ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010069
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: EDITORIAL EDITION: METRO
EVEN AN institution as patriotic and true-blue as the Boy Scouts can't avoid running into that wall of hypocrisy that separates the ideal of America - "one nation, under God," no matter what a person's race or religion - from reality.
A Cub Scout leader in Kalamazoo, Mich., has been rejected for a cub master's post because he is Muslim. And, apparently, only because he is Muslim.
Umar Abdul-Mutakallim served almost three years as a leader in the cub organization sponsored by Haven Reformed Church, which is Christian. In February, he was asked by the outgoing cub master to fill the post he was vacating. The church council rejected Abdul-Mutakallim's appointment in August, and got around to telling him in October.
As the sponsoring organization, the church is within its rights, Boy Scouts of America officials say. That doesn't mean it is right.
It is a relief, actually, that the rejected cub master has no plans to make a federal case of the church council's action. He will not sue, he said - and it's doubtful he would win if he wanted to. Sponsoring groups are free to apply religious tests in choosing scout leaders.
But, given Abdul-Mutakallim's apparent success as a leader, and given scouting philosophy - which embraces a belief in God without endorsing any particular faith - it is disheartening that religious prejudice should divide good-hearted people within an organization dedicated to building commendable citizenship and community commitment.
Abdul-Mutakallim and his stepson quit the troop. Some of the other parents withdrew their sons, too, and say they want to form a new troop with the Muslim as its leader. Christian, Muslim, Jew: All want their children to develop bonds of fellowship without regard to religious beliefs.
Preserving a sense of citizenship in one nation of diverse people will grow more difficult as the nation grows more diverse - as the experience of one cub master in the Midwest illustrates. Yet the sense of common citizenship lies at the heart of our nation. Building it is a challenge for us all.
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