Pentagon Told Hands Off Boy Scouts

Pentagon Barred From Funding Boy Scouts

from United Press International

Chicago - The Pentagon has been barred from contributing funds to a summer Boy Scout function because of the religious aspect of the Boy Scouts of America.

U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning apparently accepted arguments from the American Civil Liberties Union and two Chicago-area religious leaders that the Boy Scouts shouldn't receive the funding because public funds should not be given to groups that exclude people who do not swear an oath to God, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday.

The plaintiffs claimed no other youth organizations could compete for the same monies.

The Boy Scouts countered that the group is not controlled by an organized religion and that participation in religious aspects of the Jamboree is voluntary.