Scout Ousting : Branded an Atheist, Deposed Den Leader Says He’ll Sue

A Studio City den leader of two years has been ousted from the Boy Scouts of America because he is an atheist, officials said Wednesday.

However, Irwin Spector, who was relieved as the leader of a Webelos den, said Scouting officials were retaliating against him for the “moral support” he was giving to Anaheim Hills twins who are embroiled in a lawsuit with the Boy Scouts over their refusal to say the word God in the Cub Scout pledge.

“The truth is that a devious and clever child molester has a better chance of remaining a Scout leader than an honest atheist,” said Spector, 57. “It’s stupid, it’s silly.”

Eugene R. Richey, Scout executive of the Western Los Angeles County Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said Spector was dismissed because the organization had obtained “information that he was an atheist.”

Richey declined to give the source of that information. He said, however, that Spector’s removal had nothing to do with the lawsuit filed on behalf of William and Michael Randall, the Anaheim Hills twins. A trial on that suit is scheduled to begin Monday in Orange County Superior Court.

“We were totally unaware that he was involved with that case,” Richey said.

Richey explained that the sole reason for the organization’s action against Spector was his beliefs. “Atheism is inconsistent with the duty-of-God principle of Scouting oath and law,” he said.

But Spector said he declined to tell Boy Scout officials whether he is an atheist when they asked him to reaffirm an oath to the Scouts’ policies. “How do they know what my religious beliefs are?” Spector countered.

“It’s none of their business,” he added.

On Wednesday, Spector identified himself as an agnostic, although he belongs to a synagogue and sends his children to religious school.

Spector said he plans to sue the organization. If he does, he will join several people across the nation challenging the Boy Scouts’ rules in court. The 80-year-old American institution is defending what it considers its right to deny membership to girls, homosexual scoutmasters, and non-religious youths.

The Boy Scouts’ fight with Spector came to a head Oct. 22 when two Scout officials went to his office in North Hollywood with a three-paragraph letter from Richey stating that his application to renew his den leadership had been denied.

In the letter, Richey ordered Spector to “sever any relations that you may have with the Boy Scouts of America. . . . You should understand that B.S.A. membership registration is a privilege and is not automatically granted to everyone who applies.”

Spector said he believes that Boy Scout officials somehow found out about a letter he had sent to the Randall twins. In that letter, Spector congratulated the twins for having “enough sense to question common beliefs and the courage to stand up for your rights.”

The Randall boys have been excluded because they refuse to pledge an oath to God.

In his letter, Spector also wrote that he, as a den leader in Studio City, did not enforce religious requirements. He added that he approved Scouting badges whether religious requirements were fulfilled or not.

“One of these days, the (Boy Scouts of America) will get wind of it and try to throw me out,” he wrote to the boys. “I guess then I’ll need a good lawyer.”

Spector was leader of Webelos Den 3, Pack 445 of Studio City. Webelos is the last stage a Cub Scout must pass through before becoming a Boy Scout.