Narraticong

"Tolerance" can sometimes be a lack of personal committment. The "I'm OK, You're OK" attitude is just that. By human nature we are weak and can not live up to our alleged (particularly Christian) beliefs. So, it becomes easier to "change" our religion to be more tolerant. If you do not have the strength or desire to live by the standards of your religion, then either get another one, or have none at all. That would be something I would respect you for. We have become afraid that by standing firm in what we believe is right, we might hurt someone else's feelings. What some

Be careful, Concerned. You may not be seeing the whole picture. The Scoutmaster who has a boy in the troop is in a difficult position. He has to be both Dad and Leader. I know, because that is me. My son (like all boys) has his difficult times. You may not think the Scoutmaster is dealing with the boy, but you don't see or hear what goes on during the ride home! Your Scoutmaster may (and probably is) be dealing with it. Try helping him out. When you see inappropriate action, step in. Many times a boy will respond quicker to another leader than he does to his own Dad. I know

Interesting discussion... I think OGE put it best in a way those of us with simple faith can understand. God created us all with Free Will. Yes, He knows every detail of everything that will ever happen. The term is omniscient (all knowing). But that darned old Free Will lets us make the call. And sometimes we mess it up despite our pleas to the Lord. The Lord does ALWAYS answer our prayers. The problem lies in the fact that we don't always hear back what we think we should hear. Sometimes the answer is very quiet and very subtle. If we do not hear it, it is ALWAYS because we

No, don't take away sarcasm! The aformentioned sarcasm was well said. In our nearly 40 year journey into kinder and gentler Scouting, many of the fun activites which kept more than a few of us interested in Scouting as boys have gone by the wayside. Life comes with risks. But in a controlled environment, tomahawk throwing (it's OK with me if you call it axe throwing) and knife throwing can be great fun. My twelve year old son has been throwing since he was eight. He learned it as part of his martial arts training. He also has a closet full of razor sharp samurai swords. He ha

CONGRATULATIONS!!! You said the secret word- FUN!!! You can do all the badges in the book, but if it's not fun, you will lose the boys. A few years ago when I was a Tiger Den leader and all the way through Bears, I thought Advancement was the goal. Well, it may have been for me...but if I had been listening to my son, I would have heard him telling me how boring the meetings were. By Webelos I started to figure it out. Make the meetings and outings fun and everything else will fall in place. We now have a year old Scout troop with those same boys. And we are growing steadily because

We did a door to door blitz Saturday with 10 boys. We sold about $900 in five hours of selling. Another $100 at a car show the next day. First time doing door to door for our troop. We delivered popcorn upon purchase. This seemed to work well, better than show and sells last year. We have a goal of $375 in sales per boy. It looks like we will make it on an average.

Shortridge, I agree with your comment- "But I have definite objections to unqualified counselors teaching edible plant identification, which would be central to such a program." I don't have the merit badge requirements in front of me, but it seems that one of the last requirements is to explain why consuming wild plants and animals is generally not a good idea. Sounds more like a bit of legalese to protect the BSA from lawsuits generated from poor counseling or poor learning! Having earned the badge in the 70's I know that we can survive a long time without food. But if we are

While our summer camp experience was generally outstanding, I did observe this one weakness. I thought it unusual for Space Exploration to be offered at camp. But I thought maybe there was a Scouter on staff with a particular interest in this area. If that's the case, then great! My first-time-at-summer camp son loves anything to do with Space and signed up. Turns out the "Counselor" was a 16 year old staffer with no experience in the area whatsoever. He was assigned to be the Counselor, and the Area Director signed off on the Blue Card. I have to say the staffer did ensure that

DAC fees are set at $1,500 for Jamboree. Seeing what others are posting here, that seems pretty reasonable. I know troop leaders have been assigned and are already meeting. Impressive so far!

LisaBob- Detroit Area Council seems to be very organized for Jamboree. Troops and leadership have already been organized. We turned in my son's application about two weeks ago and quickly received confirmation. As soon as $100 was turned in we began receiving communications. We already have received payment coupons for the balance and our next step is to determine which troop he would like to be in. It's our first experience with Jamboree but at least for Detroit Area Council, the process seems to be well organized.

The man being referred to was not a "Scouter", but a District Executive. There is often a very big difference between volunteers and professionals. Most long term, well trained volunteers are committed to the ideals of Scouting. They are the ones who understand why this was wrong even if the boys did not notice. On the other hand the committment of professionals to the ideals of Scouting is sometimes questionable. Many work for BSA because they want a career working with kids or with non-profit organizations. BSA is often no more than a career stop. Many I have seen lately have no b

One of the best definitions of "Trustworthy" I have ever seen is this: TRUSTWORTHY MEANS DOING THE RIGHT THING WHEN NOBODY ELSE IS LOOKING. You see, it is as simple as that. Yes, Scouts have an ethics base that goes back a long way. Earlier than the 1950's even. Maybe as far back as that fellow Moses? The 10 Commandments are still good "guidelines" as are the 12 Points of the Scout Law. They'll do for me...

Lots of good information provided here! I'll try to add a little more. I am the Scoutmaster of a troop which started in June of 2007. We basically took a Webelos 2 Den of five boys and created a troop. Normally the boys would cross over in February, but we opted to stay with the pack until June. This enabled us to spend our "spare" time setting up the troop. Chartering was the easy part. Lots of help from fellow Scouters and professionals. Remember, new units are like gold to DE's! The part that really took legwork was equipping the troop for activities. Yes, much came from my poc

I did the same thing last night, LaurieBear! There was no way my hand was going to fit in that pocket due to the "pencil pocket". I was able to sew my Scoutmaster patch on to the sleeve pocket. What a pain!

A topic in another section dealt with a young man approaching his Eagle BOR, but concerned with his drug related felony. From his postings it seemed he was sorry for his deeds. But research by some among us showed that was perhaps not the case. Like many others who wear the Eagle, my first thought was that he did not deserve to be one of us. But then I considered my own failings. Alcohol, partying, many times I broke my oath as a young adult. Luckily, I never acquired a police record, although I probably deserved it. By the time I turned 30, I straightened up, married, and becam

Hmmmm. I usually think of "A Scout is Reverent" when I consider faith and Scouting. But then there is "Duty to God"- big "G" not little "g". So what does that mean? I am not asking how does BSA interpret it so to be politically correct and inclusive of all religions. But using the "reasonable man", approach, I think it may bring us back to a Jewish / Christian / Muslim perspective. Do other "religions" refer to their deity as "God"? What did the founders of Scouting intend? I must admit I am not enough of a Scouting history buff to know exactly. I may have to reconsider my though

I think we all agree it is "required" of a youth to believe in a higher power. Then is the only "test" of that his positive response? If so, why waste time talking about faith at BOR? As an organization, me make a big deal out of "A Scout is Reverent", but we are absolutely non-committal in what that means. Why are Wiccans not approved? By our own standard, they are as valid as my own Lutheranism. It matters not what he believes in, only that he believes in something beyond himself. Maybe rather than making it a requirement at all, we should just "encourage" reverence. That woul

Back in my wise-guy, teenage years, it stood for "We Want Women". I don't remember that we ever had success...

Perhaps the Wiccans and their Scouts need to get together and develop an award if they feel a need for one. Same with any other "religious" group. BSA has an obligation to recognize any and all belief systems as being viable if a Scout claims it as his own. In America, it is surely not our place to tell someone whether they have a "viable" religion or not. The idea of the "Option A" or "Option B" for Boy Scouts is not only reasonable but long past due. Maybe at the First Class level. BY then a boy should be able to articulate his beliefs. I'm 100% in agreement with having a Boy

Both of our Den Chiefs were proudly wearing their Den Chief Achievment Award cords at their Scoutmaster's Conference and Board of Review Tuesday night. They both earned First Class. Neither of these boys are super-achievers, just "good Scouts". They are not afraid to take on challenges. At summer camp, one of our DC's (also the current SPL of our young troop) was the only 12 year old to complete mile swim. As Scoutmaster, I have a hard time telling a boy "no" when he wants to try something. I may think he is going too far out on a limb, but he will never find that true sense of a

I can speak on this situation from a current, real world perspective. A year ago, having just created a new Scout Troop from a Webelos Den, I still had a very close relationship with the Pack. I had always wished we had Den Chiefs for our dens, but it just never happened. One of the first things I did was offer our Scouts as Den Chiefs to the Pack. The leadership jumped at the idea. With less than three months experience and holding the lofty rank o "Scout", two of our boys became Den Chiefs. One took on a Wolf Den of 12 boys. The other a Webelos 1 Den of 4 boys. I met with both Den

Having just been to PTC for the first time last week, I feel qualified on this one. It was about $700 for both my 12 year old son and I to attend. Well worth the money. No question. Case closed. The cost comes in transportation. Airfare, hotel, and rental car brought the total cost over $2,000. Still worth it? You bet. Both of us agree we'll go again as soon as possible. The cost could be problematic for some. But would your CO cover part of the cost? Is the portion directly related to the volunteer tax deductible? Probably. Like anything else, with some effort you can

So we have now been back for two days. What a great place PTC is! All of the tips everyone passed along were very helpful. Drink lots of water. Lots of critters- including coyote serenades. I did find the food to be better than tolerable, and often very good. Menu seemed to be geared toward adults, but just about always were ok by my 12 year old son. Cobbler night at the tent city was outstanding! Conference on Lutheran Scouting was very informative and a great chance to pick brains with other Scouters. It was nice to meet John-in-KC in real life and now be able to place a f

OK, silly question... I have one of those "Indiana Jones" style Scout hats, not the Campaign Hat, but the more casual one. I was thinking of bringing that to get branded. But my wife suggested that the felt would likely burn. Yes? No? Take my chances? What are some other items people have gotten branded?

Cheerful service and promotion of camping have always been strong traditions in the OA. New Brothers quickly find that their fellow Scouts may have elected them for their past efforts, but the Ordeal quickly makes it clear that they will not rest upon their laurels! In Detroit Area Council, the Brothers of Migisi Opawgan Lodge 162 work tirelessly in maintaining our camps. Being an active ranch, D-Bar-A has miles of fence to be painted each year. Without the OA Brothers, this 1,700 acre camp could not be maintained. The Lodge also runs an annual Lincoln Pilgrimage outing for Cubs and o