Word: cub
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Already the contretemps are causing some groups to rethink their relationship with scouting. In Hinsdale, Ill., where Mark Welsh, 8, was barred from Cub Scouts because he is an agnostic, the local school system has temporarily halted the distribution of recruitment flyers. In Miami, where Margo Mankes, 8, was expelled by the regional council of Cub Scouts because she is a girl, her home troop has kept her on as an unofficial member...
Numerically the organization is in little immediate danger. After a dip in the '70s, membership surged during the Reagan era. Today 4.3 million young people belong to Cub Scouts and its precursor Tigers (for boys 6 to 10), Boy Scouts (boys 11 to 17) and Explorers (both sexes, 14 to 20). The two younger groups must swear loyalty to God and country. Explorers take no oath, and thus the 1.2 million-member branch has largely kept clear of courtroom battles but has weakened scouting's claim that religious faith is central to its mission...
...even clearer affirmation of the group's appeal is that its court adversaries want to join in, not shut it down. Mark Welsh persisted in suing despite his father Elliott's cautions because, he says, "there's things I want to do in Cub Scouts -- build bonfires, go camping, pool parties." His 15-month-old case went to trial last week, and Mark gained a psychic merit badge in media mania. Testifying was "scary," he said. "I mostly learned about news cameras...
Michael and William Randall, twin nine-year-olds from Anaheim Hills, Calif., have been just as stubborn. They were excluded from a Cub Scout pack in February because they could not, as atheists, pledge duty to God. One of their attorneys is their father James, but he emphasizes that the legal battle was the twins' idea, not his. He calls the lawsuit "the kiss of death." Says his son Michael: "I just want to be a member of an organization and not have to say the word God and not have an organization force me to say it. They...
...hangar under bright spotlights, the YF-22 Lightning looks just like what it is: a low-slung, sharply angled killing machine. In the air, the advanced jet fighter is not only fast (sprinting up to twice the speed of sound) and agile (pitching and rolling like a Piper Cub) but almost invisible to enemy radar. If the Air Force has its way, the plane will rule the skies for the better part of the 21st century...