From: Steve Hoar (shoar@INFINET.COM)
Date: Fri Feb 11 2000 - 14:33:57 CST
At 2/11/00 01:38 PM, you wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Sorry I'm joining this thread a little late but something caught my eye.
>It was a post from Ted which referenced Darryl's message:
>
> >At 08:22 -0500 on 2/11/00, Darryl Hammill spake about Re: A Scout is
> >Reverent thus:
> >
> >>This is, to me, one of those situations where if everything is
> >>spelled out up front (like in the by-laws of the Troop) how can
> >>anyone complain. Furthermore, the more we make out of this the more
> >>likely it is that a weird problem occurs.
>
>Well....the "bylaws of the troop" should not conflict with national policy
>OR the Scout Law....which says that we need to be both respectful and
>tolerant of other's beliefs.
In the case of our troop, it is sponsored by a Catholic Parish in
Newark. When the boys join, they know we are a Catholic Troop. When we
camp, we go to Sunday mass. We invite the non-catholics to go with us...we
do not compel them. We end every meeting with a prayer. We encourage all
the boys, regardless of religion, to work on their religious awards. We
don't apologize for being Christian or Catholic. If the boys are
uncomfortable with it, we help them find a troop where they will be
comfortable...none have ever chosen to do so based on religion. We invite
our pastor to talk to the boys about his vocation in the church. We
consider the troop to be a youth ministry within the church. We also
realize that tolerance is a two way street. We tolerate and accept others
and expect the same toleration in return. We respect others beliefs and
deem it only fair to expect the same respect in return. No, we don't
apologize or compromise on the fact that we are both Christian and
Catholic. Is that not the basis of faith, obligation
and commitment? Just as the Scout Law means more than just twelve quaint
words, so is it we take that being a person of faith is more than just a
biological accident of birth location. To all people of all faiths I can
only reflect that in scripture there are some rather harsh words for folks
who are luke warm and superficial in their faith and spineless in their
commitments.
Now if it would just snow some more I could really enjoy the weekend.
Stephen M. Hoar
Licking District
Simon Kenton Council, Ohio
http://www.infinet.com/~shoar/licking.htm
mailto:shoar@infinet.com
