Working with Kids
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LATEST POSTS
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By AwakeEnergyScouter · Posted
You missed the fine print - Scouting America explicitly says that they mean nothing in particular by the word "God" in the Declaration of Religious Principle. And the reason they do this is that they can't require what it says if "God" means the usual everyday interpretation in US context of the Christian god and still stay in the Scouting movement. Either the statement can't mean what it seems to say, or they have to exit the movement. TBH it seems like a setup - they want it to be read as the usual everyday meaning but rely on a legalistic trick of not meaning anything in particular with the word "God" to stay in the movement. I balked at the statement because I knew this immediately and therefore read the fine print associated with the asterisk on the word "God" - and there it was. God can be your cat if you like, Scouting America means nothing in particular with the word in that declaration. But that's of course not what most readers will take away from it. It sets up this very situation. -
By AwakeEnergyScouter · Posted
Sure, the Swedish Scout Law is very clearly broad, but the Scouting America version lends itself very, very easily to the misunderstanding demonstrated above. Retaining the original phrasing "Duty to God" with the g capitalized to boot is practically an invitation for certain Christians to interpret it as that being Christian is required when that would actually antithetical to the scouting movement has has been for many decades - as previously pointed out, one can easily quote BP on the subject, the current WOSM constitution defines Duty to God as “Adherence to spiritual principles, loyalty to the religion that expresses them and acceptance of the duties resulting therefrom,” there are religious awards for polytheist and non-theist religions in Scouting America already, and millions and millions of non-Christian (and non-theist, including atheist) scouts have existed for again many decades. It's a faît accompli. In fact, you can't be part of either WOSM or WAGGGS if you require a religious "purity test". It's a pet peeve of mine because it's so patently absurd that it's happening from my POV, having grown up in a non-Christian scouting organization, especially when other scouters get aggressive about it and even start telling me that having signed that religious declaration means I have to believe in a single god, as again demonstrated above. It comes off as gaslighting or crazy disrespectful at best. Should it be happening? Of course not. Does it happen anyway? Yes, yes it does, as demonstrated above. What floats my boat is being left alone to pursue my "Duty to God" in peace and having other scouters respect my beliefs, and to never again have scouters telling my scout to practice Christianity randomly in a crowd at a scouting event. I do not want them to be a Christian and I don't appreciate other adults taking over religious instruction of my child. -
By TheScouterDude · Posted
Your previous post interpreted the Declaration of Religious Principle as "pretty much" requiring monotheism and belief in a male god. My post was arguing that there are many decades of precedence that the organization has not interpreted the Declaration of Religious Principle that way. The debate is about interpretation of the Declaration. Additionally, the adult application does not require the applicant to agree to the entirety of the Declaration of Religious Principle: It says "Only persons willing to subscribe to these precepts from the Declaration of Religious Principle and the Bylaws of Scouting America shall be entitled to register." That does not require agreeing to the entirety of the Declaration of Religious Principle and its exact wording, merely the precepts of it, which are summarized on the application. -
To register as an adult, though, we all have agreed that we must "Subscribe to the precepts of the Declaration of Religious Principle." I'm not saying I like it, I am just saying all adult leaders have agreed to "The recognition of God as the ruling and leading power in the universe and the grateful acknowledgment of His favors and blessings are necessary to the best type of citizenship and are wholesome precepts in the education of the growing members." -
By TheScouterDude · Posted
And yet Scouting America has recognized the religious emblem awards of Buddhism and Hinduism for decades. The Guide to Advancement also states that "Scouting America does not define what constitutes belief in God or practice of religion." Both policy and practice contradict the notion that one must believe in a male monotheistic god in order to comply with the religious principles.
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