AZMike

Amidst all the angst directed at Mark and Trail Life, I have to ask the question: What did you think would happen after the idiotic membership policy change??? If you want, I can go back and quote some of the posts on this forum at the time of the policy change where people demanding gay inclusion wrote, "if you don't like the new policy, go off and start your own organization!" Are you surprised when, after a change was made that was contrary to the religious beliefs of a large group of experienced, skilled adult leaders, some chose to do just that? And are you surprised when they t

Mark, thanks for dropping by to answer questions. Any idea (anecdotally or official figures) what percentage of people signing up were formally affiliated with the BSA and what percentage were never involved in Scouting? From your conversations with former BSA, what are the main reasons they are citing for switching over? The new membership policies, dissatisfaction with other BSA policies, or other issues? That seems like an awesome idea. Do they pay online as well? How does the chartering process work? If someone wanted to start a troop in a new area,

So North Americans should avoid admitting atheists, homosexuals, and transvestites at all costs, although the British may get away with it. Thanks for the heads up, Merlyn.

Truly, there is much our species can learn from the Whiptail Lizard. At least we don't have to keep them from penguins of the opposite sex like that unfortunate pair of bachelors in the Central Park Zoo.

If the figures cited are accurate, and I don't doubt they are, that's pretty impressive for a new organization. I'm curious to see whether that will level out, as I would have to guess there is a limited consumer population for outdoors-based youth leadership groups. http://www.christianpost.com/news/unapologetically-biblical-alternative-to-boy-scouts-experiences-dramatic-growth-119714/ A recently created organization described by its leadership as an "unapologetically biblical" alternative to the Boy Scouts of America, has reported major growth since its launch at the start of the ye

And there's Alcatraz, which is part of the National Park Service...

Well said, and your loyalty will be amply rewarded. If elected, I will immediately dissolve the electoral process and then appoint you the Duke of the Plains States.

I think keeping the discussion on "Faith in Action" is okay and a good idea, focusing on doctrinal issues (which may be weakly formed in young men anyway), probably not.

"Meet the New Boss, The same as the Old Boss..." You're now on the new order's watch list, Packsaddle.

A qualified "yes," which is close enough for me. I'm up to 4. Word on the street is that Merlyn and I are the same guy, so that's 5 right there.

My campaign motto: "Not Insane!"

That's three votes for me. (I will, of course, vote for myself to help usher in the new Golden Era.) Thanks, comrades. Like Stalin, I will reward absolute obedience with high-ranking crony jobs in my new regime. I sense a groundswell of support.

With all the comments from people on the thread about various concerns and changes they would like to see in BSA policy, I was thinking about something... Let's say the GSA decides that they want to expand and step up to do the things the BSA won't. They make some changes - some big, some small: They announce they will not exclude any youth on the basis of gender. Any boy can join the GSA. Perhaps to make it more attractive to boys, they rename themselves the "Scouts of America" or the GBSA (Girl and Boy Scouts of America). Or like the FFA, who no longer generally refer to themselves

If I were BSA president....? Combine the 3 Citizenship MBs required for Eagle into 1 badge - "Citizenship" - and add two outdoors badges (perhaps Wilderness Survival and Pioneering) as requirements for Eagle to replace the 2 eliminated ones. Make BSA stuff less about going back to the school classroom and more about the outdoors. Get in front of the narrative when the BSA is attacked. When the Disney Corporation denies its employees the opportunity to contribute their volunteer work hours to the BSA, fire back. Post an online petition to the Disney Corporation demanding that they sto

Fair enough, I didn't see or remember the ban on citing polls in the OP. My apologies. To get back to the OP, "So, the subject is: How do I have an invocation at a troop meeting that isn't painfully generic on the one hand and completely exclusionary of minorities on the other? This is compounded by the fact that the prayers I do see at scouting events, even those that are “non denominational,†tend to be completely foreign to me. That's because they are usually ad-hoc and I can't join in. Is there a Philmont Grace style of prayers? Dcsimmons suggested taking turns doing it ri

How is that relevant? The level of pseudo-scientific knowledge is high in both the religious and secular camps, and in both the liberal and conservative groupings of Americans

See below. I was incorrect when I said about 10% of Atheists believe in God. It's actually about twice that, or 1/5 of all atheists. Wow. See page 5. It breaks the respondents down by those who believe in God and those who beleive in an impersonal force. Words have meanings, as you have pointed out, Merlyn. It could be that there are a lot of people who are very unsure of what they believe, Or what words mean. Or a combination. Or other factors, like being asked about "God or a universal spirit" instead of just "god". It breaks down belief exactly

Under the terms of service for this thread, I have to avoid insulting other groups, and am obliged to say that I can't agree with your contention that over a tenth of people who identify as atheists are ignorant of basic English vocabulary. Happy to give you the cite, Merlyn. You may have been looking at a different Pew survey than this one, which breaks down the religious and non-religious categories quite well, and doesn't conflate the two concepts as the survey you are referencing did: http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/re...study-full.pdf. The survey was based on about 35,000

Just my opinion on how religion might best be interpreted for those religions who don't believe in a personal God, Merlyn. I think about such things. "The Boy Scouts of America does not define what constitutes belief in God or practice of religion." Ultimately, if a movement, such as Buddhism considers itself a religion, and has a conception of "God" sufficient for youths who are members of that movement to feel comfortable joining, and if adult members participate in a religious committee to support Scouting and award religious medals - who am I to say otherwise? Now, there ar

Well, again I don't believe in Karma. By the rules of this thread, however, I won't go into my philosophical or theological reasons . As I was asked, I gave the reasons I think the Buddhist conception of Karma/Kamma supports the argument for a transcendent objective moral system, and a supernatural (or, hypermundane) view of reality that I think would keep them in BSA as a "religion" in a way that other practices devoted solely to personal perfection, such as the Silva Meditation Method or EST or a practice of Zen meditation divorced from a religious perspective, wouldn't. I'm sure that some B

Under a Buddhist perspective? Probably not, although not all Buddhists believe in God or gods. I doubt that a Buddhist would argue that (to use the usual metric for total evil) an unrepentant Nazi officer would be excused for his behavior in his next phase of existence because his culture deemed what he did as objectively good, or because he thought he was doing the right thing. In the absence of a grounded moral standard that transcends humanity, human moral codes become merely aesthetic choices. This is implicitly recognized in most arguments on the objectivity of moral codes. If a part

I'm not a Buddhist or an expert by any means either, but Karma would probably be considered as such. It is neither matter nor energy and does not fit a materialist/reductionist view of the universe, and so could probably be considered as transcendent. While it can be argued that it is simply a recognition of spiritual causality, a cause, or a process, it affects the process of reincarnation and rebirth in some way. As Karma is affected by and in some fashion recognizes morally good and morally evil acts, it would seem to encompass objective moral standards.

As it is the official youth activity of LDS, that is probably due to the increase in Mormon evangelization and conversion, as the article notes.

And in the interest of fairness, I should say that I was apparently mistaken on whether Scientologists believe in God. I based that on the statements of a Scientologist co-worker, who told me they didn't. Doing some Internet research, I find that their official website says they do, (I think), or that leave it up to the individual - like Buddhism, I suspect they don't find it relevant to their interests. Their official website says they do have a "concept of God" - "In Scientology, the concept of God is expressed as the Eighth Dynamicâ€â€the urge toward existence as infinity. This is als