LIBob

HELLO AGAIN ALL AND THANKS FOR THE MANY REPSONSES. I have been away from the forum a month or so (my son and I and some select friends, including the Taoist family have made this the "50-mile summer.") Thanks you for all your responses. While I remain interested in this question in a general sense, the specifics no longer apply. The family in question has decided that their kids will apply themselves to competitive swimming and that as a result they will not join scouting. They remain a very "outdoorsy" family, in fact next weekend I will participate in a camping trip

Hey VigilEagle, It's good to meet you. a quick aside: B-P spent a lot of time in Africa. He acquired a distaste for many of the folks he met there, (both his assigned enemies and his assigned allies,) and he acquired a profound admiration and respect for the Zulus. As he scouted for the British Army in Africa he often had Hindus, Muslims, and people of various African religions under his command. Some he loved some he hated. Legend has it that he developed two versions of the Scout Oath. According to one website (take it for what it's worth,): According to tradition,

Scoutfish: Taosits allow a wide kaliedescope of views on theism. One Taosit will tell you "we believe in one God." The next beleives in a trinity, the third belives in a pantheon, the foruth believes that strictly speaking ther is no god in the wesern sense. All who recognize "the Way" are welcome. Merlyn: So let me get this straight. You are not a scout now, you are not a scouter now. You have never been a boy scout. You have not been a scout or scouter in any status for half a century. But - you have "googled up some stuff" tha tays "scouting in discriminatory

Scoutfish wrote: Everybody who has answered LIBob - and coincidentally happen to be active scouters or parents of active scouts or religious - have stated that Taoists are welcome and have taken the time to explain that to LIBob with open welcoming arms. Yes. That has been the common denominator. Every active scouter who has taken the time to reply has said emphatically Taoists are welcome. I thank you all again for your replies. The BSA rules, strictly (or perhaps erroneously) interpreted may tend to indicate otherwise. heck, maybe some meaningless guy in Irving TX

Merlyn wrote: Seriously, Scoutfish. If the BSA says you have to believe in a god, and a member of a religion does NOT believe in a god, that pretty much means the BSA membership requirements exclude them. Lots of people like to try and dance around this, which I find pointless. Well, that't the thing about Taoists. If you back one into a corner (difficult thing to do), and made him/her argumentative (a darn near impossible thing to do since Taoists are by nature non-argumentative), you could, with a set of slick Socratic arguments back him/her into accepting - most Taoists will te

Hey merlyn how's it going? Your input is also welcome here but as I am relatively new to scouter.com it might help me if you could pin your advice to your own experiences in scouting. My own opinion is that since BSA includes Zoroastriansim and Meher Barbar(ism) among its religious awards, but excludes Taoism among its religious awards, then perhaps some powerful guy in Texas has made certain, unsophisticated provincialish judgements about Taoism and God. The many comments from active socuters on this forum have already convinced me that either a. that is not the case and I h

My thoughts on BSA religious awards (and how they relate to Taoism.) Travel to Asia, (I have), and talk to a dozen or so Buddhists (I have done that as well). - You will soon find that some Buddhists believe that Siddhartha, who became Buddha is one God among many. (some Buddhists are polytheists) - You will find others who believe Siddhartha, who became Buddha is the only God and the other so-called gods are, in the western sense, more like saints and angels. (some are monotheists) - Others believe that Siddhartha-cum-Buddha is the only supreme god but he had three (or eight) m

Scoutnut wrote: Really? Where did you read that? I would bet big bucks it was NOT in any BSA publication. Are you (or the author of the pronouncement you read "somewhere") well versed on the policies of all the Scouting organizations that make up "world scouting"? I am not sure where I originally read it. I am sure it was one like this (politically charged anti-scouting site) http://www.lava.net/~hcssc/boyscouts.html which claims The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) openly discriminates against atheists, agnostics, and secular humanists. The BSA also practices discrimination aga

I thank you all sincerely for your replies. The reason I started the thread is because I read somewhere that BSA is less inclusive than world scouting, and specifically disallows any boy who does not profess belief in a single monotheistic God.

Awwww money. Well hiking trips are cheap, so are fishing trips In my first troop each patrol had - a patrol axe - a patrol saw - patrol stove - patrol lantern - folding table - etc. We even had some very old (and very heavy) canvas tents. To go camping each kid needed very little money. - shares in a tent - shares in a ground cloth - sleeping bag - sleeping pad (I never used one) - pocket knife - canteen - flashlight - first aid kit - battery lantern. - mess kit. I can and did cram all my personal gear for a weekend campout into or onto a

Serious question I am very active in the local Asian American community (my wife is from Taiwan.) and so I know dozens (hundreds??) of Asian American families of various religions and beleif systems. One of the families that my family considers among our closest friends inquired about having their son joins boy scouts. The thing is, there are many types of Taoism. Some schools can be described only as monotheistic, some worship a trinity, others a pantheon and others believe that since no god is above "The Way," then no entity in the Western sense of God can possibly exist.

Oh I should add that I don't carry all that stuff to an troop meeting. That's hiking gear. In fact recently (summer) my son and I have taken so many hikes I have put most of that gear into a fanny packs (looks as nerdy as it sounds)so that i have most of my hiking gear in one place. Recently when it's time to hike I - grab the nerd pack - grab some water - get a map - leave a hike plan on the coffee table for my wife to see. - go hike with my son. What's really cool is when we leave our hiking boots at home an wear our "mud shoes." . . . .

Hmmm Shoulder pocket is for compass, (and map if map is small enough.) Left breast pocket is for minimalist survival gear (whistle, fire starter, fish hooks etc.) Right breast pocket is - for bigger maps and/or - for adult leaders to carry cell phones - something to sew temporry patches onto so that uniform proper does not get too worn out. Okay so maybe that one is not all so necessary. Pants: Front right pocket has, keys, pocket knife, empty bagies for plant and lef samples Front left pocket has . . . err umm . . room for whatever is necessary on this partic

Sheldonsmom wrote: "Single sex can allow for more focused learning. As someone else pointed out, boys act squirelly around girls and vice versa. Bing bing bing bing An since going co-ed can sometimes cause major (and not always positive) changes perhaps it wodl be a bd idea to force every troop, even those that are working to go co-ed. Perhaps it would be a bad idea to prohibit future scouts from joing a fully-functional boys troop. Heck even if making scouts co-ed change NOTHING about scouting proper, it woud certainy be a really major and irreversible marketing mak

I've been away from this thread a few days. Forgive me if I have missed some important info. . . . . If you've ever been a 14 year old boy or been around them (and I assume most of us have) it is a pretty safe bet that you have seen introducing girls into the equation makes for a vastly different experience than the experience a 14 year old boy gets from a "guys only" or "guys only but with a few mom's as leaders" experience. It does not matter if it is camping or band camp or computer camp at the local college. FOR THAT REASON I am 100% convinced that making troop

Lisabob said some great things above. In addition boomerscout asked >>"can you obtain copies of calendars from other troops to show as examples? Here is my son's troop calendar (complete) from 2009 http://troop229bsa.com/jan_dec_2009%20rev29.pdf here is his troops calendar for 2010 (complete thru august: http://troop229bsa.com/jan_dec_2010%20rev17.pdf Yes BSA is scout led, but the adults have to provide the framework. It can be a tough challenge at times, but I suggest you can still put one or more of the following "bugs in their ears." - we should have

I am very pleased with the responses. For my own part, I keeping my piece and filing this away under "ya gotta pick your battles," especialy since the relaxed dress code was adopted at the behest of the PLC. Still I'd like to see the scout shirts worn to troop meetings and more of an effort made to have the uniform worn more often. (At tonight's troop meeting several scouts showed up in swimming trunks and flip-flops, but because they wore the troop t-shirt they were "in uniform.")

Hmm interesting. For us "class B's" consisted of "scout tops," but not "scout bottoms." For you, apparently it was the other way around. Either way, my son's troop wears "Class C's" to troop meetings. though it was a PLC decision I object to it. Since that is my only objection, I guess I don't have a real objection. Still I think every scout should show his rank (experience) at every meeting. Scouting is not about buildig some sort of Gandhi-esque egalitarian society. It IS about saying "we are a camping/outdoorsmen community and certain skills/experience are important

Look Basement, and Pack, and the others advocating co-ed BSA, I am reasonably certain YOUR daughter would be a asset to BSA and a asset to my son's troop or any other troop. But going co-ed is not (only) about allowing in daughters like yours. - A. It is about enrolling girls who have no interest in camping who enroll only because their parents want them to develop such an interest. - B. It is about enrolling girls who want to learn camping and "how to catch, gut and eat a snapping turtle" and other outdoor skills BUT accepting along the way, parent-leaders who do not share

Well basement, sometimes I type before I think and sometimes I think before I type. but now that I am thinking before I type: Bottom line(s) with me are: - I am 100% opposed to co-ed troops. It failed in the UK, it failed grievously in Canada. Do NOT put the future of all scouting at risk to give one generation of girls a better chance to camp. Look you don't have to solve all of society's problems in one generation and risking the entirety of scouting to solve the "GSA is insufficently cmaping oriented" problem in a single generation is just plain foolish if you ask me. Relat

mbrownkc7, The scouts also recruit at my son's elementary school on "family night." But they have no deserts, no tents, no canoes, no ice cram, no pinewood derby kits, nothing but a table a sign ans some sign-up forms. Judging from the looks of it (all teh kids and parents ignore them)they don't get many kids.(This message has been edited by LIBob)

Alright well how about Les Stroud (survivorman) I mean. I know he is Canadian, but I think he'd make a great head of BSA. Or maybe Scott O'Grady (devoutly Christian F-16 pilot shot down over Serbia who survived six days by eating ants and wild plants.)

Many decades ago when i was a scout My first troop insisted that every scout must wear his full uniform ("class A's) to every troop meeting. My second and third troops allowed something we called "Class B's." We had to wear the full scout shirt but could wear clean practical jeans or clean practical hemmed shorts. (My first troop btw had the same "Class B" rule for marching into and out of camping events.) At my son's troop meetings these days. Kids wear something called "Class C's," which consists of Troop issued t-shirts (many of them ridiculously under or over sized) and wh

I am not even remotely familiar with NYLT. But (recollecting back 25 years or so)my old troop sent three of our boy leaders to something called "Brownsea Double 2" and it was the best thing that had happened to the troop since its formation. Now, maybe those three particular boys were the exception, maybe "Brownsea Double 2" had little or no effect on most participants, but from my limited perspective I cannot imagine why scouting would want to change something that worked so phenomenally well.

So anyway it is a hindu mudra (hand gesture.) While many mudra are symbolic I have not been able to find anything this mudra is supposed to symbolize. Rather (some) practiitoners of yoga meditation believe that making a gesture similar to the scout sign whie meditating will purify your blood and/or help "maintain the fluid balance in the body."