A merit badge for bigotry ?

I just read about the outstanding boy scout whose militant

    atheism has got him evicted from the organization. A lesson in

    Civics 101 if he ever wants to run for political office: IN YOUR

    FACE contempt for popular prejudice is usually paid for with

    defeat or ostracism.

              Talking or writing to people with power in this country

    is lot like talking to a horse's ass. Still it is not futile.

    Even hopeless philistines are at least entertained by unorthodoxy.

                I think if the kid were wiser and the Boy Scouts were

    wiser this embarrassing situation could have been handled more

    felicitously. The kid could have been asked to write an original

    essay on the conflict between Science and Faith - and how it is

    only human to try to square the circle. He should realize that it

    is indeed necessary to respect religion in a multi-cultural world.

          Then the Boy Scouts should have awarded him a Religion

    merit badge at a scout ceremony. Sort of like the president

    awarding Frank Sinatra the Medal of Freedom ! But hey, he just

    did it all his way !

                A good way to be POPULAR is not to take ourselves

    too seriously. Once Isaac Asimov, a popular science writer - of

    the HUMANIST faith -was cornered on this  sensitive issue of

    God's existence: " Hey, why can't God just find me ? " he

    wondered.