Gonzo1

Hunt: The original post from mk9750 says: "I then asked which point is the most difficult to follow, and he answered "Reverent, because, being an agnostic, it's very difficult to be reverent to a God you have no proof exists". Just as I agree that DNA tests are not necessary. I also agree that interrogation is not necessary. However, the difference is that HE said he is agnostic and being agnostic is disqualification for membership. It is exactly the job of volunteers (BOR members) to follow up with additional questions. By "leaving it up to the youth members to determine" if a par

Besides the rolling vs folding, un-zip all zippers before folding and rolling to prevent crimping or kinking.

Hops Scout, I must have been distracted, thanks for keeping me straight. Being an Army veteran, how could I forget Flag Day and Army Birthday. June and July will be Red, White and Blue. Not sure what to do with August. Maybe we'll strip off the branches, freshen them up and leave up the pole. Red, White and Blue again for September with Labor Day and 911 and all. Halloween, Veterans Day, and Thangksgiving are coming up now. Some more patriotism for Dec 7 and then Christmas! We're getting the stuff out next weekend! Let the fen begin!!! Merry Christmas and HAPPY

I'm a WDL and a Unit Commissioner (for other units). About 8 weeks ago, the other WDL and I took our Webelos camping. Warmer wx I know, but I sent out a packing list to the parents and boys. Since the family camping we just had was for packs, I assumed that other den leaders or someone else would send a packing list also. I know, I know..... I know what to expect when I assume. Some people didn't bring eating utensils or anything to eat out of. Here's what I'll do: I'll offer a class to the parents of our cubs to improve their camping skills so no one has to hide in the car,

Trevorum, Thank you. FB, I concur. I also think BSA is a little to broad in the God department, but that's the way it is.

Lisa, Points taken. Gonzo

Beavah, We already have "small, independent, high-efficiency teams doin cool stuff". They're called patrol. UZ2bnowl I agree, I hope paintball doesn't make it into BSA. BTW, I usually agree with you two anyway. To stick with the origin premise, I think Scouting wouldn't exist as we know it. Patrol might be called Teams or Buzz Groups and wouln't be identified by fairly cool names like Comanche, Thunderbird, Scorpion and the like. We might have softer names like daisy, dandelion or be named for colors so no one is offended. We certainly wouldn't have Indian Lore, the

Just got back from Cub Scout Family Camping weekend, halloween theme, haunted train, trick or treating, crafts, da works! Friday night was chilly, probably 40 degrees. One mom slept in her car. She thought the dew on the tent was too much. She and her son didn't stay for Saturday night. Saturday was beautiful weather. however, while someone listened the Georgia Bulldogs game, they found out there would be rain and some thunder. about 10% of the camp bailed out Saturday evening. We had a couple more families leave Saturday night from our pack. Maybe, just maybe, the cubs are

Trevorum, I'm a Methodist, our thing is "open doors, open hearts, open minds". My mind may not be as open as my heart or our door, but I can learn. Then, my mind opens a little more. I hope the lad stays in scouting, if he passes the BOR. We have a Hindu scout in our unit. His mom is active and they are vegetarians. That's a unique experience as well.

Scoutmom111, If you had your flag "thing" happen at WB, you should all have been in uniform, same hat, right? At camporee or other outings, you can solve the hat "thing" by either all having uniform hat on, or all taking off hats (either everyone is in BSA hat or not), then there would be no problem.

Gern, For some reason, I don't trust wikipedia as a source, I heard anyone can make changes to it. I went to buddistinformation.com http://www.buddhistinformation.com/buddhist_attitude_to_god.htm I'm not saying one religion is better than any other. What I'm saying is that instead of his troop committee (or us) trying to pigeon hole this lad into a religion so he can become and Eagle is rediculous. He stated that he is agnostic. I say give him a chance to fully explain and discuss with a minister his position. If he doesn't believe, he would make his own fate. At 17 yea

Trevorum You STILL don't get it: You said "Gonzo, so your position is that Buddhists who do not believe in a god should be denied BSA membership" You're trying to pin me down by saying that since Buddhists don't believe in "A" god, it appears as though Buddhists believe in the existence of many devas ---- See below. I don't need to email anybody at national about anythng. Pg 45 of the Boy Scout Handbook says in part: ... To do my duty to God Your family and religious leaders teach you about God and the ways you can serve. You do your duty to God by following the

Keep Aloft Equipment: Volley bal or soccer ball. Circle up the scouts. Someone tosses a ball high into the air and the scouts pass the ball around but don't let the ball touch the ground. When a scout does, he's out, the circle gets smaller and smaller. Good time killer, generally fun.

Trevorum, I dissagree with you. Please turn to page 9, 45 and 54. You'll see that a scout must agree to live by the Scout Oath and Law. How can he if he doesn't believe that God exists? BSA does not establish which religions are acceptable and which are not. However, he can't do his duty to God if he does believe in some kind of God. Lisa'Bob, It's not a witch hunt, the young man made his comments to the BR, they didn't give him the third degree. Once revealed, it should be the responsibility of the BOR, troop committee and SM to determine his fate. I agree that EVERY

Fuzzy Bear, you said .....if belief in God becomes the litmus test for being a Scout, then all of the other precepts become meaningless I respectfully disagree. Belief in God is fundamental to BSA membership. A scout agrees to live by the Scout Oath and Law to join BSA. How can he do his duty or be reverent if he doesn't believe. I suggest the BOR meet with the lad and a minister and determine his belief system. He doesn't have to be a member of any particular religion or church, he must however believe. Gonzo

Brent, After the Airing of Grievances, can we do the "feats of strength"? After a while, aI got to think about the Holiday Tree. I think this year I'll mine up. After Christmas, i'll take off all the ornaments and put on pictures of civil rights leaders and activists with Rosa Parks or MLK at the top. Then at the end of January, I'll take them down and get ready Presidents Day with pictures of the presidents with Washinton at the top with a quick shuffle for Valentines's Day and put hearts and cupids and ribbons with "Be Mine?" all over. March is St. Patrick's Day, so you know what

Scoutldr, Sorry to hear about your conflict. you said: .......my own beliefs are more aligned with the church than with the BSA policy. And you said: ...this church holds that marriage is a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between a man and a woman It seems that you want to minister to the needs of homosexuals, but do not approve of gay marriage. It appears that your church wants to minister to gays, but not marry them. So they welcome gay couples but won't perform marriages. Maybe I'm missing something, but your church won't marry gays, but wants to minister to them

LCDR Vicki, I assume CD is camp director? The old timer should have taken any issue to your leadership or camp leadership. By using the paradeground flags, did you use the American Flag? If so, IMO this is a non-issue. you didn't actaually dessecrate the flag, did you? I think not. What enemy would you have been surrending to? I think the old timer was out of line for saying anything in front of your scouts. Gonzo CPT, USAR, Ret

mk, I stick withmy earlier comments and agree with OGE and nldscout. Perhaps the BOR could contionally pass the young man pending a meeting with the minister (is church is Chartered Organization). Allow enough time in the meeting to be certain he knows what he is saying. Then yo might ask the minister to meet with the BOR and/or the parents. You might include the minister in an additional BOR and future boards. The rule is the rule. One ting is certain, when asking for guidance and you ask 20 scouters, you'll probably get 15 opinions. All the best, G

mk9750, I'll stick to your post. About 10 years ago when I was SM, we had a second or first class scout who one night decided he wasn't say the Pledge of Allegiance or the Scout Oath anymore. When I called him over to me and the CC, I asked him why he didn't salute and recite. He said "I don't believe in no God, I ain't saying that crap no more" I told him to bring one of his parents the next week and the CC and I discussed it with the parent. I reminded the parent that joining requirements in the book stated that the scout understand agrees to live by the Scout Oath and Law. The par

Merlyn, Please, in the Sept 10th world, we didn't have planes just sittin' around ready to go. We didn't PLAN for anythng like that so there would be no plan to enact. I'm sorry if you think jets were scrambled too late. The aircraft I used to fly took 30-45 minutes to inspect before flying. In that case though I would probably kick the tires and light the engines. Just so you know, NORAD doesn't just pick up the phone and say "Launch the ready 5 aircraft!" There is an incredible amount of red tape involved, operations planning, intel gathering, weapons aquisition, etc, far too muc

Brian, I can't recall exactly, but as i understand it, you attended WB fairly early in your scouting career, is that right? Mainly because you said boys need trained leaders. I suugest you get a few more years of experience under you belt, attend roundtable, local training like Boy Scout leader specific training. THEN, go to WB, you'll have a better idea of what's going on. There may be a decline in membership today, but in any organization, some things are cyclical. Memberhsip will rebound. The best way for your troop to get new boys is to have scouts bring a guest. Good luck

Packsaddle, I'm sorry if you thnk I'm beating up on you, we just don't agree on everything. .....wrath of my wife. Very funny, thanks for the laugh. WMD's did exist, our soldiers have found them. However, I believe that Bush gave too many warnings to Saddam which allowed him to hide or move weapons, I had a photo of one of his jets that was buried in the desert. I suppose that didn't exist either. Regarding a draft, that's like a politician trying to cut medicare spending, neither will ever happen. Since 1975, we've had an all volunteer armed force, no draft required. It's

Ahhh, vinyl, those were the good ol' days, scratch, hiss pop. That was music!

Hunt, DanKroh, mmhardy, Merlyn and anyone else else i may have offended: I apologize if what I have said here offends you. I am offended by the constant criticism our our president and our military. It seems that the left just can not stand GWB. Dan, I know that typing in CAPS generally means SHOUTING, that's because I was. Except for one reply where I separated my comments from the other poster. I haven't figured out how to make italics, colors and bold on the forums, I tried using MS Word and then pasting them, but no luck. Hunt, There is no possible way anyone in the Bu