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Tuesday, November 5, 2002
Atheist says he's been kicked out of Boy Scouts
Lambert may appeal ouster over refusal to declare belief in a higher power
An Eagle Scout who has earned 37 merit badges in a decade with the Boy Scouts said yesterday he has been kicked out of the organization for refusing to declare a belief in a higher power.
Darrell Lambert said he had just been informed of the decision by the Chief Seattle Council, the Scouts' regional governing body.
"They kicked me out today," he said. "They said my registration will be sent back to me.
"Am I bitter? No. Disappointed? Yeah. We're in the 21st century. Our country was founded on religious freedom, and the Boy Scouts of America are still discriminating."
He said he planned to appeal the decision within the Scouts and had 60 days to do so.
The issue arose about a month ago, after Lambert attended a Boy Scout leadership training seminar.
There, he argued with a Scout leader of a different troop over whether atheists should be expelled.
The council said last week that it would give him about a week to declare his belief in a higher power.
Lambert refused, saying that to lie would make him a bad Scout.
The Houston-based Boy Scouts of America did not return calls seeking a comment yesterday.
As a private organization, the Boy Scouts is permitted to exclude certain people from membership. The association's ban on gay leaders was reaffirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000.
On membership applications, Boy Scouts and adult leaders must say they recognize a higher power -- whether it be through organized religion or an unstructured faith.
References to God are also included in the Scouts' oath and Scout law.
Lambert, 19, of Port Orchard said he has been an atheist since ninth grade, when he concluded that science had disproved the accounts of creation given in the Bible. Previously, he said, he had been agnostic.
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