Majority of Utah Mormons Want to Drop Relationship with Boy Scouts

By Gary Nguyen --
20 Aug 2015 --

By David Fine (This image is from the FEMA Photo Library.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Several suggest that the church would be better off if it creates a separate yet similar program for the young Mormons.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is at risk of losing one of its largest troop organizers. This is the result of a recent survey of 500 Utah adults conducted by Dan Jones & Associates commissioned by Utah Policy. The survey involved questioning Utah residents, especially those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), whether Mormons should stay or leave the national Boy Scout organization.

Source: Utah Policy

63 percent of those who claimed to be very active in the LDS church suggested that they want their leaders to cut the church’s relationship with the Boy Scouts of America. 23 percent wanted the members to stay and 13 percent is neutral on the issue.

Based on 2013 statistics, 18 percent of the Boy Scout’s 2.4 million members belong to the LDS church. The church’s sponsorship in the organization is even bigger at 37 percent. This is not surprising since the church actively encourages its young boys to join the organization. Mormon boys take pride for their achievements within the organization and everyone wants to become an Eagle Scout.

The church’s relationship and faithfulness with the organization is now at risk after the national Boy Scouts board recently allowed gay members to become scout leaders. The LDS church is not really that strict when it comes to gay scout leaders, just as long as they are a practicing member of the church and are deemed living on the faith’s standards which includes chastity or sexual abstinence. Several groups, particularly Mormons are concerned about BSA’s move to accept gay scout leaders without much distinction on their existing relationships and sexual preferences or activities.

As a result, the LDS church leaders have been constantly on the table trying to decide whether it would decide to stay or break away from the BSA. Several suggest that the church would be better off if it will create a separate and similar program for the young Mormons.

Survey respondents from other religions also shared their views. 47-42 percent of those who belong to the Catholic Church say the Mormons should stay with the BSA. The majority of Protestants on the other hand want them to break away. Unaffiliated respondents think they should stay at 46-32 percent.