Re "Despite protests, Boy Scouts reaffirms ban on gays" (Tribune, July 18):

From segregated-sex housing to booze to chastity to hair length to religiosity to even shoes with socks, Brigham Young University enforces a style of its own. And to that, I say let a thousand different flowers bloom in America! Go with God.

However, if BYU were able to force every other university to follow its standards, then I'd call it a religious Taliban. Sadly, that is what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is doing with the Boy Scouts.

If the LDS Church, Scouting's biggest sponsor, said that it was for a policy that allowed religiously sponsored troops to not accept gays in their troops, but that other troops may accept them, I bet the Boy Scouts of America would quickly adopt that policy, because some of its major corporate leaders propose just that.

But, no, Mormons insist on banning gays from everyone's troops. That view can't be based on their theology, because Mormons don't ban gay teens from their church. Mormons are holding Scouting to a higher standard (well, different standard — being gay is not immoral) than they hold themselves.

Marc Moffit

Salt Lake City