What was a main reason for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leaving Scouts BSA? “The Lord and Savior.” The church said that May 8, when it announced it is ending a century-long partnership and putting together its own youth program based on the LDS church. As the calendar shows, the church did so just six days after the former Boy Scouts of America changed its name to Scouts BSA, which came just seven months after Scouts BSA announced that it would allow girls.

Fundamentalist Mormon boys sing under portraits of FLDS prophets. (TruthandGrace.com)

For their boys, it means that the church is keeping them in a key way from being able to interact with boys outside of the LDS church.

My main social interaction was weekly scouting events.

The religion’s cousin, The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has done something similar when it has not allowed its boys (nor girls) to interact with an outside world, the two societies separate from each other because FLDS church leaders (the most notable is Warren Jeffs) made it that way.

When it comes to scouting, the LDS church is doing the same thing — and to a lot of boys. About 470,000 LDS boys ages eight to 18 are scouts in the United States and Canada.

Others might say that it’s the BSA in the intermountain western region of the U.S. that is hurt, as the church’s boys make up the vast majority. That is true, but that’s just one region of among many in the two countries.

Mormons may want to ask themselves if it is worth it to affiliate with a religion that would move in this direction. Many of the FLDS Mormons have, and while there is much progress yet to be made, things are now changing even in the fundamentalist Mormon hub of Hillsdale, Utah/Colorado City, Ariz. Some still believe in Jeffs in the prophet, yes, but after all, Jeffs admitted in prison “I am not the prophet. I never was the prophet.”

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Even if you no longer affiliate with the church but enjoy sociality with family and friends as before, you can still find social settings organized by the Utah Valley PostMormons. There, you can find your people. And of course, if you don’t enjoy those relationships like before, the many UVPM events that happen each week can be even life-saving.

Led by wonderful people like Kirsten Barksdale and Larissa Norman, UVPM is also for folks who just are struggling with it or are “never Mormons” seeking a break from the predominant culture. Find their events on Facebook and Meetup.

This story was originally published on The Good Men Project.

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