WAKWIB

Well, if I'm reading the letter-to-the-editor that inspired the protest correctly, the end game is not one of understanding. The writer simply does not want that "racist" Order of the Arrow on the Michigan State campus. Fair enough. There are many other places that would accommodate NOAC. One possibility would be somewhere in the Kansas City area. HOAC would welcome NOAC with much friendship and warmth...ain't I right @@John-in-KC?

Seems there is always something to jab the Scouts about.... http://campusreform.org/?ID=6722

What I can't really get my mind around is the fact that, according to BSA a policy, a religious charter organization cannot discriminate on sexual orientation alone in regard to youth, but can discriminate in regard to adults. It seems like a big hole in the way local option should work. A gay kid who grows up in a pack/troop is suddenly shown the door when he turns 18? That seems like a situation that would create a great deal of unwelcome noise for the church.

It will be interesting to see which path this man chooses. I'll take the words of the article that he "represents everything that a Boy Scout should be.... a leader that so many people look up to" at face value. In which case, I assume he will immediately seek out and find a unit that will welcome and appreciate his work. He could also register and serve on the district level in a variety of capacities, work on a camp staff, etc. Simply put, he can respect the church's beliefs and move on to many opportunities that await him. The other path he could choose would be that of a continual tho

@@John-in-KC Please post the follow-up to this when the LCMS arrives at a conclusion. Thanks!!

Well, FWIW, I think Mr. Gates will be stepping down from President as they typically only serve one 1-year term. I'm not exactly sure when that takes place, but I think it will be in August. There will be a new CSE taking up his position soon as well.

The Bartle Reservation covers 4200 acres. The areas outlined with white rocks that designate ceremonial grounds and places for other tribal activities maybe add up to a grand total of 2 acres. The remaining space provides some the best long-term camping and program facilities in the country that are used by thousands of scouts every summer that do not wear the claws of the tribe. If the private message thing works on this form, shoot me a note. It would be my pleasure to help you understand what Mic-O-Say is really about and to share with you what a strong Scouting program the Heart of Ameri

Maybe a first step is to get a group of Scouts/Venturers to visit the place and attend one of their events. You probably want to see if there is a significant interest among the youth in the area to support the idea.

My best advice on this SpEd is that you continue to attend Bartle Reservation and eventually become a member of Mic-O-Say yourself. Through that experience you will come to understand that it is more that just a club or fraternity. What are some of the results: Retention-kids attend our camp 5 years on average and many continue to attend well into their early 20's. Volunteerism- we never have a shortage of applicants for the roughly 200 staff positions at camp.(that's an educated guess on numbers.) Also youth and adults give lots of time, talent, and treasure to the maintenance and impr

Gates' words then, like his more recent claim that BSA will solidly defend the rights of religious COs, are full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. He was elected (or perhaps, it was more like selected) to the President position because he was seen to be a symbol of moderation and measured steps. The heir-apparent to the President slot at the time was AT&T executive, Randall Stephenson. He is much more of a steam-roller in his views on inclusion--and, like many of the activists, is not content with "local option." Should he become President in the next term, I think Mr. Stephenson wil

In reality, both BSA legal counsel, and TLUSA's counsel fundamentally agree on the same thing: There will be challenges ahead. Groups such as Scouts For Equality have unequivocally stated that they intend to provide those challenges. BSA counsel puts a more favorable spin on the situation, but I'm sure they understand that they could be very busy dealing with 100 brush-fires in the years ahead.

Concerning Dale, BSA lawyers recently said this: If the BSA were required to litigate today its defense in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000), it would almost certainly lose. Dale was a narrow 5–4 decision that balanced the government’s interest in protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation and the BSA’s right protected by the First Amendment to select its own leaders. http://scoutingnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Religious-Organization-Protections-Memo-062915.pdf (page 1) Concerning public accommodation law, from the same BSA legal so

It sounds like you might be referring to Camp Ernst, which was the segregated camp in the Kansas City Area Council. This is a somewhat historic location in KC's scouting history. The famous Scout Executive, H. Roe Bartle, can be given the credit for launching the desegregation of scouting in our area. He did it by first desegregating the Tribe of Mic-O-Say honor camper society in a special ceremony at Camp Ernst in 1955.

Of the 3 G's, I really thought "Girls" would be the first one tackled. I don't really think it's that bad of an idea, just some new challenges. For the last 25 years we've seen a ton of ladies step-up and be real leaders in the Scouting program so that component is firmly in place. I guess there wasn't a concerted effort legally and financially to force BSA's hand on this as there was with the sexual orientation issue. And speaking of sexual orientation issues, have we any guidance from BSA on admitting trans-sexual youth and adults?

There was a time when I felt that the local option regarding adult membership policy was a workable solution. However, after reading the attached memorandum, I get the sense that it may be quite a legal minefield that few, if any, churches will want to navigate. http://www.traillifeusa.com/Resources/25891.pdf (Note: The author of the memo served as legal counsel at BSA for 11 years and is currently the chief legal counsel for Trail Life USA.)

My thoughts are that a Facebook group is better in terms of privacy. I think BSA has put out some guidelines concerning social media. I'm thinking that they would go with the closed (admin. approved membership) model.

Well, now you at least know where you stand with the troop and can make a clean break of it. Don't place too much emphasis on the couple's district roles. They are not that influential in how troops are run, and I think, if they try to make an issue of your son throughout the district they will only end up looking foolish.

imachristian13: My short answer is to forge ahead in finding an appropriate troop for you son. Folks are gonna talk. Ignore all that, and don't waste your time trying to fix it. My hope would be that the potential new Scoutmaster is keeping an open mind on this and will reserve judgement about it until he has the time to meet your family and observe your son over a period of time. I've often said that kids on "the spectrum" just take longer than most kids to grow and adjust to their brains, and your son will likely change positively in a number of ways in the years ahead. I've seen a

I'll second what qwazse said. Our lodge has an online portal on the council site to do that (your lodge may have one as well), or he can just attend a lodge event and can probably take care of business there.

Over 500 uniformed Scouts and leaders attended the memorial service for Reat and his grandfather today. I think it's somewhat meaningful that the service took place at the Church of the Resurrection; that even in the face of tragedy there is hope through faith in Christ. In regards to the perp and his ilk here in Missouri, I hope that he will sing to the authorities (he's done so in the past), so that law enforcement can have a greater "situational awareness" of this type of thing.

Here in Kansas City we are all still a bit numb from the shock of Sunday's tragedy. Scouting in these parts is like a large extended family and when there is a loss like this we all feel it deeply. There is also a lot of shock that such a fellow as this killer was lurking among us. It's not like we are a crime-free metro area by any measure. In fact all types of violent crime seem to be on the rise here, but having a kook like this with his truly demented motives was something we were never expecting. On behalf of your fellow Scouters here in the Heart of America Council I want to let

For Skeptic. This is how I do it. Hit the "Print Screen" key on my keyboard. Open MS Paint. Click on paste. Your screen shot will appear. Do with it as you will, or leave it alone. "Save as.." a .jpeg or something else (I think jpeg is more universal and easy to work with.

Those fellas have been dead awhile. No doubt, done in by the evil Boris and Natasha.

Yep. Bad news travels fast. It's probably one of the top 2 or 3 stories showing up on my Facebook feed over the last 24 hours.

Another quick correction: You will be hard pressed to find a Muslim that worships the same God as the Christians. By definition, a Christian is one who believes that Jesus Christ is God. Islam assigns Jesus the status of prophet, but does not in any way acknowledge Him as God.