NJCubScouter

Good job Campfire Fairy! I suspect that the "fun" your grandfather makes of you for your "I knew the answer dance" pales in comparison to the eye-rolling I get from my teenage and near-teen children for my "I knew the answer dance." Not to mention the "wave" when I run an entire category (even if the contestant(s) also knew the answers. The single-question dance is saved for when none of the know-it-alls winning thousands of dollars for being on the show knew the answer.)

My son's pack did Toys for Tots as well as holiday (Christmas and Hanukkah) caroling at some (usually two) nursing homes. At the pack meeting before the nursing home visits, the boys make crafts (holiday-themed) to give as gifts to the residents. Now that my son in the troop I am not seeing anything like this... the only acknowledgment of the holidays is that our annual fund-raiser is a wreath sale. Ti$ the $eason, I guess. I'm not knocking it, it's a great fund-raiser... we apparently have a florist connection who gets us the wreaths literally at his cost. I think the troop's profit

I'm going to jump in here and answer Zahnada's questions, and DS can correct me if I'm wrong, but I am pretty sure I'm right. I'm changing the order a bit. If a scout says, "I'm gay" but has never committed any homosexual act (and therefore never violated those particular moral guildlines), is that still grounds for removal? First let's make it a leader and not a Scout because from what I have read on the BSA web site in the past, the procedure is not exactly the same for a Scout. As I recall, there is some sort of "counseling" that is supposed to happen if a Scout says he is gay -

On the "geekiness" issue, as someone else has pointed out, it is not even clear whether James Dale used that term, and if he did, it appears that he was not using it to denigrate the BSA. I think, as has already been discussed, that he was discussing the perception of others outside the BSA. In any event, "geeky" or its derivatives is a pretty mild word as insults go, and depending on the context, it may not even be an insult at all. When applied to a teenager or pre-teen, it often means someone who has chosen to do what his teachers and parents have taught him to do, even though most o

Rooster says: Second, whether its declared in government documents or not, we are a nation primarily composed of Christians. Just to nitpick a little here, we are a nation composed mostly of Christians, or to put it even more accurately, a nation whose population is composed mostly of Christians. "Primarily" has a different connotation, more than just numerical. More importantly, Rooster, I would like to ask you and any others who believe that this is a "Christian nation," one question: And before I ask it, I know that when I was selecting the first proper noun in the ques

Hmm, that link doesn't work. But if you copy and paste it into your browser address bar, then it works. I guess it is because the link is broken up, but I'm not sure why that happened. When it is copied and pasted, it becomes re-united again.

Big Dog says: BTW, have you ever noticed the ACLU is all about free speech unless that speech involves religion? Actually, I have noticed the opposite. The ACLU has been involved in several high-profile cases on behalf of people or groups claiming that the government was infringing on their right to free exercise of religion. I went on their web site to confirm that, check out this page: http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLibertylist.cfm?c=142 One of the articles is about a case where Jerry Falwell filed suit against the state of Virginia, to challenge a state

I will of course bow to KoreaScouter's superior knowledge of things military. It just seems to me that there would be a better way to do this.

Yeah... it does seem a bit odd. I could see if someone was hospitalized in some mobile hospital in the mountains of Afghanistan, there might be a bit of a supply problem. But if someone is at Walter Reed, I would hope they could give him a magazine or a pen. Also, for some of these items, it seems to me that it would cost more for the Red Cross to handle all of these small individual items coming in from all over the place... check the "snacks" and make sure they haven't been tampered with by some nut... check the "phone cards" and make sure they actually have time on them... and whatever e

Region 7 Voyageur says: Jesus of Nazareth was a real person. I personally believe that he was both man and God. My understanding is that the Hebrew and Muslim faith tradition believe that Jesus existed. The United States holiday honors the man, not the religion. If this were not true then the ACLU would be actively working to eliminate the federal holiday observed on December 25. I have not heard of any call by any group to eliminate Christmas as a federal holiday. I disagree with part of this. Christmas is a Christian religious holiday that the United States government (and every o

SR540, a couple of years ago when my son was still in Cub Scouts (probably in the fourth grade) I had almost exactly that conversation with him. I told him about how I, as a Cub Scout, wore my uniform to school every week, then walked to the den mother's (not "leader" yet) house for the den meeting right after school. (And as someone else mentioned, when we said the Cub Scout promise, it included "to be square.") I told my son sort of half-jokingly that maybe he and his den should do that (wouldn't work anyway because all the den leaders worked during the day), and he said, Dad, I would be

Which article? Commenting totally out of context, I would say that there have always been some people who have called Scouting "geeky"... or before that, "nerdy"... or before that, "uncool"... or before that, "square"... or before that, whatever people who didn't understand the program called it. The sad part is that there are a lot of kids who pay attention to the name-calling, and quit (or don't join) as a result.

If the Scarlet Knight carries a sword or a lance, he (or she) will still be the target of reformers--several mascots have had to give up their muskets, etc. Heh, heh, heh. Not so far, anyway. I think there are some depictions of the Scarlet Knight with a lance, but so far the Lance Control Movement has not made its presence known. I forget whether the "live" incarnation of the knight at games carries any implements of destruction. Of course, that reminds me of yet one more thing that raises an "issue" today. In high school, our arch-rival team's nickname was the Eagles, leading

When these "mascot" discussions come up, I always consider myself lucky that I attended a college whose teams are the "Scarlet Knights." (Purely by coincidence, my high school had "Scarlet Knights" as well, the only change was from Scarlet and White to Scarlet and Black.) So far, no descendants of medieval knights have presented any petitions to change it. Plus, on the official signs and logos at least, the Scarlet Knight's face is completely covered, so I suppose the face under the helmet could belong whatever race, ethnicity, religion -- or gender -- that any particular observer wishes it

I don't consider it inconceivable that in the past, especially in the South, that a troop might have been sponsored by some organization that was racist--but I certainly find it inconceivable that such a relationship would exist today. Hunt, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe I should have mentioned it in my earlier post, but I was really dealing only with today. While it seems doubtful that the KKK itself would have been a CO at any point, other segregationist organizations may well have been. It should be kept in mind that up to a certain point during the civil rights era, there we

Or, someone joining the BSA and being upset to find so many traditional values! Ha, ha. I love the values of the BSA. The real ones, not the political one.

Acco, just to make it clear, I am not talking about mascots. If you were responding to hops, ok. If you were responding to me, I think the OA is in a different category. If you disagree, that's ok, it means we only agree 99 percent of the time instead of 100. Adrian, pretty funny about the Vandals. But you want to make sure that if you are at a Vandal tailgate party, they are not parked too close to the Visigoths, that could be real trouble. To say nothing of the Huns.

Adrianvs writes: Not quite, NJ. Most who study "Nazi Affairs and the Holocaust" aren't Nazis or sympathizers. I can't argue with the second sentence, but I can argue with the first. There is a difference between a philosophy that is almost completely a matter of history, as Naziism fortunately is, and a philosophy that has a large number of current adherents. If Mr. Prager was a student specializing in Soviet studies now, you would be correct, because the Soviet Union is history. Marxism is largely history too, though not completely (and we could discuss whether China today is rea

I had been under the impression that the YMCA had already changed the name of Indian Guides to Y-Guides, several years ago. Maybe I was misinformed, or maybe this was just something someone wanted to happen, or maybe they changed the name but kept the "Indian" regalia, chants, etc. and now those are being removed as well. I don't really know anything about the program; when I was a kid, my "Y" was the YM/YWHA (Young Men and Women's Hebrew Association) and I don't think they had "Indian Guides." All I really remember doing there was swimming and some field trips in the summer. So I can'

Maybe I'll comment on the main point of this later. For now, I can't help being amused that this guy chose to devote his graduate studies to "Soviet Affairs and Marxism" at the "Russian Institute" (in the early 70's, according to a bio I just found on the web), and he was shocked and upset to find so many Marxists. That sounds like someone majoring in biology and being upset to find so many plants. (I do understand that in the social sciences, one may study things that are contrary to one's own views, either just to understand them, or to try to figure out how to change them. But when you

FOG asks me if I have: ever heard of "morally straight"? Uh, yeah. Of course, one need not be "straight" in his sexual orientation to be "morally straight." By the way, Umpire Bob is blind. I haven't seen his vision test results. However, I do notice that you two see "eye to eye" on the exclusion of gays from the BSA. (I am so funny.) Also, while I have been staying out of the "BSA as religious organization" debate, I can't help commenting on this: Based on this statement alone, the KKK, Black Panthers and the IRA would be good Charter Partners. Fortunat

Ooh ooh, I knew, I knew! I saw the that wasn't there. I think TwoCubDad is getting ready for the club circuit. I think that at age 10-11 boys are at a very basic level as far as questions about a Scout troop. Basically all in the "what will I be doing" range. And not, what will I be doing when I am 16, or even 13 -- what will I be doing now. Since they have been Webelos, the questions may express themselves in how things will be different now that I am in Scouting. More frequent meetings of the "whole group" (the troop), parents generally not there unless they are a leader, more fr

FOG says: No where is it explicitly stated what the values of BSA are. Those values must be inferred and interpolated from other statements by BSA. Hmmmm. . . now just where does it say in those statements that homosexuals are not good role models? Funny you should ask. It doesn't say it anywhere. Of course, this is a poor example of what you are talking about anyway, because the anti-gay thing cannot really be "inferred" or "interpolated" from the Oath or Law, either. Other things can be, though many of them are right in the Handbook in the descriptions under the points of the O

Packsaddle, thank you. You are a gentleman as always. And you are correct. Hunt, you are correct also.

Left this out: FOG, do you really deny that the "past" is a relative term? That was really the whole point of my quotation. Or to put it another way, there is not mathematical measurement to determine when a particular past act or practice is "ok" because "standards" have changed from then to now. What you are really saying is another version of the old line, "the winners write the history books." This is true, though it is now in conflict with a more recent trend to write history as it actually was, and not just from the "winner's" standpoint.