Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts

A $1.4-million damages award this week to an Oregon man has severely dented the reputation of the Boy Scout movement in America, and the Church of Latter Day Saints.

A Portland jury awarded damages to Kerry Lewis, 38, after the court heard of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Timur Dykes, an assistant scout master, an authorised Mormon representative – and serial molester of young boys.

Kerry Lewis, pictured with his attorney Paul Mones after he was awarded damages

And, according to this report, there could be more financial damage to come, with jurors set to go back to court next week to decide whether the Scouts must pay up to $25 million in punitive damages.

The verdict delivered by the jury was based partly on the introduction as evidence of more than 1,000 so-called “perversion files” secretly kept by the Boy Scouts of America at the group’s national headquarters from 1965 to mid-1984.

Freethinker

The collusion between the Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts continues to disappoint me. There are no philanthropic needs that can't be filled through secular means alone. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has co-opted this institution to further their proselytizing efforts. Their exclusion of homosexuals and atheists
All churches remain in this similar difficult position. As holy institutions they can't be seen by the wider world as amoral(lest they be labeled a cult).
They see their actions as in defense of their church and it's claims to righteousness, and are justified in obstructing justice in pursuit of these religious ends.