SaintCad

Ed, I see you didn't answer my challenge. In the story of the women visiting the empty tomb in the Gospels, how many people/angels are in the tomb? How do you explain this contradiction? Second, the Qu'ran is also the word of God as given to Mohammed, so should we also follow those precepts? Third, (and in this thread more importantly), do you believe that the Bible should be used to determine BSA policy at a national level?

I love this idea. As the Wolf Den leader, I am going to run a Bobcat class for ALL of the new boys over the summer so that they can start in Sept on their Wolf, Bear, and now Tiger achievements. We will even have a small ceremony at the first pack meeting where the boys "earn" their Bobcat badge then "join" their den.

"Do you believe in God? is a rude and improper question?" I wouldn't call it rude, but wouldn't it be awkward if the scout replies, "I don't believe in God. I'm a Buddist."

My den is planning to do a lot of conservation work this year. Is it possible that a Cubby can win this award or is it limited to Boy Scouts or Venturers?

"Those who don't believe the Bible is God's word 100% true always point out these so-called contradictions but they never have any facts to back them up." Look up the stories when the women find the empty tomb and count how many people are there in each Gospel. But the point of this discussion was never "Does the Bible condemn homosexuality?" or "Should we allow menstruating women into a scout house?" or anything else we can look to the Bible for. The BSA does not use the Bible to set policy so (once again) is there any consistent non-Biblical rationale for the current BSA policy on ho

I was not accusing the Bible to be inconsistant, but rather people who only follow certain moral rules of the Bible and not others on equal footing. Did you know Joan of Arc was only found guilty of one crime? Wearing men's clothing in battle (Deut 22:5). Yet I assume you have no problem letting female scout leaders wear the men's khaki shirt as per BSA regulations. Read the Epistles of St. Paul. According to him, women are second-class citizens. Do you advocate this position as well or do you merely pull out the parts in which he condemns homosexuality? As for your comment about stu

>SaintCad, What are you going to change - the 1st Amendment? As the Supreme Court has confirmed, the BSA is not doing anything "wrong." So unless you wish to change the 1st Amendment, you can either follow your convictions and leave, or decide the BSA program, even in its terrible state (according to you), is more valuable than your convictions on this issue. Why should the BSA change the policy just because you think it is wrong? First of all, I never used a 1st Amendment argument, youre thinking of some other posters. The First Amendment does not apply to private organizations

But I thought a fluglehorn was simply a bugle with valves. I would prefer a cornet for my son (more practical and easier to learn) but I don't want him to make bugle calls that sound like calling to horses to the gate like a trumpet tends to sound.

"The policy is not going to change, so I'm not sure why we are going through this verbal excercise." Why not? Didn't the policy change once to exclude homosexuals when the LDS/Catholic Church demanded that BSA national policy reflect THEIR beliefs? "If the policy goes against your morals and your ethics, then you should have the convictions of your morals and ethics to leave the organization." So if something is wrong, either condone it or ignore it? What about working from the inside to CHANGE it? What you're advocating is that we should give up the a wonderful program like sco

"My morality comes from my upbringing and the Bible. To me, homosexuality is an immoral lifestyle. Why? The Bible, which is the Word of God, tells me so." While no one would dispute that the Bible is an admirable moral guide - even the BSA itself states that the Bible does not determine official BSA policy. But even if the Bible were the guide, BSA allows a lot of immoral behavior (as per Leviticus). Even if you simply go off of St. Paul's epistles and ignore the Old Testament, there is a lot of immoral behavior such as women going hatless in public (Corinthians). So why is ho

Can a flugelhorn or cornet substitute for the bugle in the Merit Badge requirement? What about for BSA events such as pack meetings, campouts, etc.?

Ed, While reviewing the thread, I noticed you asked me a question that I missed before, i.e. how homosexuals represent family values. Let's see: Be in a monogomous relationship. Support a child physically and emotionally. Help children grow spiritually. Support the child's education in school and teach the child through life experiences. etc. In fact, I can't think of one thing a homosexual can't do with their "spouse" or (adopted) children that heterosexual couples can except procreate, but that is also true for people UNABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN! So again I challenge you to g

bobanon, please do not confuse lack of a spiritual guide with atheism. Buddists (I believe) would be technically atheists but they have spiritual guidance. I'm sure all of those people you mentioned have a belief in something higher than themselves whether it's God, the Great Spirit, ancestor kami, or kismet. 2 Sam 1:26

I understand the ban on atheists. Can a person truly develop a moral code without a spiritual guide? I don't think so. However, I still can't wrap my head around this homosexuality issue. I'm not trying to pick a fight, but I'm thinking someone may have a viewpoint I'm just not seeing. My question is: why do homosexuals exclusively not represent "family values"? First, note that the answer cannot include Judeo-Christian ideals since BSA policy does not prefer one religion's views over another's. So no running to Leviticus 18:22 or the Epistles of St. Paul. Second, the answ

"So here's that unsolicited advice: please enjoy being a den leader. Please don't politicize your den by trying to introduce these issues to the parents, unless they themselves have a burning need to bring these things up (and even then, some controversial issues are better handled in one-on-one discussions rather than public pronouncements). Please focus the vast majority of your dedication and energy on the actual program and all those energetic, fun-loving, boys (and their families) whom you have chosen to serve." I would never politicalize in front of my students (and I consider my Cu

I don't see any problems with a few boys working ahead. I have 2 Tigers (technically Bobcats) coming into my Wolf Den in September and I expect them to take on leadership roles helping the new boys get through Bobcat and then any activities they've done over the summer.

"SaintCad, its hard to compose a thoughtful and complete answer to someone who asks a quesition about a policy and then in the midst of the question starts to demean, ridicule and otherwise berate the policy. I already know you don't really want an answer you just want to pick a fight with forum members who agree with the policy." I never demeaned, ridiculed, or berated the policy. I did use sarcasm at the beginning to show how homosexuality seems to be singled out as particularly odious to scouting. I thought this was hypocrasy based on favoring one religion's beliefs over another's de

Like I said, I've been a teacher for ten years and a Den Leader for a week so I guess I look at things like this as "teaching moments". I would think the main thing would be to talk to the Scouts to find out who needs be taught - and this doesn't have to be confrontational. Instead of saying, "Take off that illegal patch!" The conversation could start out, Wow! You have 3 religious knots? Good Job! Has your Scoutmaster seen those?" If the answer is yes, the it's a trip to the SM. If not, "You know usually you only need to wear one knot and two stars (or whatever the correct insignia is)

"Sounds like someone wants to pick a fight! I ain't gonna pick back! Ya won't get anywhere cause this poster has an agenda & nothing else!" I don't know who this was direct to, but as the OP I'll assume you meant me. I don't have an agenda, I merely want to know the reasoning behind this BSA policy. To me this policy was hypocritical - we don't favor one religion over another but national policy is based on Judeo-Christian values? Apparently BSA says that this is not the case so I'm willing to retract my judgement of hypocrasy. Instead they claim that it is about family

Having been a Cub Denmaster for a whole week, I know that I do not know how the hierarchy works for Boy Scouts. I know that in the military the Chain-of-Command is sacred and there is a system for getting information to a soldier/sailor that you are not in direct command of. That being said, let me take the teacher angle on this (That I've done for 10 years). Every adult on a campus is a teacher from Principal to Janitor. If something is wrong (like a uniform violation), any teacher can (and should) quickly and respectfully help the student (e.g. explain the uniform policy) and then go

Fold the pocket from the button to the point of the pocket plus a little further. Iron a crease. Place the Tiger badge along the crease so that the top corner is at the bottom of the pocket flap. (This is where the Bobcat badge goes) Mark the bottom of the badge with a straight pin. This marks the top of the tiger badge. Just line up the badge so that the top and bottom corners are on the crease. It will fall a little below the pocket.

"As one poster read on a previous thread I read, here or on a different website, "there is no place for sexuality in scouting." I cannot believe this topic is still being discussed. If the BSA wants to adopt their own policies and stick by them, good for them. They should be free to say that one cannot advance their sexuality and serve in a leadership role because it is their policy and they are a private organization." If there is no place for sexuality in scouting, then why does BSA make it an issue? No one is disputing that BSA can ban whoever they want from scouting, but ju

I am a new den leader but since all of the councils in my area are dark during summer, I need to wait to be trained. Strangly enough, I'd rather be trained BEFORE starting to work with the boys. Does anyone know why training is put on haitus during the summer and is anywhere I can get this training before September?

Clearly, Boy Scouts promise to follow Gods law (Im assuming the Judeo-Christian-Muslim God) and as such we exclude homosexuals (Lev 18:22). My question is why do we allow other violations of Gods Laws such as: Allowing people with tattoos as Scouters (Lev 19:28) Eating hot dogs with pork at campouts (Lev 11:7) Allowing menstruating women into the Scout House (Lev 15:19) Sarcasm aside, what is the current rationale for eliminating homosexuals from BSA. If it is a violation of a moral code, then why is that violation in particular being singled out and why now? Who sets the policy

I am new to scouting and just sewed the patches on to my den leader's uniform. Technically my uniform (and my son's) violated the rule that on the left sleeve that everything is touching (council patch, pack number, den leader patch) I did this because I saw how other den leaders would space out the patches so that the "trained" patch would be on the hem of the sleeve. But on the other hand, our leadership is so lacksidasical in their uniforms that the cubbies are to. When I saw my son as a tiger last year (other leader in charge) playing with his neckerchief, I told him that it was