COUNTYWIDE : Scout Leader Ousted as Atheist Testifies

A former Tustin Cub Scout leader who was expelled from the organization because he is an atheist testified Wednesday that he does not think his views on God are contrary to Scouting’s religious requirements.

David Wise, 40, said the Boy Scouts’ own bylaws state that members “are not required to belong to any organized religion.”

Testifying on behalf of Anaheim Hills twins Michael and William Randall, who are suing the Boy Scouts, claiming religious discrimination, Wise said Scouting’s “religious principles,” as he interprets them, do not prohibit atheism.

“I can’t find any justification for it,” he said of his ouster.

The Randall twins, both 10, who refuse to say the word God in the Cub Scout Promise, claim they were illegally barred from Scouting because they do not believe in God.

Attorneys for the Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America contend that the organization is a private institution that is free to pick and choose its members, even if that means excluding boys with views contrary to its own.

On Wednesday in the Santa Ana courtroom, Wise said he was kicked out of the Boy Scouts last summer after he testified at the trial of an 8-year-old boy in Chicago who was barred from joining because he is an atheist. When local Scouting officials learned of Wise’s involvement in that case, they “slated (him) for destruction,” Wise said. A ruling in that trial has not yet been made.

As part of his testimony, Wise read from a Boy Scouts of America manual that stated the organization “does not define what constitutes belief in God or the practice of religion.”

The manual further explained that Boy Scouts do “not require membership in a religious organization or association for enrollment” but “strongly encourage” such membership.

“Throughout life, Scouts are associated with people of different faiths,” Wise read to Judge Richard O. Frazee Sr., who is presiding over the non-jury trial. “Scouts believe in religious freedom, respecting others whose religion may be different from theirs.”

To the officials in Boy Scouts, those passages validate the organization’s stance that it does not discriminate against people with religious beliefs. Those “without” religious beliefs are the ones who cannot join the organization, officials have said.

Attorney James Grafton Randall, who is representing his sons in the case, disagreed. He said that the Scouting literature shows that a belief in God is not mandatory.