Because the Scouts wish to continue what they've always done, and what the Supreme Court just reaffirmed they have a right, as a private association, to do. They want to choose their own Scout leaders, selecting the men they believe are best prepared to carry out their oath and law. Medtronic and the Star Tribune disagree, and will no longer finance the Scouts through the United Way. Well, it won't be the Scouts in Minnetonka. Suburban troops tend to be self-supporting, financing their activities by selling popcorn and Christmas wreaths.
Parents dash off checks for uniforms and equipment, and chauffeur boys to camp in minivans.
Inner-city Scouts, however, depend on charitable donations, as they struggle to rise above the mean streets of the ghetto and barrio. Corporate dollars pay for camp scholarships and volunteer training. and underwrite stipends for scoutmasters when responsible volunteers can't be found. Its decision to deny meeting space to its Cub Scout pack won't seriously inconvenience its affluent young students. Things look quite different, however, in Oakland or Detroit, where a school is often the only refuge for Scouts in a blighted neighborhood. This is a strange view of tolerance, and of diversity as well.