devices, Americans can find ways to disagree — and disagree sharply — without threats to vanquish important social institutions from our public life.