A Short Parable

"And it was written by someone in the Scout-L discussion group that
without religion, it would still be.... Scouting"

There was once a man, we will call him Stan, who was a religious and
pious man who was very pleased when his young son joined the Cub Scout
Pack at the church that his family attended.

When the boy reached that age of 11 he, with the other boys his his den,
did cross over a bridge and join the Boy Scouts. In going to a parent
orientation meeting Stan learned that, horror upon horrors, that this Boy
Scout organization required that his son go camping a specified number of
nights. One to becomes something called a Tenderfoot, two to become a 2nd
Class, three to become a 1st Class, and....20 nights to earn what was
called the Camping Merit Badge, which Stan was told was necessary to
become an Eagle Scout.

Now Stan was a reasonable man but it was his firm, and long held, belief
that with the onset of civilation and the invent of the Sealy Mattress
Company, only heathens slept on the ground.

Stan voiced his concerns to a very nice, and seemingly reasonable man, who
was identified to him at holding the position of ScoutMaster. This man,
Bob Powell, said he understond Stan's concerns but explained that it was a
long held belief that camping was an important part of scouting and
that he felt he would be unable to change the guidelines of the program
to meeting Stan's familys' particular needs.

Stan responded by asking why his son could not simply meet all of the
other requirements, as he did believe in citizenship, and leatherwork,
and small boat sailing, but ScoutMaster Bob would not budge.

So Stan did what every red blooded Amercan did, he contact his lawyer who
suggested that this organization was being unfair to his son by
discriminating against those who believed that camping was sinful.

... and the decision is set to come from the California Supreme Court in
March of this year....

stan rudnick
Advancement Chair
BoR Coordinator

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