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Trevorum

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Everything posted by Trevorum

  1. OGE, Excellent question, which at the time I didn't ask him. Maybe he was worried about the new Tenderfoots (Tenderfeet?) surviving!. It will be up to the PLC anyway.
  2. Semper, What a great idea!!!! I just ran this by my 15 year old son and he was all over it! He is already planning our "Shoebox Campout" and says we'll want to restrict it to Scouts 1st Class and above who have the Wilderness Survival MB. Thanks for the idea!
  3. "Maybe being a member of a homosexual organization doesn't constitute being a homosexual." Wow! We have won a major victory here men! If I read this right, Ed has admitted that it is OK for adult scout leaders to be members of a homosexual organization! (ducks quickly)
  4. Welcome! You have a lot of great Scouting in store! With your encouragement, may all three of your sons become Eagle Scouts!
  5. This last weekend our troop had our annual Survival Campout. The theme was no pots, no pans, no matches and the boys had a blast! I've never seen so many innovative ways to cook over a campfire. Eggs in orange peel, eggs on spits, biscuits on hot rocks, shrimp on spits, boiling water in paper cups, even cobbler without the dutch oven! Who needs stoves? Six guys earned the Wilderness Survival MB, including 2 brand new cross-overs. I highly recommend this idea to other troops!
  6. So, does membership in a gay organization in and of itself constitute "avowed" homosexual behavior? Of course not. In college, I joined the Black Students Union but no one thought for a second that I was black. At one time, I was also a member of NOW, but that didn't mean I was a female.
  7. The more patches you collect, the fatter binders you need. It's a curse.
  8. FScouter asks: "..why would anyone wear pink pajamas to an event...? Back in the "olden days", our patrol once wore pink pajamas to camp. Of course, we were in Region Twelve and everyone knew the song.
  9. Ed, I strongly suspect that you are not as heartless and unfeeling in person as your words would suggest. Every volunteer Scouter I have met has always had the boy's interests at heart, first and formost. A 13 year old who loves this scouting stuff, who lives his life by the Scout Law, who wants to earn his Eagle, should not be tormented to think he is a less worthy human being. Teen suicide is a very real issue and sexual identity is a monumental and internalized issue for some. The chances are that any troop of 20 scouts will have at least one of these boys. I will be there for all my sco
  10. Nonetheless, I believe this is a very common policy, albeit local. OGE, to what extent, if any, may districts and councils set their own policies with regards to these types of BoR issues (must have blue cards, may not have more than N badges by same counselor, etc?). Where is the point where local history and tradition conflicts with national advancement policy?
  11. Ed, Boys usually join Cubs when they are 6 or 7 years old and Boy Scouts when they are 10 or 11. Developmental psychologists agree that sexual identity is not manifested until after puberty. This allows a boy to join scouts well before he understands that he is different from most other fellows. Can you fathom the wrenching internal conflict that the BSA policy creates in these 12-14 year old scouts? We teach them to be trustworthy, but at the same time we tell them that their kind is not welcome in our club. Adolescent suicide is a tragedy which I take all too seriously. That is why I wear th
  12. FWIW, the execution was well planned and organized with the scout making decisions and solving problems. Adults and youth alike took his directions. I don't think our district has a secret (non-BSA Policy) age requirement.
  13. FScouter, private message to follow.
  14. The EBoR told him to choose a new project. I agree that "insufficient leadership" is too vague. It is completely subjective and that's the problem I had with their call. This guy planned, met with appropriate authorities, budgeted, recruited labor, organized them, gave instructions, monitored problems, and came up with solutions. And documented the whole thing. It was a fine job for a 13 year old. The reason they gave was completely bogus, IMO.
  15. The scout had done everything by the book, and I was stunned by the EBoRs decision. I believe they were put-off by his demeanor. He is a very friendly, casual, jokester - I have never seen him solemn. I believe the EBoR felt they did not get the respect they deserved and so they concluded he was immature. They looked for an excuse and came up with the unsufficient leadership rationale to back-justify. I feel they exceeded their authority, but council backed them up.
  16. I forgot to mention that he had been SPL and did a fairly good job of troop leadership for a 13 year old (we have since begun a 14+ policy for SPLs). The fellow is now 16 and he's still registered although he doesn't camp much anymore (high school activities, etc.). He has selected a new Eagle mentor and tells me he is planning a new project. I sure hope he does it. He is a good scout.
  17. This fellow was my first Eagle Candidate when I was a new (and naive) SM. I had no idea that the EBoR could make this kind of judgement call and I wish I had counseled the scout differently. In my opinion, he showed leadership commensurate with being a 13 year old. A 17 year old would have done a better job, but he was only 13! In fact the EBoR told me that had this same project been done by a candidate who was 17 yrs 11 months, they would have passed him.
  18. OK, I used the wrong word. Delete "unfairly". How about this: "And all those groups mentioned have, at one time or another, been hated, feared, misunderstood, or ill-treated". And, there has never been a time when all Americans have been "afforded the same rights". That is a myth. Race, religion, nationality, gender, age, have all been cause for denial of "the same rights", sometimes overtly, often insidiously. Even today. It is a worthy goal for us work towards, but we are not there yet.
  19. I had a 13 year old fail his Eagle BoR because the board thought he hadn't shown enough leadership during his project. A 13 year old! In his SM conference I reviewed all his paperwork and he had completed all the requirements, no question. The EBoR simply made a judgement call that he wasn't mature enough. The scout was devastated. He consulted with me and then followed SOP and appealed to council. Council upheld the decision. I was angry but the scout decided not to appeal further.
  20. mmmm... ! I also tell my boys, "If God hadn't wanted us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made 'em out of meat."
  21. Rooster, I'm glad you agree that we don't have to debate religion to be good scouts. Like I tell my own sons, "A Scout is Reverent (but not necessarily a Christian." And I would certainly never call you a pig. Some of my best friends are pigs.
  22. Strawberry, That's the point of course. It may be legal, but that doesn't make it right. And all those groups mentioned have been unfairly treated at one time or another (well, maybe not the AB negatives), including redheads.
  23. Absolutely! In the United States, a private organization has the right to determine qualifications for its members and it may legally exclude any group of people whom the majority of its membership find sufficiently different or just plain creepy including schizophrenics, left-handers, those with Downs Syndrome, Achrondroplastic Dwarves, homosexuals, Klinefelters, those with neurofibromatosis, females, AB negatives, autistics, or redheads. In fact it's 100% legal for that private organization to discriminate against just about any genetic minority who look or act different from the majority.
  24. Rooster, I'm sure you are a terrific fellow on a campout and we'd probably have a fine time watching a football game together, but I'll decline to argue religion with you. Your path is as right for you as mine is for me.
  25. Recently, we've been scheduling two summer camps (plus a high adventure expedition). Camp #1 is in-council and is recommended for 1st and 2nd year scouts while camp #2 is out-of-council and is recommended for 2nd year scouts and up. We select a new out-of-council camps every year or two. It gives everyone a choice and seems to work well. Some boys attend both.
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