Zorn Packte

BSA is also intolerant of persons who merely openly state that they disagree with policy, an implicit rejection of the first amendment entirely. This has nothing to do with the First Amendment. If you come into my house and that you like Bill Clinton I may, can, and will throw you out. BSA is not a government entity and does not have to be tolerant of dissent.

Why should we be tolerant of atheists? Are we tolerant of the person who claims that 5+5 equals 1 or the person that believs the moon is made of green cheese? Maybe we do tolerate them because they are mentally defective and perhaps we should tolerate atheists for the same reason. However, society usually constrains the insane from shouting idiotic statements from the rooftops so you should be muzzled.

73.4% of all statistics are made up.

I dont recall the last time I got Columbus day off, but then I have never gotten Martin Luthor King day off, or Casmir Pulaski day, Arbor day or Kwanza either. Around here school is out on MLK day but Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and Flag Day are all school days.

I never thought of it until this thread, but Columbus Day is a pretty good European Holiday. When is the last time that you got Columbus Day off?

When is there going to be a Europrean American Appreciation Month? It would probably be declared discriminatory just like the Society of White Male Engineers was outlawed at the University of Pittsburgh even though there was a Society of Black Engineers and a Society of Women Engineers. Since curricula are often up to the local schools and boards, and often to the state departments of education, you may wish to write yours about getting these months acknowledged. Actually, I don't want any of these days to be celebrated. TR said that there should be no hyphenated Americans and by

"Either way, a 50 mile hike is quite an undertaking, especially for 11-13 year old boys and the adults as well." Only if they haven't been riding their bikes daily and doing something more than just riding around the neighborhood. Me and my family ride about five miles a day, on most Sundays we do about 20 miles. At least once during the summer, we ride 40 or 50 miles. The secret is that you have to ride to be in shape to ride. By the way, my kids are 11 and 8 and they think that our long trips are great. All their friends think that a mile ride to the 7-11 is a long trip.

The biggest danger that I see here is that the proposed SM will only worry about his son's needs and give a hoot about any other boy. I've seen that happen and it isn't pretty. On the other hand, I've seen leaders who are primarily concerned with their son's advancement but manange to make sure that the opportunities are there for everyone else. Many troops seem to develop an identity. Some are the hiking troops, some are the pioneering troops. That is up to the boys and the SM.

It's not rocket science, is it? Putting patches in the right spots on a uniform ranks slightly above mowing the lawn in complexity but is way below orbital mechanics. I never cease to be amazed by the creative patch placement that I see on both Scouts and adults. Not only creative patch placement but creative patch wearing. Last night I was at a meeting at a church and it turned out that a Webelos den was meeting there at the same time. I saw one boy coming and the first thing that caught my eye was that his rank diamond was complete but the bottom of it was the wrong color. Sure

Semaphore is an important skill but I'd be willing to bet that it was dropped because it is "too hard" and you can't become proficient in a day at summer camp. The same goes for Morse Code. Some will argue that neither is relevant in today's world but neither is lighting a fire with one match.

REGARDLESS of how you look at it, it's the majority tipping its hat to a minority, rather than glorifying being white. The PC world wants us to feel guilty so the Blacks get a month. Why can't we glorify being white? The blacks get to glorify being black at taxpayer expense? 'S different. It really is. Delude yourself if you wish. The Chineese invented gunpowder and the compass. The Arabs perfected metalsmithing. The Hindus gave us Algebra. The Europeans explored the world. Until 150 years ago, the most notable black contribution to society was that they so

"what if they were celebrating whatever the majority skin color was, would that be ok because it was the majority supporting it? " In case you haven't noticed it, many tax dollars are spent celebrating minority skin colors. Our school has a whole month dedicated to "Black history month" and there are only six black students in the school. The school has more Orientals than Blacks but there is no "Asian History Month." Our county sponsors Black Heritatge Festivals, Latin Festivals but I have never seen a European or Asian Festival.

That means if someone gets to erect a sign in front of town hall promoting baptists, "I" also have the SAME right to erect a sign promoting atheism (or whatever). The problem is that YOU don't live in my town. You and your lot want to come to my town and tell me what to do. If the local unbelievers want a sign, that's fine. And can the idiotic canard about atheists fearing your particular god; it's no more convincing than if I used the same argument on you that you, deep down, really believe in Zeus. I do. God said, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." That implies tha

"That's why towns can't erect signs that say jesus is lord" Why not? If everyone who lives in the town is a Sothern Baptist, it is infringing their rights to not allow the town to do that as it is their town, their tax money and you have no standing in the issue. The problem is that you atheists never want to build, you only want to destroy because you fear those who have faith. You fear because deep in your mis-guided soul, you know that we are right and like a child who knows that he's done wrong, you cry out, "you can't tell me what to do!" Grow up and find God, you'll

"Just who is this Bullwinkle person anyway? For that matter who is Boris?" This country definately needs a return to classical education. Bullwinkle is a talking moose that lives in Frostbite Falls Minnesota with his best friend, a flying squirrel named Rocky. Boris and his sidekick, Natasha, spend most of their waking hours trying to kill "moose and squirrel." Now to understand everything, you should ask, "Who is Merlyn LeRoy?" Merlyn LeRoy is a wizard in "Fractured Fairy Tales," part of the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show." (This message has been edited by Zorn Packte)

"As I asked before, why would any sane person WANT the government to decide what religion to promote? You have no respect for the religious rights of others. " Well Boris, we have an elected government in this country so it is really up to the people in the community, isn't it? I've noticed that the only people that get really upset by any of this are the atheists. I've never know a Jew, Moslem, or Bhuddist to be upset by a manger scened. Maybe you ought to let God into your life.

Both I and the supreme court disagree. Guess what that means? Simple, it means that you're both wrong. The supreme court is not infallible and its words are not carved in stone. Their decisions may be reversed by later courts or by the will of the people.

The `establishment of religion' clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Sorry Bullwinkle, Supreme Court not withstanding, you really don't understand the English language. As a verb, "establish" means to "set up or found." Hence, the government can make no laws regarding setting up or founding religions. It is not prohibited from putting The Ten Commandments" on the wall of the court house or from having a mange

Don't let your bad grammar (or spelling) stop you, it hasn't stopped anyone else. :-)

Bob, My question is not answered yet. When I am wearing my merit badge counselor hat do I need a second adult?

The merit badge counselor application and other related literature says that a merit badge counselor must have a Scout and his buddy present during all instructional sessions. I must wonder why you would have an instructional session without a Scout present :-) Seriously, I am wondering why two adults are not required. Merit badge counselors are registered Scouters so two adults should be present. I want to take my son and another scout to the range to work on the Rifle Shooting merit badge. As a Merit Badge Counselor, I evidently don't need another adult present. However, a

Let me understand you. You are forming two units, a Troop of Boys Scouts and a Crew of Venturers? You are ambitious. Is the same organization chartering both units? Do you have the adult advisors for the Venture Crew?

That's the irony of life. I have a Scout attack someone because he IS strung out on drugs and Bob has one attack someone because he ISN'T strung out.

Back in the early 70s we had a Scout get strung out and try to kill the Scoutmaster. I wasn't the intended victim but I did have to subdue the scout. The scout ended up in the hospital with a broken arm, fractured skull and some cracked ribs. I had knife slashes on my arms and across my abdomen. Many parent called for a ban on knives at campouts.