Re: Pluralism be darned or patched or something (long ((winded)))
patrick Driscoll (PDris1995@AOL.COM)
Tue, 26 Nov 1996 23:37:53 -0500
Howdy Folks;
I probably should keep my mouth shut on this one, but with all the hooha
I've heard, there hasn't been much to get a handle on.
Pluralism. Well, it sounds to me like there is a seed of good sense in
there, but there has been so much fertilizer applied to that poor seed it
likely is going to grow up into something warped.
Let us go back to something called the Scout law. In there is a small
part that mentions that a Scout accepts that a person may have different
customs and beliefs than his own and respects those differences. Don't that
just sound simple?
Socio-economic groups? These make great labels for politicians and
others who are selling something, Fact is, that groups, no matter how you
label them are made up of people. People who might just be surprised and a
bit dismayed to find that they are a member of a certain socio-economic group
as the labelers rarely seem to ask if they want to be included.
Each person has their own differences. Each person has their own
beliefs that may be quite similar to another. But if you look hard enough,
you will find a difference. Each person is taught customs, beliefs and habits
and they take what they learn and change them to fit themselves.
We can learn about how we are different from others, we can celebrate
our differences. We MUST respect the right to be different. We don't need to
worry over differences, concentrate on differences or use those differences
to divide us.
The values that we are supposed to be teaching are simple. Not simple to
live by, but the points of the Scout law really are simple in concept and
each one is of immense value to a person regrdless of custom, religion or
socio-economic group. If a person lives by the Scout law, all of it, you
know what to expect from them, socio-religio-economico-oopsydoopsyio
divisions be darned (or knitted or patched, each according to their own
method of whatever)
If Scouting is failing to get that message across, then it is the
messenger that is at fault. We wear uniforms to eliminate differences, not to
accentuate them. Lord Baden-Powell started the whole thing to help all boys,
because he recognized that what made them different was not as important as
what makes them the same.
I'm going to get off my soapbox now. I know that the customs of my
village are not the laws of the universe. I just tend to run on sometimes.
Disclaimer: The opinions stated above are only mine and I've always been
different.
Patrick Driscoll
CM P244, Council training staff, District smart aleck staff, General
bigmouth, etc.
Alamo Area Council
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
