Weekender

The reason our country needs to remain firmly rooted in or Christian foundation is simple. Christians are one of the very few who will tolerate other religions. Too many people think tolerance means agreement...If I agree there is nothing to tolorate. In the US you can be any religion you like because the Christians who designed our system believed you should hate the sin and love the sinner. In India, Christians are burned alive or beaten to death, in Islamic nations they are stoned and beheaded. (So are athiests by the way). Christiniaty seems to be one of the few sets of religeous beli

Wow, Y'all didn't just miss the boat on that one...you're in the wrong port. I did NOT say parents should abdicate their responsibilities related to raising their children. Just the opposite. Parents need to take that back from a corrupt and morally bankrupt school system. The public school system was ORIGINALLY intended to reinforce values and character in children in conjunction with what they learned at home. And yes, I believe America was founded on Judeo-Christian values and so were the schools. The founding statements of universities such as Harvard and Stanford bear that out.

Scout Parent, What irritates me about the public schools is that the government forces you to give them money and then saysIts perfectly OK to tell a child the reason he is here is because a couple piles of mud and muck got together and decided it would be nice to be a fish and a couple fish got together and decided they would rather be squirrel and so onbut dont you dare tell him that he was fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who loves him and values him and would move heaven and earth if He had to to show you His love (after all, who wants a child to think he has intrinsic value).

My Last comment was directed to Firstpusk about his comments on the Colson article.

I didn't see anywhere in the article where Mr. Colson suggested teaching religion as science. However, since science doesn't have all the answers and because much of what (some) scientists claim has less scientific support than creation does, Mr. Colson is recommending that all theories of human origin be presented without the current bias toward evolution. After all, there is less valid evidence for evolution than there is for creation. Every time science advances or someone puts the facts of the Bible to the test we get more evidence to support the Bible's version of creation. Evolution

Here's an article on the subject from Break Point wiht Chuck Colson To God and My Country The Boy Scout Oath Darrell Lambert doesnt smoke, drink, or take drugs. And yes, hes heterosexual. Though an Eagle Scout, Lambert may no longer participate in Scouting. Its because Lambert is an atheist. And his announcement has led to another media firestorm over the legal and moral rights of the Boy Scouts. For ten years, Lambert has been active in Scouting in Port Orchard, Washington. He recently attained Scoutings highest honor: Eagle Scout. Now a college freshman, Lambert has been ac

Does anyone have, or know where I can find, the plans for a catapult that my scouts can build using cedar posts or scout staves and lashing. I need a set fo plans that have been proven. We are looking for something that could throw a water balloon if possible. Thanks for the help

Our COR holds regularly scheduled boards (Prior to COH) plus will put one together if we have a scout who is ready for one out of the normal cycle. Since our Scoutmaster and COR are married it's fairly easy to get the information that one is needed passed to the right people.

I can't say anything about the usefulness of whistles when you are lost since I've never been lost...I was bewildered once for 3 days...but never lost

Speaking of bells I heard of a guy who went to Colorado to go backpacking but was afraid of the possibility of running into bears. The game warden assured him that it was unlikely for him to have any trouble but said that if he ran into a brown bear he should stand as tall as he could and try to look ferocious. He said there were also a few grizzlies in the area and gave him some little bells to put on his shoes. He said the bears would hear the bells and leave the area. Well, what if a grizzly doesnt leave and I come face to face with one, the hiker asked. The warden told him just to l

Duct Tape...it so useful it's practically a food group.

By the way, Ziplocks are great for almost any meal that is "just add hot water. Make it in the bag, eat it from the bag and when it is gone...clean-up consists of turning the bag inside out and licking it clean. Great for oatmeal. I've even seen some folks tear out a corner of the bag and suck the food out. I prefer to re-use the bags. They are not so great for VERY wet foods like soup. But they do minute rice like nobodies business.

In a ziplock "Freezer" bag combine 2-3 eggs worth of powdered egg, a dash or two of powdered milk, salt and pepper, and any other spices (Onion, garlic, etc) that you like. Carry dry. When it is breakfast time add the appropriate amount of water to re-constitute. Then, measure out enough water for one or two cups of hot chocolate. Bring water to boil and set bag with eggs in the water (don't let the water get into the eggs. Boil until the eggs are the consistancy you like. (a little tabasco or luisianna hotsauce is a great condiment). Use the boiled water for a cup or two of hot cocoa an

Right now we have 15 boys. SPL, ASPL, JASM, and 2-6 scout patrols. We are recruiting hard to bring our numbers up. We'd like to be around 28-30 in the next two years. I'm figuring if we have the best program in town we'll hard pressed to accept everyone who wants to be there. We use a 6 month rotation for two reasons. 1) it gives more scouts a chance to lead. 2) a 1 year rotation would mean ASPL is a two year committment which seems a bit much for a 15 year old.

In cubs all the money went to the pack. Our boy Scout troop divides the money. We figure it costs $100 a boy per year to be in scouts. The boys pay about $45 per in dues so the first $50 of popcorn money goes to the troop to pay for the rest of the program. The next $50 goes to the scout. After that all monies earned are split 50/50 troop and scout.

As much as it distresses me to think the US flag would be unwelcomed on a state uniform, I have to side with the state on this one. The state has a right to set uniform standards for prison guards. I think this guard should have made the suggestion that the state change their policy and make the US flag part of the uniform. He should not have unilaterally opted to disobey the policy...That is not character.

Thanks Bob, It's sometimes diffcult to align ideas with policies so it is useful to have that additional insight. The big plus for this in our case is that the boys thought it was a good idea as soon as they heard about it. We just had the election last Monday. Now we have to make sure we follow through on the training.

We are about to try something new in our troop that we were exposed to at summer camp last year. One of the troops at camp explained how their SPL was "elected". Each six months a scout is elected to the ASPL position. He spends 6 months learning from the current SPL and attends a JLT (whether he has recently or not). At the end of the 6 months the current SPL steps down, the ASPL becomes the new SPL, and the troop elects the next ASPL for the next 6 month period. Can anyone tell me if they have tried this and if so, did you have any trouble with it.

We've had a couple District execs that truly wanted to provide a good program but they were eventually beaten into submission by the council. The ones with integrety end up leaving.

Our boys wear a maroon Beret when in our dress uniform and we use booney caps for camping.

I agree with KS. If I decide to bring an item (Appropriate or otherwise) camping then I am responsible for its care. This really comes down to a matter of planning...If the damage were intentional that would be different. I think the parents who made the wrong decision about bringing a wagon shoudl cover the cost of repair/replacement

I've used the esbit and like it. Be careful of any old style fuel tabs. I used some old army ones once and the fumes gave me a massive headache...they were probably toxic. The new tabs are supposed to be fine. Another army design was a fuel tab stove in the shape of the bottom of a canteen cup. You pour water in the canteen cup, set it down into the stove, slide in a fuel tab and light it and voila, hot water. Haven't seen one in several years though.

Rooster, You and I agree on most everything that comes up on this forum. And I have found nothing in this string where we differ. You opened a door on a topic that I'm not sure you would agree with me but who knows...I'm adressing this to everyone but you were the one that brought up married couples. As far as husbands and wives are concerned, in our troop, if both attend a campout they tent together. We have NEVER had a problem with inappropriate behavior and I would be quick to speak to parents if I thought they were out of bounds with the example they were setting. I do believ

This last year we got our first significant crop of new boys in a couple years. Unfortunately we were a bit under prepared for home-sickness. One thought I wanted to share in case you have the same potential in your troop is this. Have the parents of the potential home-sickness sufferers write 5-8 letters...one for each day you are going to be gone and give them to one of the adults going to camp. Have the letters given to the boy during daily mail call. I don't recommend having them mail the letters because they could get lost or be late. I'm sure many of you already thought of

Sounds like his problem lies with being a homosexual pedophile rather than a married Mormon. We just need to be clear on what actions we want to exclude.