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johnponz

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Everything posted by johnponz

  1. I agree you should report it. Keep a record of the report, and your part is done.
  2. I agree that an occasional glass of wine, beer or even liquer is an adult's choice...however not at a Scouting event. It makes no sense to me how people cannot have a good time with their children without taking a drink. If a person does not realize that a Scouting event is not a place to drink alcohol, I agree with Beavah, a gentle word and reminder is the first step. If the behavior continues the adult should be asked to leave. it is one thing to make a mistake and another to keep making one after being reminded it is a mistake. There is plenty of time to drink. A Scouting event is
  3. This is exactly why the SM is in charge of the boys of the troop and not the UC or the other parents. Scouts make mistakes and need to learn from them and move on. This is the heart of what BSA is about...character development. No one can mess up the program like a lot of self rightous adults. The SM nailed this one on the head.
  4. They cannot because it is against National policy. It would be against the Scout Law if they did. Remember a Scout is obedient. The OA chapter/lodge can work within the system to change things, but they cannot outright go against National policy and stay within the Scout oath. National clearly has the right and authority to make this policy so the individual lodges are obliged to follow it. As a practical note, if a lodge decided to do this and the Supreme Chief of the Fire (Scout Executive [Council]) did not step in, National could revoke or deny the lodge's charter. PS-I would
  5. A couple of points: 1. Internet discussion boards are not a good way to convey emotion (much like e-mail). I was not trying to convey anger because I am not angry. I was just trying to convey my point of view in a concise quick manner. 2. When I was a youth in OA, yes things were different then. My SM (who was one of the best people that I ever met-but that is another story) was an OA member, but did not attend an OA event (not one). 3. It is not and should not be the Adult unit leadership's job to get youth to OA events (they have enough to do with events that they plan).
  6. (This message has been edited by johnponz)
  7. Hicountry, OA is a group of Scouts that give back to their Councils by providing cheerful service. That is the heart of what the OA does. By saying "no" to the OA, you are denying your Scouts one more opportunity to provide service. Additionally, when I was a Scout in the OA (about 25 or so years ago) OA provided an opportunity for older Scouts to have "fellowship" in a safe environment with like minded Scouts from other communities. This was one of the highlights of my long Scouting career which I carry on today as a district volunteer. The OA provides some with elements that troops can
  8. Hicountry, OA is a group of Scouts that give back to their Councils by providing cheerful service. That is the heart of what the OA does. By saying "no" to the OA, you are denieing your Scouts one more opportunity to provide service. Additionally, when I was a Scout in the OA (about 25 or so years ago) OA provided an opportunity for older Scouts to have "fellowship" in a safe environment with like minded Scouts from other communities. This was one of the highlights of my long Scouting career which I carry on today as a district volunteer. The OA provides some with elements that troops
  9. In answer to Hicountry, this is part of the problem, the OA should be seen as an opportunity for the Scout to give cheerful service not an opportunity for the Scout to get something. (This message has been edited by johnponz)
  10. I will answer vol_scouters question. I grew up in West Central Ohio on the Indiana border (hardly a metropolis). My father was/is a hunter/trapper who actually hunts and traps for money and food, and I have known many hunters from there. Most of them I put in the "yahoo" category irregardless of occupation-they like to party a little bit more than average and will talk about their various escapades more than most. (I really do not believe that what one does for a living makes too much of a difference). I find most of them are a little bit on the crazy side-just my own observations. I
  11. I actually agree with Beavah and JimBob regagarding the link I posted. I posted it for one reason only. To show vol_scouter that there are some hunters who do have violent action against humans. IT WAS NOT INTENDED FOR ANY OTHER USE. Really, it was the only site I could find that listed several incidents regarding hunters and violence in one place. I agree that in general the site is biased and I would not take too much further from it beside there are some hunters that commit violent acts. That point in and of itself does not mean much because there are some non-hunters who commit vi
  12. I try not to rely on anecdotal evidence by itself to prove a point. However at least SOME hunters do commit violent crimes. Here is a link with a few examples (I am sure there are many more-I just read one ion our local paper). I realize this link is biased toward my point of view, and am using it it only to show that at least SOME hunters are violent. It is a flaw of most studies that they are trying to promote one view or another (especially true in the social sciences and even the physical ones in the academic publish or perish environment). I believe to say that hunters are le
  13. I took Beavah's implied advice and did a little research. Unfortunately, this is a little researched subject within Psychology (as near as I can tell, and the results of the few studies that I could locate are conflicting) so the scientist in me says that the hypothesis is not proved. That being said, I still adhere to my philosophical beliefs stated many times previously (summation-killing for fun denigrates society by devaluing life). I just say that they have yet to be proven. I do concede that if you are hunting for food and need to hunt to support your family and yourself, it is a
  14. To clarify, I never said (like Beavah did) that it made it so. I was just using Linzey's work to show that my way of thinking was legitimate and well thought out. You can argue against my philosophy, but it is legitimate and justifiable.(This message has been edited by johnponz)
  15. I am pretty consistent in my thinking. I believe that abortion is wrong and should not be performed out of convenience. I do make exceptions because of rape, the mother's life being in danger and the like. I will go further to say that I believe that abortions would occur more frequently in a society that encourages hunting (I have no numbers to back this up-it is just an extrapulation based on my thesis that hunting leads to a de-valueing of life). By the way since you brought it up. I do find it strange that the same political party that talks about the sanctity of "life" also
  16. I actually have some knowlege on this and have read a couple of scholarly articles. The seminal book on this topic is "The Link Between Animal Abuse and Human Violence" edited by Andrew Linzey. The last Chapter of this compilation explains very well how hunting falls into the general category of "Animal Abuse." That is the philosophical view that I take. He argues and I agree that abuse and hunting for sport are indeed the same thing. You can say that they are not, but that does not make it so, and certainly arguments can be made the other way and have by smarter people than me.(This
  17. I do not know if I expressed it properly, but I am more concerned about what happens to the human because of the recreational killing than I am what happens to the animal. I cannot cite them, but I believe studies have shown that recrational killing will desensitize humans to the act of killing, and that is really my concern. I worry that people who do this kind of thing end up losing respect for life in general and eventually human life in particular. As I said it bothers me when I hear about people throwing frogs into campfires and the like as well as hunting for fun. I believe hunting f
  18. Philosophically, my view is pretty simple. I believe that life is sacred and no one should make a recreational event out of killing (yes I include fishing in this as well as hunting-although I do not consider fishing as offensive as hunting-I will explain the difference below). I cringe when I hear about people throwing a frog into a fire for no reason. Also, I find it offensive when a person removes an insects wings and let it suffer for no reason. As far as where I draw the line, I use the classification system, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, species (I do not believe killing p
  19. Bottom line...Must of the hunters that I know say that they do it for fun and because they like it. I really do not see how killing things is a recreational activity, and I definiktely would not take my nine year old out to teach him how to kill things!!
  20. Please see this link. The views in it line up pretty well with my own. http://www.idausa.org/facts/hunting.html Please, do not say you hunt for food. Very few people hunt for food. Most go to the grocery store and purchase farm grown meat. There is much better thing to do with your time than going out into the woods looking for an animal to kill (these are modern times). There really is no need for this barbaric practice.
  21. I never understood the allure of killing any living thing on purpose (of course I am excluding insects from this).(This message has been edited by johnponz)
  22. I am much happier with this president than the last one, George W., and I believe that he will do a much better job than his competition. Face it times are rough, and he was thrust into tough times with an uncooperative congress. For those of you that believe he was in control the first two years, I remind you that the opposition was misusing the filibuster during this period and was obstructing all that he was trying to change. Despite this, he has kept many of his promises, e.g. the affordable health care act (he said he would make health reform a top priority and he did-now people ar
  23. Obama gets a bum rap. All of this stuff started on George W.s watch and he was a republican. Obama saved the auto industry, but gets no credit for it, and the big banks have repaid all of their bail-out money, but again no credit. Oh yeah, republican sweetheart Dick Cheney keeps talking about how they kept America safe for 7 years. He seems to forget that 9/11 happened on Bush's and his watch. And guess what we are still safe under Obama. And, Obamas even killed Bin Laden and did a good job with the pirates in Somalia as well. Yes unemployment is stll too high, but that was in the
  24. This is a decision that the PLC should make. If they decide to have inspections the SPL and PL should inspect the tents with an adult leader present but not doing the inspecting. Also, the adult tents should be subject to inspection by the SPL with the Scoutmaster or other adult in charge if the Scoutmaster is not at the particular event. In scouting what's good for the scout is good for the scouter.(This message has been edited by johnponz)(This message has been edited by johnponz)
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