Augusta, Boy Scouts, and Free Association

elSicomoro · 03-04-2003, 09:57 PM

I agree with the Supreme Court. Augusta and the Boy Scouts are what I would consider "social clubs." They are private groups that are non-essential to a person's well-being. Therefore, they have the right to admit whomever they choose...and if you don't fit the mold, sorry. Form your own club then. And I think this is beneficial to all in the end...I would say the NAACP formed due to such (a) situation(s).

And I would say that the means are just as valid if tangential. If I want to start a beer drinking group that only allows guys over age 27 with goattees to participate, then that's my prerogative. As I see it, we form relationships with people with whom we share interests. Over time, in order to protect those relationships, we may attempt to make it more exclusive...by creating rules that make it hard for any outsider to get in. This example could (sorta) be applied to marriage.

(For the record, I think the Scouts and Augusta are smoking crack. The Scouts in particular disgust me. I spent 14 years in that organization, and it's become a laughing stock.)

View Poll Results: Does the ethical right to free association necessarily include free exclusion
Yes, to associate you must exclude	10	55.56%
No, you may associate without excluding	2	11.11%
2 medium cheese pizzas, a pepsi, and some cookies	3	16.67%
Undecided	0	0%
I'm a post-modernist, therefore your language games hold no reference to reality, and all answers are equally meaningless	3	16.67%
Free thinking is bad. very bad. we must all do what the voices in our head whisper. they are good. they are very good.	4	22.22%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 18. You may not vote on this poll

03-04-2003, 09:57 PM	#2
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	I agree with the Supreme Court. Augusta and the Boy Scouts are what I would consider "social clubs." They are private groups that are non-essential to a person's well-being. Therefore, they have the right to admit whomever they choose...and if you don't fit the mold, sorry. Form your own club then. And I think this is beneficial to all in the end...I would say the NAACP formed due to such (a) situation(s). And I would say that the means are just as valid if tangential. If I want to start a beer drinking group that only allows guys over age 27 with goattees to participate, then that's my prerogative. As I see it, we form relationships with people with whom we share interests. Over time, in order to protect those relationships, we may attempt to make it more exclusive...by creating rules that make it hard for any outsider to get in. This example could (sorta) be applied to marriage. (For the record, I think the Scouts and Augusta are smoking crack. The Scouts in particular disgust me. I spent 14 years in that organization, and it's become a laughing stock.)

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