Court Allows Defense Dept. to Sponsor VA Jamboree Despite Scouts’ “Duty to God”

FPN — The leader of a national pro-family group is praising a federal court decision against attempts to stop the Defense Department from sponsoring the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. The ACLU had fought a multi-year battle to bar the Defense Department from hosting the event on government property, simply because Boy Scouts are required to swear a “duty to God.”

Virginia-based Family Policy Network President Joe Glover reacted to the ruling by saying, “Despite decades of hard work by the ACLU, the American people and Scouts in particular continue to believe in God.” He added, “It must pain the ACLU’s lawyers to know that tens of thousands of Scouts and their families are thanking God that the Federal courts don’t agree with their desire to remove God from every facet of American life.”

The ACLU originally filed suit against the Department of Defense for supporting the Jamboree in 1999. In 2005, a district court judge in Chicago sided with the ACLU by claiming the Defense Department’s support for the Jamboree was unconstitutional because the Scouts’ “duty to God” pledge constituted an “establishment” of religion. The Seventh Circuit court overturned the district court’s decision on April 4, 2007.

The American Legion is one of the nation’s largest sponsors of scouting units across the country. According to a news release from the group, seven Presidents have attended the Jamboree since President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. The Jamboree grounds at Fort A.P. Hill are open to the public and an estimated 300,000 visitors attended in 2005 along with 43,000 Scouts and their leaders. The U.S. Congress called it an incomparable training opportunity for our armed forces; it requires the construction, maintenance, and disassembly of a “tent city” capable of supporting tens of thousands of people for a week or longer.

The next Scouting Jamboree is slated to take place at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia in the year 2010, marking the year of the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.