qwazse

You mean, like when Peter wrote this in his first epistle? "... our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,…" It seems like the Saints don't give us much room to favor one over the other.

Simply put, 'skip, sacrificial laws about food, etc ... were replaced by the the celebration of the Eucharist. Laws of order were left largely unchanged. (E.g. Romans 1 includes approbations against homosexuality, and gossip. The Apocolypse asserts that the sexually promiscuous are not welcome in the kingdom of heaven.) Punishments of violations of law and order were reduced (e.g. "let him who stole steal no more" and Paul's letter to Philemon to not treat Onesemus, a runaway slave, harshly) until Christianity became the imperial religion. At that point, there was a little mixing of principles. The Day of Worship was moved from the 7th to the 1st, Passover was outlawed, punishments for violations of order became harsher in some circumstance, less so in others. Throughout this, the vision of how people should comport themselves sexually remained largely unchanged. So, what we are trying to do with normalizing sexuality in this modern era is new, but calling it Christian is a bit of stretch to many. If anyone really wants to read the rationale for the traditional Christian stance on the matter, I recommend the scholarly works Robert Gagnon. He does try to put the point-counterpoint of both sides in decent order.

When the crew needs outside-of-the-box ideas, I ask the boys. When they need to implement them, I ask the girls.

I've certainly had boys tell me they were sick of hearing about it. At the same time, it's the issue of the day in nearly every sector of life in our divided country. (A very long day, starting in the 80s when so many young men -- not just the stereotypical homosexuals -- started dying of AIDS.) Although some see an inevitible trajectory, others see a backlash.

Nothing triggers a guy's hair-raising-on-the-back-of-the-neck flight adrenaline like a petit venturer dropping three throwing axes in as many seconds square into a stump from 10 yards out.

Those cogs are just what a district needs. By next year they'll be 13. I'd say put together your two-troop outing in the summer or fall, ask them if they are up for running something bigger, and if the answer is affirmative call your district commish and say that against your advice, four boys have an idea that they want to implement for the district for spring.

K. No stripping bare and bludgeouning one ahother to death. Got it. (Finally. We can only hope.) What you carefully omit, Moose, is that Jesus did not offer this woman a leadership roll in his movement. And it wasn't a sexist thing, because there were other women noted for their prominent roles in Church history ... after they cleaned up their act. It's the attempt at equating dispensation of mercy to granting ecclesiastical authority and the predictable reaction (a.k.a., "Love vs. Truth") that drives most post-modern rifts. We can have no doubt that this compilation of debit card transactions to be performed on a future date (a "fund" is not quite the right term) will grow. The membership losses would unlikely be that great. But strident conservatives will make no bones about scouting without the BSA. (In a sense, I see this happening with youth in western PA who go camping independently.) The net effect may very well be a local option of sorts.

I vote for "just grumpy". This is where an SM's responsibility to educate really has to kick in. As modern Americans, we seek to honor the greatness of the land's occupants from coast to coast ... not just those who may have been on the dirt we currently stand. That's why a day hike to the museum or historical society should be part of the scouting experience.

Ok, next time I have a kid diagraming the scientific method, I'll make sure he draws an additional bubble for "publication." Hopefully his teacher won't dock him for being cynical. So, say all the boys show up for a few meetings for your suggested pencil-whipping, then at pack meeting stand pretty in the picture sporting their newly awarded belt loop. ... What do you award the one boy who actually reads the requirment, goes home, and comes back with a page of readings (on ratty paper, terrible penmanship, clashing colors from grabbing whatever crayon was on top of the heap each day, no bar-graph, ... but compliant to a literal interpretation of the requirements)?

The cheap strategy is to print for each scout the Adventure Requirements and Insignia (link found here http://www.scouting.org/Home/programupdates.aspx)relevant to their rank. Have their parents put it on a wall or head board someplace safe from the usual 8-10 year-old's mechanisims of destruction. (Alternatively, the online scoutbook might be cheaper if everyone in the den already invests in internet connections.) Then, keep one or two book so the boys could read up on how to accomplish what they need to do during the den meetings. The DL keeps a paper chart, and colors in boy's progress. With the money saved, the boys can buy notebooks and that pizza. (Or, maybe the pieces to a window-box weather station that monitor on a daily basis.)

Oh dear. Another mine field! Nothing silly about it at all. "This month we learned how to compile weather data. Those were fun meetings! Maybe soon some of the boys will get awards once they collect their own data." Boys look cute. Everybody applauds. And they are all on notice to "observe and report!" That's journalism. A noble field. Our weatherman's a great guy and does a great job. Turns that NWS data into short stories 5 times a day. The boys love him. But, scouting -- the very definition of the term -- implies observation. It is by no means something to be read about. It is something to be practiced. A week's work, imitated by an evening activity: paper belt loop.

More importantly what color is it?

Let me add: Once again National is listening to the voice of marketers and printing full color materials that should be produced in black and white for a fraction of the cost. Increased cost -> raised barriers -> reduced involvement.

Parents always bought the books for our Cubs. Regardless, someone's out one party! I foresee a lot of dens figuring out how to share a book or two. For something like that to work really well, the boys would have to live in close proximity.

BP, I would agree with you if the existing programs were executed with integrity, but as shown in another thread ... http://scouter.com/index.php/topic/27086-informal-poll-strictness-of-requirements/page-2?do=findComment&comment=414342 ... many units have translated "Do your best!" to "Don't want to try? Don't worry, we'll do the requirements so you don't have to!" Of course, if that same attitude leaks into STEM scouts. It will have the same problems. But, for the moment, it seems the folks starting labs are not so badge-crazy as to compromise integrity.

So, now we know why we need STEM scouts. Because our cubs are not learning the notion of direct observation and scientific integrity. Let me ask, because some have mention concerns about a boy feeling singled out for not making rank ... if all the boys refuse to do daily observations, what's the humiliation in none of the den (aside from the odd boy who actually does the necessary achievement) making rank using that pin?

OK, I get it: distressed community. Attending two meetings on the topic is not a Readyman requirement. Knowing the material on emergency preparedness is. I bet latch-key kids are more likely to need to use the material. It sounds like you had a feeling this kid knew the material, you were pressed for time, so you moved on. That's not letting the kid slide, in my book. In general, dens are a victim of a broken program. A den chief could review the material, or the boys in the den could get the boy who missed caught up. Neither is "by the book", but when you're gagging on a smore and that kid is first on the scene, you want that pin to mean something. And if there's an unrwitten strategy that makes it so, all the better!

Since when is not giving a kid an award a punishment? The point of setting aside meeting time is to give parents a space to spend time with their kid and his buddies. But, it may work for some parents to use a different space at a different time. If they miss your opportunity, they are on their own. That's precisely what I did with son #1 for a couple of requirments (one was to visit a police station ... had to do it on a different night). You award every kid (and parent) who gets it done. The boys who don't get it done, tell them to keep trying ... and maybe give the parents some ideas on how they can do it on their own.

You are right. I would make an issue, at least with your boy. Talk to him and tell him that you won't let him have the award until he does the important part. This may mean Mom or Dad taking the time to do it with him. Get a special notebook or clipboard just for the purpose. The whole point of weather is not the clever instruments, but the persistent observation! Lacking a severe mental disability or having to live in a sealed bunker, there's no getting around that one. We have a similar problem in boy scouts with a 5 mile land navigation requirement. Folks have asked if a scout can just do 20 laps around a quarter mile track ... which misses the entire point. We need the boy at some risk of leading his patrol off the trail for a mile or so and then having to make a safe correction. A scout with a disability can do an alternative requirement involving road navigation. But, if he's not the guy with the map and compass dictating every turn, he's just joy-riding instead of scouting.

Will give the article a read over coffee. The the obvious crux: which scenarios in the long tradition of scouting constitute bullying. One observation in our shop ... the pattern seems to cut both ways. That is, kids with depression are vulnerable to future intances of abuse ... even if they had not been abused in the past.

I don't watch what our pack does, but they seem to be bringing up boys who love scouting so mind-your-own-buisness seems to be a reasonable strategy. But as a parent, here's a confession and a little bit of advice: I did let Son #2 slide on the thow-and-catch requirement. (He might have been able to go back and forth once, but catching projectiles twice was just not in his wiring. The boy could kick a ball across the field to his buddy until they both were punch-drunk.) One day he kinda sort caught a wiffle ball twice in a row, so I chalked it up to "do your best", told the DL, and he signed off on it. The guy eventually did learn to throw and catch. He just Eagled (BoR pending) in his own right and is starting on a stint as ASM. So, no harm no foul, right? Wrong! He still thinks I cheated on that one requirment for AoL, and reminds me of it from time to time ... more to point out that as a third child, a little more time playing catch with dear old Dad would have been welcome. So if you want the kid to look good for the photo shoot, be fast and loose with the bling. If you want him have no doubt that he deserved it, be strict.

Yeah, that's right. Go master that multivariate analysis ... when you're stuck, I'll offer tutoring at a reasonable rate ... or a less than reasonable rate, run the analysis for you ... you won't believe what I'm showing you ... and I won't believe you're trying to pay me to tell you what you want hear ... that's how it works. Bottom line with the bacteria experiment: Parts for enough watches in a box, shaken just long enough, not too hard, not too gently, and maybe a "1" will land beside a "2" on the dial at 12 O'clock and stick there ... that's what was roughly replicated. Generalize that to a much bigger box, much longer "shakes" at just the right amount of energy for a mind-numbingly long time ... and a whole planet full of Rolexes isn't as far fetched as some would make it to be. Or maybe it is, and we just so happen to find ourselves in the privelaged place in the universe where life-laden matter is frothing up as if someone just called up delivery pizza. And, yes, I have used all of the above in discussions with the boys. Just don't ask me to do it at every SMC.

I'm really not gonna take this too seriously. As ASMs in a troop that is quadrupling via merger, the outgoing SM and I are gonna support the incoming SM in however he wants to deal with this. My goal is to keep nebby noses away from the SMCs, and let the SM formulate his style. Frankly, the meat of these discussions never comes up in the SMC. More likely it will come when we are fishing by the lakeshore in twilight. When I'm actually stuck, I'll let you know.

Nobody's gonna grudge a Sea Scout who wants to earn the Summit award the chance to do so. Where practical, s/he should multiple with a crew ... it's more fun that way. Where it's not practical, I'm hoping his/her scouters will make it work for such an odd duck.