James Dale, an Eagle Scout and Assistant Scout Master had been expelled by the Boy Scouts of America because of his sexual orientation. He brought a discrimination suit against the Scouts.
Judge Patrick J. McGann, Jr, a judge of the Monmouth County Superior Court rejected the suit on the basis that (in his opinion) homosexuality is immoral. Two uninformed comments were:
In reality, all religions do not consider homosexuality immoral. In the United States, the Unitarian-Universalist Association, the United Church of Christ, various Neo-Pagan groups, and Reform Judaism have accepted homosexuality and bisexuality as a normal, healthy sexual orientation for a minority of adults. The United Church of Canada has taken this same position. Other religious organizations in North America are gradually changing their policies in this direction. See our page on policies of religious groups towards homosexuality.
A number of Biblical passages, such as Genesis 19, deal with the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their destruction by God was related to the city's abusive treatment of strangers, not to their sexual depravity. Even if one interprets their annihilation as being related to human sexuality, it would be homosexual rape that God objected to, not a consentual homosexual relationship such as Eagle Scout Dale was presumably involved in. For clarification, see our page on the Bible and Homosexuality.
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