WAKWIB

I think God forsook this forum a long time ago. There probably should be a banner at the top of the Issues and Politics page that says: "Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here!"

Is it typical for two active topics to disappear over the course of 3 days? I posted the link to Trail Life's website once....that thread went poof. Did it again Sunday...poof.

You know what's really awesome? I reposted the initial link with the title "Trail Life USA Introduced" It was up for a couple of days and disappeared.

And you can bet your boots we've never seen inflated egos in the BSA, right?

moose: Sorry the little one got cut off in all of my copy and pasting. [1] Charter partners own and operate local groups, selecting leaders and admitting members as they deem beneficial to their group and within the parameters of the national policy (excerpted from Membership Standards). The whole business that I posted here is a cached shot of a page from the old site. I don't think it's part of the new site yet. They just did the change-over during the weekend. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ZQosJfUAmdAJ:www.onmyhonor.net/difference-from-bsa/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

I posted the stuff below on the thread that vanished the other night. It was from the older onmyhonor dot net site. Maybe it will explain things better, or maybe not.... Outline of Differences between the Boy Scouts of America and the new Youth Adventure Program: 1) The BSA's new policy requires troops to accept "open and avowed homosexuality" among its boys. The new group does not. 2) The BSA's new policy requires troops to accept boys who express any "sexual preference." The new group does not. 3) The BSA's new policy appears to require troops to accept transgendered boys whose "sexual preference" is to dress and act out like a girl. The new group does not. 4) The BSA's new policy also appears to allow girls who subjectively want to act out as boys as their "sexual preference". The new group specifically requires youth members to be "biologically male." 5) The BSA has no fixed objective standard for what words like "morally straight", "clean" and "reverent" mean. The new group clearly articulates its values and morals. 6) The heart of the mission statement of the BSA is to "prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes." In contrast, the basis of the new group's ethics, morals, and values come from the Bible and the statement of values which expressly defines those standards. 7) The BSA has no fixed or objective standard for normative human sexuality or what it means to be "morally straight." The new group is clear that "any sexual activity outside the context of the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman is sinful before God and therefore inconsistent with the values and principles of the program." 8) The BSA is a non-sectarian organization that has a generic "duty to God." The new organization is "Christ- Centered" in that it requires adult members to subscribe to and abide by a Christian statement of faith and values. 9) The BSA's decision-making comes through the centralized control of professional paid executives, whose hand-selected delegates vote a certain way in policy change. The new organization, in order to respect the will of local leaders and members, has decentralized control.

I know. It's really strange. I didn't expect the topic to be all that warmly received, but I didn't think the ghost of Green Bar Bill would rise up and erase it from the servers. You mods are a pretty lenient bunch and unless someone was posting something like death-threats, I couldn't imagine one of you pulling the plug.

Well by golly it is... I guess the forum po-po didn't like it, or it is just one of the casualties of a glitchy web-site. Guess I'll just start 'er up again.

Maybe one of the moderators can move this to the sticky thread about de-bugging. Supposedly, the admin is looking at that thread and trying to fix reported problems. They do get resolved, eventually.... This site has been kind of a hot mess since an upgrade earlier this year, but it's showing ongoing improvements.

True, that. And the same could be said of Mr. Perry. It was just late-night nonsense meant to produce a giggle. Probably would have to take out a loan to feed Tico anyway.

In the troop I've served the last 13 years we have never taken up "dues." The Scouts and their parents have worked hard at fund-raising over the years to build up a pretty good war-chest, and receive generous donations from troop alumni as well. If you're on the charter roster for 2013, your fee will be paid by the troop if you haven't paid yet and you will be on the charter for 2014. There are, of course, obvious exceptions like those who are known to have transferred or haven't darkened the door of the building at all for 12 months. Shortly after Jan. 1, if you haven't paid, the CC and Secretary will track you down like bloodhounds and you will promptly. and in sincere repentance write the check on the spot. . They will also do this with OA dues as well. Everything else is a pay as you go. Each unit pretty much will have their own approach to this. I don't think the Council, in my town at least, will interject as long as they get the paperwork and full payment when it is due.

Next time I stagger into Irving, I'm going to try and take Wayne, the other Wayne, and Tico out to dinner. I think we'll do Chick-fil-A.

Glad you finally get to celebrate the scouting accomplishments of a family member. Always a good time! His project sounds first-rate. I always enjoy hearing about a project that goes a different direction than the usual building/remodeling project.

Great reporting!

Can't argue with that!

I didn't go to Jamboree, but have enjoyed keeping up on it via friends on Facebook, etc. The amount of waste does sound horrific, but I think that's just an unfortunate part of the learning cycle for stuff like this. I know that it has taken years for our Council camps to settle on a menu that gets consumed with little waste. It also seems like it was more of a problem of over-supply than anything else. Having other foods at the trading post is always going to be a temptation, whether the Scout is truly hungry or not. Face it; it's just a profit center.

Maybe it would be better to blame, not the Jamboree, but poor planning on the part of the camp director and the like. Going to Jambo is not some snap decision that the volunteers made the day before your webelos came to camp. It was known way in advance of anything with plenty of opportunity to fill in the gaps. It would be the same thing with a Troop. Although the Jambo may have been a feature event for SOME of the leaders and scouts to focus on, they rest need to have the usual program in place and functioning. None of this is impossible. I think you did the right thing, BD in bringing up in your camp evaluation so they won't needlessly drop the ball next time.

Like others mentioned, aim your recruitment mentality and activity for the boys. The adults will follow. Don't get wrapped up about the policy business. I think the pro-Scouters would prefer you to worry about it so they don't have to. If someone is intent on pestering you about it, give them a copy of the policy with the phone number/email of your Council Scout Executive. Either type, those who think Scouting has crossed a bad line, or those who think Scouting still intolerant, are likely not really in the market for BSA involvement anyway.

He's doing whatever dam thing it is beavers are supposed to do.

Yeah. This kind of thing will blow over in time, although a few weeks can seem like a very, very long time. Hopefully, the whole accusation business will get laid to rest quickly as well. A Council person may be on the phone with you asking some hard questions, but if it's all unfounded and untrue it should be apparent to him.

In both cases of Open Discussion and I & P if I click on the "latest activity" button it reveals the topics.

My suggestion is that the order of the day is do what your son wants. It's pretty much his party. The thing about your son reciting the Oath and Law by himself is not mandatory. It was possibly done at his EBOR as that is a tradition in some troops...often done for the other ranks as well, but it's not even a requirement for that. His "Eagle was Legal" the moment he passed his Board of Review.

Thanks, fgoodwin. Seldom do I find anything posted around here that helps me integrate my faith and world-view with my involvement in Scouting. This came at the right time for me.

First, one needs to realize that this vote one-way-or-the-other does not clear up the matter. For me, it's starting to become just a lot of unwelcome noise. Scouting has been a part of my identity for over 40 years, almost as much a part of me as family, church and profession. It would never be easy for me to cut the cord for any reason and policy has always ranked low on my list...kind of came from that school of thought that "rules are meant to be broken" . I am at a bit of a crossroads right now as to level of involvement but it's not really related to this business. Kids are out of Scouting, and I'm approaching the empty nest phase. Work has pressed for most of my attention the last couple of years, so I'm hit-and-miss with Scouting activities as it is. So...no matter what happens at the vote, I'll take it one day at a time, but I will always cherish my Scouting background.