Hunt

I don't want to waste more time on the substance of this, but I'll make a point. If you want to find out what a Greek word in the Bible means, you don't just look in Cruden's Concordance and go on a random quote hunt among the Church Fathers. You actually have to do some research on what current scholars think about it. That's what I did (all on the Internet, by the way)--and it helps to know some Greek. Maybe another way of putting this is that access to information is not the same as understanding it or being able to put it into context. A real education, provided by good teachers, is n

The first post in this thread shows how a little bit of education, linked to a willingness to believe in conspiracies, can lead a person astray. In fact, there is a scholarly dispute (with political overtones) over what the word "malakoi" means in 1 Cor. 6:9. [Tune out now if you don't care.] But the dispute isn't over whether it means "effeminate." Pretty much everybody knowledgeable about Greek recognizes now that this was a bad translation. There are three main lines of thought: first, that it means "soft" as in morally weak (the most literal meaning), second, that it is paired with an

You can read more about this at: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_john_kerry2.htm and form your own conclusions. I think it's interesting that McCain also opposed the Vietnam Human Rights Act mentioned in the piece.

It's awfully hard to tell if Wheeler is a troll. My guess is probably not, because it would seem to me to be too much work to keep up such a persona if it wasn't real. I think what we are seeing here is the difference between being educated and being "self-educated." Somebody truly educated couldn't think that World War I was about anarchists trying to bring down monarchies--it was about countries with territorial ambitions (especially Germany) fighting each other. But that's just a digression. A person can come up with a lot of odd ideas just by dipping into books at the library--but it

I didn't read the other thread (nor will I), but I wondered if this quote on childishness got in there: "Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." I think our world needs MORE childishness (really, childlikeness), not less.

One point on "snail mail"--right now, it's best not to use snail mail to write to the US Congress. Because of the anthrax scare, it takes forever, and the boy may not get a response. He can write the letter and fax it, or send it by e-mail--he can write it as a formal letter, and then attach it to an e-mail.

You're reading this.

Here's my idea for a commercial: Commercial begins with a split screen. Music with a driving beat (techno?), no narration. On the left side of the screen is a kid holding a videogame controller. His expressionless face is lit by the blue light of an unseen TV. He plays his game through the whole commercial, occasionally reaching into a potato chip bag. On the right side of the screen are quick cuts showing boys kayaking, rock climbing, camping, walking in snowshoes, etc. When the kid on the left reaches for his chips, the kids on the right are cooking over a campfire. Cut to a blac

Since you asked... 1. SNAFU--some people translate it as "situation normal; all fouled up," an obvious toned down version. I wouldn't teach it to boys. 2. "Darn" and "Dang" are themselves toned-down version of a (relatively) mild expletive. I'd let them pass. 3. "Gosh"--I really don't like it when people use "Jesus" and "God" as expletives--I especially don't let my children say "My God!" or "Oh My God!" Gosh, again is a toned-down version of this--but I don't like it, because it can too easily sound like "God." 4. "Odds bodkins." This is one of a group of achaic expletives (like

A few things in this thread have reinforced my view that Scouting's ability to recruit and retain may vary greatly by the kind of community you live in, and maybe the part of the country. I was amazed to read that Boy Scouts have a 20% market share--to me, that sounds huge. I could be wrong, but I'll bet it is much, much less where I live in the DC suburbs. Could it be that those of us who live in suburban areas, where these new youth sports leagues are so strong, are seing more competition from sports than those in smaller towns or rural areas? In this area, it would be virtually impossib

To me, the Padilla case is easy--he's an American citizen, arrested on US soil. If he's a traitor, charge him with that and have a trial. Then we can talk about whether he's innocent or guilty. The guys in Guantanamo are a different case--it's not clear (to me, anyway) what their exact status should be. However, I think it's wrong to exploit the hazy nature of their status to hold them indefinitely. If any of them have a valid claim that they don't belong there, they ought to have some way to assert it and somebody to adjudicate it. I don't like to see any part of our government acti

I think the change in youth sports probably does have something to do with it--where I live in the DC suburbs, by middle school most of the kids who are playing sports are intensively playing a single sport year 'round, often with multiple practices a week, tournements on many weekends, and travel to games. The kids who don't play sports are, in my view, less likely to supply the best pool for kids interested in the active outdoor program of Scouting. There are exceptions (my own son is one--although he's kind of an egghead, he constantly amazes me by liking camping, hiking, etc.)--but the k

It's obvious what TFB stands for, and it's not appropriate for this forum. My opinion, anyway. As for spelling, sometimes extremely bad or bizarre spelling is a tipoff that somebody is trolling--especially if they are posing as a younger person. When Sturgen wrote "I don't mean to be insultive," I began to have great doubts if anybody could really make that "mistake."

To be fair, George Wallace did publicly renounce his racist past. Thurmond never, ever did this. He did take some actions--like hiring a black staffer--that have given support to claims that he changed his views. But nobody has come up with one word from him to suggest that he was wrong when he said things like "There's not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the Nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches." The idea that his Dixiecrat run for President was only about states' rights and

A Scout is kind.

It's also written up on snopes.com--my favorite urban legend debunking site. See http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/target.asp

Actually, you can judge the inner thoughts of Byrd and Thurmond by what they had to say. See http://slate.msn.com/id/2075662/. This points out that Byrd publicly renounced the Klan and said joining it was the worst mistake of his life. Thurmond, on the other hand, said he had nothing to apologize for and no regrets. When did he say this? 1998. Thurmond never renounced his segregationist views--although he did change his voting pattern to some degree.

I think in common parlance, a person who secretly does acts which he condemns publicly is a hypocrite. I'm not sure that's a strong enough term of condemnation for a man who would support policies that oppressed his own child. Ogre? Slimeball? You can also add liar, since he denied it for years (so did she, but I guess she needed the money).

This is one of my pet peeves--in my kids' school system, they teach "World Studies"--not history. My son's in the 7th grade, and he hasn't had any general US or state history (this is Maryland). When I was a tyke in Virginia in the 60's, we had Virginia history in the 4th grade and again (as I recall) in the 7th, or maybe 8th grade. World Studies is taught in a scatter-shot way--ancient Rome this month, Senegal next month, colonial farming techniques the month after--but there's no overview. The result is my kids have trouble distinguishing the Revolutionary War from the Civil War. I don'

This reminds me a bit of a discussion of whether a person who doesn't believe in the inerrancy of Scripture is "really" a Christian or not. Bob, do you really mean to say that a troop that follows the methods of Scouting, except for FCFY, isn't doing Scouting? Or is it that you suspect they aren't following the other methods, either?

I like some of it, but not all of it. I don't like "I am arrogant." This is a virtue? I don't like "I am worshipped." As a Christian, I oppose idolatry. I'm not crazy about the tone, which is too much like "my country, right or wrong." I also wouldn't be surprised if people in other countries aren't too inspired by it, since the only mention of other countries is as wartime enemies or ingrates. How about adding, "I am proud to stand tall beside the banners of all the other freedom-loving countries of the world."

I have no doubt such a troop exists--perhaps many such troops--and I'm not sure anybody disagrees that this troop is in trouble. I think the resistance you are seeing is to the idea that the failure to use FCFY emphasis is the only problem, or even the main problem. This troop has seven boys and ten ASMs--who are all these ASMs? Are they dads whose sons have aged out? Does this mean the troop was once much larger? If so, was the severe shrinkage in the troop due to attrition, or failure to recruit? In my son's troop, for example, recruiting is the big problem. It's not that visiting Web

As I read back over parts of this thread, I think a lot of the problem is semantics, and perhaps particularly the feeling that some may have that "follower" has the shade of meaning of "blind follower." In Lake Woebegon, all the children are above average, and in America, everybody is a leader, not a follower. But maybe a sports analogy can help. A sports team has a coach, and maybe a team captain. Certainly, the coach and the captain are leaders, and they expect the other members of the team to follow their instructions and respond to their guidance. What makes a good team member? I

It sounds like Dave's troop would look good--on paper-if the church could provide enough boys to fill it up. But because it needs to go outside the church to recruit, its built-in limitations are choking the troop. While FCFY might help, it's not going to solve the problem of not being able to recruit Webelos when they are ready to cross over, and of a limited camping program. If you were the Unit Commissioner for this troop, there's not much you could do to rectify the situation, because you can't ask the church to change its rules.

It seems to me that the response to this should depend on the facts. Let's assume the boy is going up for First Class. Scenario 1: He remembers everything except how to tie the timber hitch--says "I learned it and demonstrated it to the SPL months ago, and now I seem to have forgotten how to do it." To me the obvious result is to approve his rank, perhaps with a jovial suggestion to practice the knot when he gets a chance. Scenario 2: Scout can't remember having done the cooking requirement, but says he must have because it was signed off. When asked about his visit to a public servant,