Re: Religious content in Boys' Life AND life itself
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Mon, 29 Jan 1996 23:40:12 -0800
Kathie Cerveny <kathie@EECS.NWU.EDU> wrote:
>We can not TEACH tolerance, if we have none. We also can not TEACH honor,
>unless we offer the opportunity to learn by doing, i.e. Youth Protection
>Quality Unit requirements this year. I personally object to having to HIDE
>my christianity and ignoring my faith in favor of "hurting" some else's
>feelings.
I don't think that was the intent, nor is it the intent, of most religious
minorities. I think the sensitivity is related to being rendered invisible,
in this case in Boys' Life. Or, as you might say, "hiding" them because
(someone thinks) it would upset some people. If we are to be inclusive of
all faiths, we need to do it publicly, and not just by saying so.
>We are INDEEED a tolerant movement. It is a movement, not an organization,
>not a club. We teach and must demonstrate tolerance. Ramadan was featured
>in our district information this month, as our Muslem units prepared for
>their month long Ramadan!
Bravo! Ignorance breeds intolerance. The most effective weapon against
ignorance is education. To that end, Boys' Life should go out of its
way to solicit and publish information on the vast array of religious
beliefs of the members of BSA. And MAKE THEM VISIBLE.
>Boys Life represents and always has, the movement. Send them some Torah
>stories, they've been in before --- how about an article on Ramadan?
To be sure, the Old Testament stories do have their origin in the Torah,
the Prophets, and the Writings (TaNa'Kh) of my people. There are other
Jewish stories as well, but I haven't seen much about the non-Judeo-
Christian traditions of our membership.
Just as there is more to Judaism than Hanukkah, there is more to Islam
than Ramadan. If we are to believe that there are ethical lessons to be
learned from all religions, then there must be some suitable stories to
tell that would be understood by all that would educate all of us in
other traditions.
Alan R. Houser ** Scoutmaster, Berkeley Troop 24 ** troop24@emf.net
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
