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Yeah, what he said ^_^. Except for the "adolescent view" thing. But, I guess that's one more reason I like the BSA. It's not a perfect compromise, but one that keeps a lot of houses of worship in the game. The alternative could be very much like what we have with the school system: fiefdoms of public works that alienate all manner of folks ... leading to them build their own highly coveted schools.

When I had become an atheist (around the age of 12, I started reading the Bible and very quickly realized that I couldn't believe what I was reading), I toyed for a few minutes with every Christian teenager's wet dream of total hedonism by being an atheist*, but I immediately realized that that was a false concept. So since neither Christianity nor the Bible would be my guide, what would? The answer came to me immediately: Scouting. Every moral precept that I could ever need was embodied in the Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan. Decades later when I read that Baden-Powell quote, it certainly l

I think it's more a question of where your blind spots are. My SM wouldn't took the 3rd commandment very seriously (not even an OMG). But he'd let us tell some pretty rare jokes. Also, some scouts are coming from a different starting point than others. Each boy is a negotiation between you and his parents. Then, we make it clear to a boy when an action is unbecoming of his oaths. Some boys need quite a lot of "warning." From the outside, it could look like we are very lax. But from the boots on the ground, if a boy is always on "lock down" you will never know if he's learned. (Of co

When I had become an atheist (around the age of 12, I started reading the Bible and very quickly realized that I couldn't believe what I was reading), I toyed for a few minutes with every Christian teenager's wet dream of total hedonism by being an atheist*, but I immediately realized that that was a false concept. So since neither Christianity nor the Bible would be my guide, what would? The answer came to me immediately: Scouting. Every moral precept that I could ever need was embodied in the Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan. Decades later when I read that Baden-Powell quote, it certainly l

When I had become an atheist (around the age of 12, I started reading the Bible and very quickly realized that I couldn't believe what I was reading), I toyed for a few minutes with every Christian teenager's wet dream of total hedonism by being an atheist*, but I immediately realized that that was a false concept. So since neither Christianity nor the Bible would be my guide, what would? The answer came to me immediately: Scouting. Every moral precept that I could ever need was embodied in the Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan. Decades later when I read that Baden-Powell quote, it certainly l

I have a pretty low bar for vacations. My scouting training has taught me to be content with the bare minimum!

Of course! But in high-demand years, each council is allocated so many slots. And if the majority of venturers who sign on are not Sea Scouts, then they'll all wearing green and grey. The way this could work would be that a council would announce that one of the crews in its contingent would participate as a sea scout ship. Maybe they have 2 dozen slots for venturers, and they allocate half to Sea Scouts. Let's way a half dozen Sea Scouts from that council sign up early. Those youth would then advertise throughout the area and region that they have six openings for any venturers who wa

Mt Hope would be hard on those dress whites!

NJE92, Agree with BD to a point. My boys do look for those silver knots, so wear that one proudly, but don't clutter up that field uniform pocket with so many other knots that it gets overlooked. You don't need any pins on your hat. Hats are not where anyone looks for your scouting history. They are for keeping the sun out of your eyes and the rain off your back. I've taught my boys to regard highly the fella with the weathered hat. Finally, keep in mind that the OA sash should only be worn when OA business is being conducted. I disagree with your opinion that the cubs need to know that th

P18A, you will find that crew advisors love to grouse about getting short shrift from National. But then again, why should National bother about the most rapidly shrinking program of the BSA? It's not enough to have one or two flash-bang crews in a district. To be of national importance, dozens of crews need to be in every district, touching base with one another and encouraging one another. We're simply not there yet. Think about it this way. Until parents in our packs start worrying if the troops they visit are partnered with crews, venturing will be of marginal relevance to the progr

Nice write-up! I hope a lot of boys read it. After a potentially sample-destroying equipment failure that one of our IT interns stumbled upon, I sat down with him and broke down the gravity of the situation. He had asked if we had to report this failure every time we reported from any analysis of these samples. My line was simply "We are nothing we we don't have our integrity." Life is riddled with attempts to avoid sweeping things "under the rug."

K. It's not a matter of slacking. It's a matter of the boy actually learning something. It sounds like you helped one boy learn. Now if I were the SM of the other boys in that class and knew what happened, I would not honor the blue cards because doing so is hurting the boys. I would probably have them go over to your campsite with a fresh pot of coffee or flowers or whatever and ask if you'd help them complete the requirements as written! Then I would have a sit-down with the camp director and tell him to not offer the course any more this summer until the MBC knows his material and pr

I think BD, brings up an important point. You are now a servant of your district. This shouldn't be too hard for you to handle because as CM, you've already know folks at your roundtable. So, if there is something unique that you can offer by way of adding variety to the program (especially for the Medicine and Geocaching MB's), don't hesitate to put yourself out there. Some troops might like the opportunity to have an introduction to the MB as a meeting topic. So if you have time to offer that sort of thing, you can. But, like BD said, avoid walking through all the requirements of th

Just putting it out there: "It's the Economy, stupid.". The centennial was three years earlier. Usually volunteers for things like is have four years to recharge the wallets. In a good ecomonmy, most of us would have a little fat to burn. In this one ... most of us are just trying to stop the bleeding. Lots of us have done that by passing on the big ticket items.

Plus keep in mind that anything you spend as an essential volunteer counts like a charitable deduction.

I think the general rule was about half fare.

I think most of us write here because we do like the BSA -- even if some of us had to deal with a dose of rejection. Some ways National has helped me: Jamborees - 'nuff said. Seabase - I wouldn't have a crew without it. Venturing - made scouting work for my entire family. Advancement - put my council in line when it questioning crew positions of responsibility for Eagle. So, I may be a bit of a scofflaw, but not hardly an anarchist.

K, you have out-of-touch Christians in your hills. I have out-of-touch internet snobs in mine! Answer "no." File the plan anyway by having the SPL write a hand-rwitten description of the the outing (sufficiently detailed), collect SM and CC signatures, and drop it in the mail to your council HQ. Their problem. Not ours. Adults take up the rear on most of our hikes, I'll have them trained on anything relevant to our needs by mile four.

For me, personally, it is a religious thing. My Lord, before beginning his ministry in full, spent an extended time in the wilderness. I suspect his ability to do that in his 30s was predicated on extensive experience early in life. Other religious traditions seem to have similar models. In a similar way, I want my youth to be "comfortable in their own skin" so that they will get the most of whatever their Maker has in store for them. I think that outdoor experience is what adds that particular value to scouting.

Went to camp last month. The only impact was a couple of boys on staff at cub world coming over to ask if I had any patches I'd like to trade.

I use the skeeter bait defense. There's something about my clean hide that draws the biters, so I tend to go a couple of days without one.

New mountainous adventure base ... highest attendance of female BSA members ever ,,, boys pay to serve ... Those aren't the stuff of headliness. We hate fat kids ..., now that's the kinda news my in-laws will repeat. BP and BD. A few of my buddies put their time and talent into this facility. I suspect we'll love it. Lot's of us around here don't know of any camp that isn't on a hillside, so we kind of take your heart pounding through your chest for granted. So yes, get in shape just like you would for Philmont.

Well, some of this is hype built on a simple formula: youth + one location + scouting = fun. So, what's different? - Youth. For the first time, co-ed BSA units (i.e. Venturers) were a part of this Jamboree. This is no big deal in the rest of the world, in fact, co-ed units from other countries have attended for decades. But, the general thinking was that Jambo was never meant for venturers, so the was a "there's nothing interesting for you here" attitude. Now for a lot of crews, there's still nothing interesting! (Lot's of venturers occupy their time organizing their own weekend sum

Think of it this way, all those years at AP Hill our boys were helping our servicemen learn crowd control and logistics. Something they wound up doing a lot of on deployment. I understand your misgivings ... Sounds way too much like a "land for peace" deal. Here's hoping that the boys come home with some better ideas for service in their neck of the woods.