Mormons quit Scouts

The Mormon church, the biggest sponsor of Boy Scout troops in the United States, is pulling as many as 185,000 older youths from the organisation as part of an effort to start its own rival programme. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said the move was not triggered by the Boy Scouts’ decision in 2015 to allow gay troop leaders, since Mormon-sponsored troops have remained free to exclude them on religious grounds. But at least one leading Mormon scholar said the policy was probably a contributing factor in the split.