Scouts in ‘God’ Dispute Win Court Test

Twin Cub Scouts who refused to say the word “God” in the Scout’s Oath won a preliminary court battle Thursday.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard O. Frazee Sr. granted 9-year-old William and Michael Randall a preliminary injunction allowing them to continue as Cub Scouts without being required to swear to a “duty to God” while their civil rights lawsuit is being fought.

The Anaheim Hills boys, represented by their attorney-father, James Grafton Randall, had argued that the Boy Scouts is a public organization that should be prohibited by state public accommodations laws from discriminating against members on religious grounds.

George A. Davidson, the attorney for the Boy Scouts of America, had argued that the Scouts is a private group whose members should not be required to associate with those who do not accept the organization’s moral tenets.

The Boy Scouts is fighting a similar legal battle in federal court in Chicago, where a 7-year-old boy was not allowed to join the Cub Scouts because he refused to acknowledge a belief in God. In Los Angeles, a former Eagle Scout barred from being a Scout leader because he is a homosexual is also suing the group.