While Hans certainly has a right to his own opinion, I'm not happy that he touts himself as an 'Eagle Scout' and then promotes his views of racial hatred, chauvinism, intolerance and bigotry. In his 'article' entitled The Death of Canadian Scouting, his views do not do justice to the Scouting principles.
As a parent of children of both sexes active in Scouts Canada, and a Beaver and Scout leader myself, (and YES a woman!) I'm ashamed that the Scouting organization has members who still hold prejudices such as Hans. How can the following paragraph, which I've taken word-for-word from his article, be a bad thing?
[scouts Canada's new non-discrimination code reads: "Scouting is a worldwide, multicultural movement. We welcome people to membership regardless of gender, race, culture, religious belief, sexual orientation or economic circumstances. Youth members are strongly influenced by the behaviour of adults. We need to be sensitive to the traditions and beliefs of all people and to avoid words or actions which "put down" anybody."]
We teach our Beavers to share, help family and friends, and help take care of the world.
We teach our Cubs to do a good turn for somebody everyday
We teach our scouts to help other people at all times, to be helpful, kind, trustworthy and considerate
Venturers are challenged to help other people at all times
Rovers promise to help other people at all times
Leaders, as role models, are to uphold all of these beliefs
The Scout Law states:
A Scout is helpful and trustworthy,
kind and cheerful,
considerate and clean,
wise in the use of all resources.
Hans says "I say good riddance to Scouts Canada. They ceased to serve any useful purpose the day they became all-inclusive, all-sensitive, and all-tolerant. The Scout Oath and Scout Law are obliterated in the land of the red maple leaf north of Parallel 49."
I guess Hans doesn't believe that the scout law should encompass EVERYONE, not everyone except (in Hans' words) "females, atheists, agnostics, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals". Hell NO! In Hans opinion, Scouts should only be helpful and trustworthy, kind and cheerful, and considerate to other human beings only if they meet a certain criteria. I, naively, thought that his type of thinking went out a few generations ago. At the very best, I believed that it existed only in the deep south of the USA where discrimination runs rampant. Since I see that Hans is an American, maybe I'm not wrong. I'm deeply ashamed that we have a person such as this in the Scouting organization. Thankfully, as an American Hans doesn't directly influence children in Canada. I certainly wouldn't want my children to be taught this type of discrimination by a person with such intolerant views and racial/sexist bias'.
My children, both the boy AND the girl, do serve a useful purpose every day of their lives, as a member of and in the service of Scouts Canada. I'm proud of Scouts Canada's views and tolerances. I'm proud to belong to an organization that is open to fighting discrimination of gender, race, culture, religious belief, or sexual orientation. I'm proud of my son, who is a Scout in Canada, and I'm proud of my daughter who is a Scout and also a member of the Saskatchewan Service Corps.
I'm glad that Hans is not a Canadian, and I wish he were not a Scout member. Hopefully the majority of the Scouting members in the United States do not hold such a poor attitude as Hans. I think all of the websites publishing this article should be ashamed to be a party to spreading such hatred and intolerant views.
Is Scouting in Canada Dead?
in Scouting Around the World
Posted
While Hans certainly has a right to his own opinion, I'm not happy that he touts himself as an 'Eagle Scout' and then promotes his views of racial hatred, chauvinism, intolerance and bigotry. In his 'article' entitled The Death of Canadian Scouting, his views do not do justice to the Scouting principles.
As a parent of children of both sexes active in Scouts Canada, and a Beaver and Scout leader myself, (and YES a woman!) I'm ashamed that the Scouting organization has members who still hold prejudices such as Hans. How can the following paragraph, which I've taken word-for-word from his article, be a bad thing?
[scouts Canada's new non-discrimination code reads: "Scouting is a worldwide, multicultural movement. We welcome people to membership regardless of gender, race, culture, religious belief, sexual orientation or economic circumstances. Youth members are strongly influenced by the behaviour of adults. We need to be sensitive to the traditions and beliefs of all people and to avoid words or actions which "put down" anybody."]
We teach our Beavers to share, help family and friends, and help take care of the world.
We teach our Cubs to do a good turn for somebody everyday
We teach our scouts to help other people at all times, to be helpful, kind, trustworthy and considerate
Venturers are challenged to help other people at all times
Rovers promise to help other people at all times
Leaders, as role models, are to uphold all of these beliefs
The Scout Law states:
A Scout is helpful and trustworthy,
kind and cheerful,
considerate and clean,
wise in the use of all resources.
Hans says "I say good riddance to Scouts Canada. They ceased to serve any useful purpose the day they became all-inclusive, all-sensitive, and all-tolerant. The Scout Oath and Scout Law are obliterated in the land of the red maple leaf north of Parallel 49."
I guess Hans doesn't believe that the scout law should encompass EVERYONE, not everyone except (in Hans' words) "females, atheists, agnostics, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals". Hell NO! In Hans opinion, Scouts should only be helpful and trustworthy, kind and cheerful, and considerate to other human beings only if they meet a certain criteria. I, naively, thought that his type of thinking went out a few generations ago. At the very best, I believed that it existed only in the deep south of the USA where discrimination runs rampant. Since I see that Hans is an American, maybe I'm not wrong. I'm deeply ashamed that we have a person such as this in the Scouting organization. Thankfully, as an American Hans doesn't directly influence children in Canada. I certainly wouldn't want my children to be taught this type of discrimination by a person with such intolerant views and racial/sexist bias'.
My children, both the boy AND the girl, do serve a useful purpose every day of their lives, as a member of and in the service of Scouts Canada. I'm proud of Scouts Canada's views and tolerances. I'm proud to belong to an organization that is open to fighting discrimination of gender, race, culture, religious belief, or sexual orientation. I'm proud of my son, who is a Scout in Canada, and I'm proud of my daughter who is a Scout and also a member of the Saskatchewan Service Corps.
I'm glad that Hans is not a Canadian, and I wish he were not a Scout member. Hopefully the majority of the Scouting members in the United States do not hold such a poor attitude as Hans. I think all of the websites publishing this article should be ashamed to be a party to spreading such hatred and intolerant views.