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Sentinel947

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Everything posted by Sentinel947

  1. Just a notice that the insults need to stop. I will be making edits moving forward. As to the topic of atheist/humanist chaplains, what's the big deal if they have them in the military? Chaplains are mentors and counselors. To a degree chaplains wear many hats and religious minister is just one of them. But what approving organization would approve humanist chaplains? I know for most Religions they have to be approved by a governing body.
  2. At my discretion, this topic has been moved to issues and politics as it relates to the membership policy debate. Duck foot, if you do not agree with the move, pm me. Good night ladies and gentlemen.
  3. Nice rhetorical games we play here. In regards to Religion and Geocentricism, Galileo was a firm Catholic. Historical revisionism has made him the Patron Saint of Secularism. Honestly, I think religious people and secular people are gonna have to learn to get along. That's going to take compromises that neither side really wants to make, so the culture war. Conservatives vs liberals, religious vs (humanists) Neither religion nor atheism/humanism is going anywhere. Scouting is at the focal point of this growing pain. It's said that Voltaire once held up a bible and said "in 100 years, this book will be forgotten" now his house in Geneva is owned by a Bible printing company, and Voltaire is still studied in any school that teaches history competently. Just a fun little tidbit that's only tangentially related to the topic. Let's all be civil. Nobody here is genocidal. I'd think genocide is invidious discrimination
  4. So can California do away with the exemptions for religious organizations?
  5. Merlyn: what's the definition of invidious discrimination? What definition do you use? What definition does California use? I'd say based on my research the BSA does practice invidious discrimination. Tahawks point didn't get addressed. Why aren't those groups "invidious discriminators" ?
  6. I have moved the topic to Issues and Politics where I think it belongs. Schiff, if you have an objection to the move feel free to PM me. Have a good evening ladies and gents.
  7. Qwazse and Eagledad, thank you for your long, well thought out replies. You are both correct, I don't really have specific measurable goals here. Till I can come up with that, I can't tailor the program to fit the needs of my troop, nor foster the beginnings of the patrol method.
  8. Even if it's only partially successful, I'll take it. I'm not going to get a patrol system like Kudus or Jblakes, because it's not my troop.
  9. Thanks for the responses! I'd love to see more! Kudu. I'm playing for a longer game. I'm not the Scoutmaster. It's not my troop. I'm a former Scout, turned ASM. I can't flip the troop to the patrol method overnight in one big ole bite. I may never get it with this troop, but it'll give me the experience to try in the future. The troop isn't hostile to the patrol method, they've just never seen it. It'll be a slow process, bit by bit, introducing elements of the patrol method slowly. That's the most I can do. If I get serious pushback from parents, other adult volunteers or the Scouts, then I'm not going to keep pushing it. Yours in Scouting, Sentinel947
  10. Has anybody used this specific training program? How did it go? Anybody who hasn't, but reads it what are your thoughts? http://www.scouting.org/filestore/tr...%20511-016.pdf A little background for those who care: I was a Scout in my current unit. I aged out and after a short intermission became an ASM. Since becoming an ASM it's been my pet project to restore the Patrol Method in my Troop. Been fighting the uphill battle for a while now. Currently our Patrols are mostly administrative, and are just for cooking on camping trips. The PLC used to do annual leadership training that generally involved the Scoutmaster explaining all the Troop positions to the new guys and watching a few cheesy BSA training videos from the 1990s. Good intentions, not particularly helpful. I got my hands on the program, and turned it into a weekend at a local council camp for the PLC. I want the PLC to split into patrols with the Patrol leaders in charge, while the SPL and two ASPL's conduct this training program. Our troop is about 80 Scouts and the PLC is about 20 Scouts. (Yes I do understand that a PLC should only be the SPL/Patrol Leaders. I only have a limited number of hills to die on.) Besides this class the patrols are allowed to do whatever they want to do with this trip. As long as it's with the patrol they put together. My hope is that the patrol leaders gain some practical experience being a patrol leader from this trip and can take it back to their real patrols. I also hope that with this experience in the future the PLC will plan trips that are more conductive to the Patrol Method. Part of the SOP of my unit is that SPL's, Guides, and Quartermaster do everything. When I bring up the Patrol Method, I'm always told, "our Patrol Leaders don't do anything." I believe this is true because they aren't given the chance to lead their patrols without being under the thumbs of SPL, and ASPL's. I also think the trips we take, which are highly structured like Caving or Rock Climbing, require a high level of adult supervision and don't allow for the Patrol's to make meaningful decisions as to what they are going to do on the trip. I've gotten the blessing of the Scoutmaster/Committee to run the program. I'm not performing some sort of crazy end around. I think the troop doesn't use the Patrol method because most of the Scouts and Adults haven't seen it in action. It's not a tangible concept to most of them. So in conclusion. I'm wondering if anybody has used this course or anything like it, or has done a similar kind of training with their PLC/Unit. Or has some advice to installing the Patrol Method in a troop that has historically not used it but would like to. If I need to provide more information to make the situation clear, let me know. Yours in Scouting, Sentinel947
  11. So you expect your newly aged out 18 year old Eagles to run your Troop? Isn't that your job? =P When I aged out and decided I wanted to be involved with my Troop during college, I got my butt to training, but that hasn't been feasible for most of my peers. So when I became an ASM, they became College Reserve. I think we need to judge whether Scouters are capable of being good Scoutmasters on an individual basis. Having an Adult Eagle who had a good Scouting experience can give them some good insight into things. Having an Adult Eagle from a crappy troop can give you an adult who has no idea what's going on. With Adults with no Scouting they can get lost in the training, or think they don't need it. Or they can go to training and be solid. I've seen both. I'm blessed to have a Troop that had excellent Adults, both Eagles and adults with no prior experience.
  12. Dear God. This right here. Ideally the Patrol Method eliminates this issue, but in units that insist on using the made up Troop method, they need to be giving responsibility and opportunities to older boys to do more training, mentoring, and advising. Whatever it takes to challenge and engage older Scouts. If that's UoS, (gross!) then all the power to em.
  13. Americans don't trust our institutions anymore. One of the few institutions left that Americans really trust is the Military. http://www.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx The Gay issue is not going away and I expect the numbers to keep dropping as more people begin to accept gay marriage.
  14. Hello! Welcome to Scouter! If I was in your shoes, I would allow it as long as the scout and his parents agree to pay pro-rated dues for the time he'll be with the troop. Maybe by spending time with your troop over the summer he will stay dual enrolled in your troop or leave his other troop to be with yours full time. It really can't hurt to have him camp with ya'll over the summer.
  15. At the OA call out wear the OA sash. At the Court of Honor wear your MB sash. OA sash for OA things. All other ceremonies are the MB sash.
  16. Figured that'd be Kudu's response. If he's 300 feet away, he can't really monitor for cell phones anyways. =P
  17. Anything features you all have noticed doesn't work properly post them here and I'll pass them on the the developer. Also try Private messages. You can try sending one to me if you need a recipient. If they don't work let me know here.
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