Trevorum

Another patch tradin' buddy has told me that the Boulder Dam Area Council may change its name this year to Las Vegas Area Council.

Sheckley is one of my favorite SF authors, but I haven't read that one. I'll have to find it. Have you read his "Ghost V" or "The Laxian Key"?

One of my favorite scouting novels was "Mutiny in the Time Machine", by Donald Keith. It was serialized in Boys Life I think, but I still have the hardback. Great story for teenaged boys!

That's what I was thinking too, Torri!

Wasn't Alferd Packer the fellow who ... hey! I want one of those T-shirts, too!

(don't you just love the way a discussion thread twists and turns!)

I remember the Injun. It was in the Aunt Jemima style of ethnic characters.

Down in LA, we were really rooting for the "Leland Stanford Jr. Robber Barons". We thought it had just the right cachet of historical authenticity...

acco, you are absolutely right. The slugs are Santa Cruz. My mistake.

"Wow, I never saw that coming!"

hee, hee! It never fails!

Welcome! We're all glad you're here! I hope you and your son have many wonderful experiences together in Scouting!

Stanford's band is truly in a class by itself, and I use the words "band" and "class" with some unease, especially in the same sentence.

(aside: In 1972, the student body voted to replace the mascot "Indians" with the "Robber Barons". This was vetoed by the suits of course, so the kids voted to become the Stanford Banana Slugs (6", bright yellow, & slimy). Again vetoed. The forces of conformity finally won and they became the Stanford Cardinals.)

The bar for showing "Scout Spirit" has now been officially raised.

Well, I thought of that and started to pursue the idea. However, he said that for a while he was active with another council's legal team (he's a lawyer, but I like him anway) but that just didn't appeal to him. I get the sense that he wants to camp and hike. I also get the feeling that he wishes he had a son.

I guess I want to make sure that I don't mis-step here.

Dan asks, "Can my son be in the band if he refuses to play a instrument?"

Well, I don't know about your son's band, but when I was in high school, we had a number of "ringers" who couldn't play any instrument. Each week they would take the spot of someone who was sick so that the formations wouldn't have any gaps. Learning a new spot each week was hard work and we were glad to have them.

This weekend I met a new neighbor. He's a nice guy and it turns out he is an Eagle. He's about 40 and has one daughter. Naturally we started talking about Scouting and how great it is for boys and their dads. He misses it a great deal and wistfully said he wished he was still involved. Of course, I immediately invited him to one of our meetings. My question is, if he shows and wants to participate, how should I involve him? (We have ~20 SAs for our 80+ troop). Any advice/thoughts?

I am wondering if anyone uses the spoof merit badges that are offered by Streamwood?(http://www.streamwood.net/)

Among others, there are "merit badges" for Finger Carving, Snoring, Mosquito Hunting, Magic, Fast Food, Duct Tape, Disorientation, Brain Surgery, and (my favorite) Citizenship in the Universe.

They're all pretty funny. Does anyone use these as gag awards?

(sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread, I just had to reply. Now, back on topic ...)

There is a large and very popular evangelical Christian church in our neighborhood. For several years our district membership committee has tried unsuccessfully to convince them to sponsor a Cub Pack. It turns out they see Scouting as a direct competitor with their in-house youth program. They won't sponsor a unit, but they have finally given us permission to send home flyers.

Thanks, Semper. A good story told well. I'll bet your scouts listen to every second of your SM minutes - and remember them long after.

"Zoroastrianism is a small religion with about 140,000 members worldwide. Yet it is one of the oldest religions still in existence and may have been the first monotheistic religion. Zoroastrian theology had a profound impact on the early development of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

"Zoroastrianism is a small religion with about 140,000 members worldwide. Yet it is one of the oldest religions still in existence and may have been the first monotheistic religion. Zoroastrian theology had a profound impact on the early development of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

"The religion was founded by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster in Greek). Zarathushtra lived in Persia (modern Iran) sometime between 1,500 and 1,000 BCE. He preached monotheism at a time when polytheistic religions prevailed. He was attacked for this teaching, but Zoroastrianism finally became the state religion of the Persian empire. When Islamic Arabs conquered Persia in 650 CE, Zoroastrians fled to India where most are concentrated today. Those who remained behind have survived centuries of persecution

"Zoroastrians believe in a single supreme god, Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrians were the first monotheistic religion to develop the idea of a savior, born of a virgin, who will raise the dead and judge everyone in a final judgment.

"A basic belief is the cosmic dualism between all powerful Ahura Mazda and an evil spirit of violence and death, Angra Mainyu. This cosmic conflict requires humans to choose which to follow. At the end of time, Evil will be completely destroyed and Goodness will be in all. After death, souls are allowed three days to meditate on his/her past life. The soul is then judged and if the good thoughts, words and deeds outweigh the bad, then the soul is taken into heaven. Otherwise, the soul is led to hell."

http://www.inquiry.net/ideals/faiths/zoroastrianism.htm

VAordeal,

BSA does NOT have a "rgid standard" that defines "God" as the Judeo-Christian-Islamic deity known as Yahweh, Jehovah, or Allah.

"BSA does not define what constitutes belief in God or the practice of religion" (BSA Position Statement).

The Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda is a perfectly acceptable deity, and in fact was worshipped long, long before the Hebrew deity became popular.

Well, I'm not going to be a "Devil's Advocate"! but fairly objective information about Satanism can be found at http://www.religioustolerance.org/satanis1.htm

It turns out that "They do not worship a living deity.

Major emphasis is placed on the power and authority of the individual Satanist, rather than on a god or goddess. ... They believe that "no redeemer liveth" - that each person is their own redeemer, fully responsible for the direction of their own life... Satanism respects and exalts life. Children and animals are the purest expressions of that life force, and as such are held sacred and precious .

Make of that what you will.

Newton was a smart guy! Among a lot of other stuff, he knew that there is no inherent conflict between science and religion. He studied science so to better understand the glory.

Excellent point, Pack.

We will certainly all agree with Newton that F = m*a

I strongly suspect that BSA membership includes Satanists. You may not agree with their theology, but it meets the criteria, even more so than does Buddhism. However, their theology is so misunderstood and hated by the majority that they are almost certainly "in the closet".

Also of interest from the same website:

"Zoroastrianism was founded by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster in Greek). Zarathushtra lived in Persia (modern Iran) sometime between 1,500 and 1,000 BCE. He preached monotheism at a time when polytheistic religions prevailed... Zoroastrians believe in a single supreme god. Zoroastrians were the first monotheistic religion to develop the idea of a savior, born of a virgin, who will raise the dead and judge everyone in a final judgment... A basic belief is the cosmic dualism between all powerful [God] and an evil spirit of violence and death... This cosmic conflict requires humans to choose which to follow. At the end of time, Evil will be completely destroyed and Goodness will be in all."

anarchist, with due respect I disagree with your thesis. I strongly suspect that nearly all inter-cultural wars have been fundamentally about economic issues (land, resources, etc.). Religion has been invoked to be sure, but generally as an ex post facto rationale for conquest. This is not to say that religion isn't explosive. It is. But that is precisely why it us used as an excuse for war - it gets the population fired up so quickly.

"Some people confuse Wicca with Satanism, but Wiccans do not worship the devil - they do not even believe in such a being. Wiccans are considered to be pagans because some of them worship several nature gods instead of a single supreme god. Most Wiccans believe that a creative force exists in the universe, which is sometimes called "The All". Most regard the Goddess and the God as representing the female and male aspects of the All, which envelop all the world."

http://www.inquiry.net/ideals/faiths/wicca.htm

Not to put too fine a point on it, but BSA does NOT define "God" as the Judeo-Christian-Islamic deity known respectively as Yahweh, Jehovah, or Allah.

As we near Scout Sunday/Sabbath, it behooves all Scout leader to remember this and to be respectful of those in their units who may have a different faith than the majority.