berkshirescouter

I would definitly call it in the 'Gray' area and not for a Scouting activity.

When I interviewed for my present job I stated up front what I would be working as far as holidays go. This was accepted. If it had not been I do not know what I would have done at the time. There are laws on the books but how they are used or abused can cause more problems then they are worth. A company's policy in this area could also go back to its ethics in general (Look at Enron). Would you work for them? Scout Oath and Law vs company policies what would you do?

You are correct in your point, a question of a work around can be asked of the the Reformed where it would be an insult to ask an Orthodox. However if the Reformed does want to observe the Holiday that should be the end of it.

littlebillie My point was that if someone is Jewish and wants to observe the holiday is does not matter that they may be Reformed. "A Reformed may very well not mind" but he may and thats all that matters.

Let me say up front, as some of you know, I am Jewish. My own employer has given me personal days which I take for these holidays. I am a field engineer and travel nationwide/worldwide 100+ days a year (I also make almost every Scout campout and summer camp). I make a point of giving notice that I will not be working on those holidays and will, if I am on site go to services there. The customers always understand one even set it up for me (he was Christian!). I also will fill in on Easter and Christmas whenever possible. If you are up front there should be no problem. BTW wether someon

My son, who gets his Life patch tonight, has completed the Den chief training. The feedback I get from the Den leader is they are thrilled to get a Den Chief. I had asked them if they wanted a Den Chief, my son wants to go into childhood education so it was a good way to find out if he could handle it. I have watched the den meetings and I have to agree that the age difference is important, my son is 15. The Den Chief program has been a win win issue for both the Den and my sons maturity and leadership skills.

The web site is http://www.thesongofthesouth.com/html/boyorder.htm I bought the tape. The quality was ok not great. I do wonder if the company has the rights to sell the tapes/DVDs. Can anyone confirm if the movie is for sale in PAL format overseas. If so this may be how they can do it.

My son wrote this one, the troop didn't like it but it was a hit at Den chief training. Scout one: Starts singing "Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam..." Scout two: At this point he yells "stampede" the rest of the troop, patrol, pack, den or whatever runs across the stage! Should be fun for tiger cubs.

I would like to turn the question up side down. If the BSA were denied a HUD grant because they are a faith based organization wouldnt that be discrimination on the basis of religion? Could you also say HUD was then promoting non religion, that is Atheism? Food for thought?

Hi and welcome! I will say it first and am sure others will follow. Make sure everyone is trained. This will help get everyone on the same page. You said these other committee members do JLT. How is the training? Does it conform to published criteria? Have they been qualified by anyone to train? I hope these questions help.

Results are more important then politics. When the BSA does not turn out leaders then we are in trouble. My sons troop was at the Naval Academy a few months ago. We were told that they look at results. Eagle scouts start off as 8% of the student population and end up after 4 years at 14%. The only other group that increases like this is National Merit Scholarship winners. This is our strength. Parents who want their children to succeed will be involved.

Here is my two cents; Could the BSA use of the word 'avowed' with no applied definition be a way to have local option on this question without calling it that? TJ if you don't advocate in public or in front of the scouts maybe national feels there is no issue. It looks like don't ask don't tell has always been there.

Though I am not working in the defense industry now I used to and I was submariner. The $600 toilet seat etc. though extreme has a reason. In a combat environment all products must be tested to meet standards that in normal life would be a dont care. The best example was the cover on a flashlight switch to keep it water tight. You could buy one for 5 cents but the Navy paid $5.00 each for them Why?, because if they caught on fire the gases expelled could not be toxic and thus they had to be tested for this. It would not be good if a death was caused by toxic fumes when it could have been

Sctmom You have done the greatest thing a parent can do, you have been involved from day one. Well done! My own son was diag. at age 4 with a form of Autism called Asbergers syndrome. He is very bright but social skills were poor. We were told to use behavior modification to help him. To make a long story short. He started scouting at age 13 he is now 15 1/2 and will be Life Scout in Feb. with a good chance to be Eagle, all on his own. The point of this is. If you are involved, and early, you can help the child overcome anything.

You were not required to attend service. It was your choice. The military does not require chaplains to be of any particular religion. This part is true but, if you deny the Military all clergy you deny free exercise. If you deny funds to religious groups in Collage you then discriminate on the basis of religion. The proper point is fund everyone or no one.

NJ I disagree. This logic could also be applied to Gov. supplied Clergy in the military. I looked foward to Friday night service at boot camp when I was in the Navy. I could not leave the base. When I was in collage many students did not have transportation so you only had what was on site. The money to the religous groups was no more or less then any other group. Also the money came from student fees not the state.

Here is a link to a FOXNEWS comment "Lawsuit May Redefine Discrimination on Campus" that speaks to freedom of association. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,74757,00.html It talks about how BSA's suit is having an effect in a far wider way. This goes to the center of this topic. (The link may have to cut and pasted to work)

Eisely It is my understanding that all employees of BSA must be registered adult leaders, therefor to be hired they must meet membership criteria. This allows them to restrict employment.

The health forms are what you need if you take someone to the ER. If the parent is not there that is your permission plus history. I agree there is a lot of sensitive info. there but as a leader that is part of the job.

I think the logic comes from 'the appearance' argument. If a woman lost a case and the judge was a member of say Augusta the charge of bias could be made. You can't prove a negitive so the charge would stick. As society gets more PC this appearance argument will, I beleive, get more and more complicated. At some point a scouter could make a charge to a Judge that he is biased because he does not belong to a character building youth group. BTW NJ I agree with you the only way to make changes in the BSA is from within.

Since Disney has the film out of print and has no plans of re- releasing it in the near future, where does Song of the South gets it's videos? Are tehy pirating the video and seeling it because there is a market for it? Their site does not address whether the videos are liscensed or not. It does make reference to the tapes being in new boxes with laser art. I will find out soon enough. I ordered it and will let everyone know. To all have a Happy Xmass and Merry New Year.

Here is the complete site name http://www.thesongofthesouth.com/html/boyorder.htm This works.

'There's a website called "songofthesouth.com"' This does not appear to be a good site name. Is there a typo?

More good news from the left coast. Scout Recruiting: Religious Separation Not Violated Appeals Court Rules PORTLAND -- Boy Scout recruiting does not violate church and state separation laws, according to the Oregon Court of Appeals. An atheist mother filed a lawsuit to prevent the organization from recruiting in Portland schools. She argued that the Scout oath requires a belief in God, so school districts that allowed recruiters on campus were illegally involved in religious activity. But the court rejected the argument Wednesday in a unanimous ruling.

In my mind a Menorah is a religious symbol, if it had a Star of David on it. If its just candles then its just candles. Just like a Christmass tree with no overt religous symbols on it is just a tree. It is what you make of it. In the same thinking the Star and Cresent are the symbols of Islam. Allow all symbols (of students represented at the school) or none. Then live and let live.