BSA24

> the current political policies of the > Supreme Court are biased, obnoxious and > offensive, in my view. They provide a definite > bias towards atheism and therefore create > an atmosphere of hostility towards religion. Can you cite the rulings from the cases you disagree with? I am unable to find any significant supreme court rulings on the establishment clause since 1997. The things that annoy you I rather appreciate: http://www.politicsplus.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/30Iran.jpg

> never expressed their own sense of morality Discussing morality requires no religion according to BSA. Remember that we are to teach boys how to be good men without using religion. BSA is a grey place to you?

> never expressed their own sense of morality Discussing morality requires no religion according to BSA. Remember that we are to teach boys how to be good men without using religion. BSA is a grey place to you?

AZmike, Yep - shut him up on the topic. If he's on everyone's dime, then he needs to stick to the topic and not play at being a preacher. He's not one. There's never been a president who was "morally straight" anyway. Being a politician pretty much disqualifies you from that category. As for political consistency - I think that is an unrealistic expectation. Given the inconsistencies everywhere in everyone's political beliefs. Liberals throw back "You are pro-life, but you don't want to take care of people after they are born - just before." They also throw back, "You are against big

In my troop the adults marched us to the showers. The patrol leaders used to run around saying "clean set of clothes please." There was much policing of our cleanliness.

I don't think Federal Courts are trying to eliminate religion. I think they are simply enforcing the establishment clause of the Constitution. As the nation's consciousness about what constitutes a belief and a religion morphs over time, those who were advantaged by the previous interpretations which excluded other voices are now having their rights reduced to make room for others. As someone who was raised in a very conservative Christian home, it seems natural to me to bow my head in prayer and say "Amen" at the end. But these are strictly Christian practices. Having someone give the pr

Is it for the boys? If so, then forget what the adults want and do what the boys want. Consider Lone Scouting for the boys, or found your own unit without BSA in support and run a traditional scout troop without them. Use military garb for your uniforms, and get badges from the baden powell scout association. http://www.inquiry.net/traditional/index.htm Folks in BSA are always saying like it or leave it - turns out it is easy to leave. Really easy. With BSA's falling membership levels and street cred among employers in urban areas, you're probably doing your kids a service. No C

> If atheists are unhappy with Scouting --- don't join. Don't like it? Tough. It may bring pleasure to assume this stance, but it is unbecoming of an organization with ideals like ours.

> We need to join together to understand and respect > our varying religious traditions --- atheism included. > They should all have a respected place in the public > square and in Scouting in particular. I agree. The United States was founded and continues to exist as a nation where one is free to pursue religion in his own way. We don't allow any one religion to define our lives for us, and we shouldn't allow lack of belief to define our lives for us. Where we are having trouble is in the public square where all are taxed to pay for landscaping and maintenance

> Just because it's the courts that are censoring > speech doesn't mean it isn't censorship, pure and simple. I agree with SP. Respecting the beliefs of others is advanced citizenship. It is a standard that we as Americans have yet to understand or embrace. Frankly, we aren't yet smart enough or emotionally mature as a nation to be able to act on this ideal, even though we say in the Scout Law. I doubt a Muslim call to prayer before meals would be welcome at summer camp. I'd like to see someone do that. Carpets for everyone! Buddhist meditation? Sit down in the half-

Suggestion: Do your beading at a committee meeting or a party for the leaders at your house. Let everyone come casual, you in uniform, receive the beads, and then change clothes and have a casual party for your adults that is not scouting related. Don't step on the Eagle COH with your wood badge ceremony. The wood badge staff might show up and turn into overbaked hams and bore everyone to death. There are a large percentage of non-scouter adults who think that an adult getting an award from the scouts is childish and silly. You'll tick people off, even if the scout is OK with it. Be

Just to inject more chaos: Since the previous training times indicated that new requirements would be coming out, but you could complete the awards under the old requirements, let's see how many districts turn in the old forms, and how many reject the old forms because they think the new form is instantly required sending their volunteers into a hissy fit because they thought they finished their award, but now they have another year to go or some additional requirement to meet. LOL BSA's National Committees - when it absolutely, positively has to be done completely wrong and poorly

Arrgghhh The award forms have "This is Scouting" required on them even though the requirement to take it to be considered "trained" was done away with because it is redundant. This page: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/resources/CSLeaderRecAwards.aspx Still not updated. I too bemoan the use of facebook for notifications. Why do they use the training updates page for a newsletter that is quarterly instead of just blogging on it?

The best one is the one that you and the boys make together. Buy some 1x8 white pine shelf boards or get them donated Draw, dremel, carve, or paint a sunrise/sunset on the board Drill two holes Put some sticks in the holes or dowels Glue them in place Mount the arrow to the board Have the boys make their own, or you make them for them and have all the boys sign each other's on the back with a sharpie marker.

> the advancement chair (the arbiter of "new rules") tells Scouts, > at a Board of Review, "okay,... from here on out you're going > to be expected to actually participate But that is not the role of the Advancement Chair, and they are not entitled to say such a thing. The Advancement Chair doesn't decide if a requirement is met. The SM does that. The SM makes that decision. The AC only decides if the records are updated properly and everything signed off properly. They make sure the BOR happens, but their only role in the BOR is to review all paperwork and ensure al

Sometimes a boy needs to be pulled aside and cooled down. Sometimes I need to ask myself what I did to bore them so bad they wanted to do something else. I don't punish them. I just grind through it and use the scout sign as long as it takes.(This message has been edited by BSA24)

> position-specific training does not transfer! > So if you had a trained Den Leader who switched > registration to Cubmaster this year, he is no longer > considered trained. This is why the fancy position patches for being trained made sense. The trained badge is silly. You sew it on, you aren't going to remove it just because you change positions. People leave them on forever once they get them on. Often they are glued on and can't come off without major surgery. The trained position patches were the ticket here. Shiny badges for trained leaders, regular badge

I too am from ye olden days. I did not receive "instant recognition." We had a COH ever three months instead of a regular meeting. It was a covered dish meal following the awards ceremony. If you completed a badge, you waited until the COH to receive it. My SM put a lot of work into the ceremonies - turning off the lights and lighting candles in the room. It was a very powerful experience. Your dad pinned your pin on your pocket flap. You pinned your Mom with the mother's pin. The SM handed you the cloth badge. The pin was put on upside down. We could only turn it

He's a VERY angry elf!

> How about the SM who got caught by his > wife being unfaithful with the ASM? I'd want to know more details about what happened as their COR to make a call on that. I'd conduct a thorough investigation before rendering a decision on who needed to leave and if they needed to leave depending on what I learned - not one sentence in a forum. It is never as black and white as reported. > Or the child porn film maker who wanted to be a SM. Probably BSA will reject the application. As the COR, I would refuse to sign it. Then I would call the cops. > There is the

I give the tiger den leader the pack's bucket 'o beads. I have them award them in the den meetings immediately upon completion of their requirements. For the electives, if the boy says he did ten, we give him a bead. We don't use the advancement chair for that or otherwise try to track or document it. They just track the orange, white, and black beads for their tiger badge requirements so that we don't forget anyone's badge.

Sorry. I was not trying to be hard on SP. My apologies, SP, if that's how it comes across. I was attempting to address each point with either logic or my own perspective. I just viewed it as a lively test of opinions. I'm curious if I learn something when mine don't hold up, and also hopeful sometimes someone else sees some value in my position. It's funny how it sounds all good-natured and fun in your own mind while writing, but someone else will read it in an angry, mean voice. That is not my intent. That is a failure of my poor education and inadequate writing skills.(This messag

> There are certainly loads of atheists and homosexuals in > Scouting now. They merely need to accept the values of > Scouting as it is in order to get along. "The Values of Scouting" = The Membership Policy, apparently. I do not believe that there are any Scouting Values that have anything to do with sexuality or belief in God. To follow the membership policy, you wish for them to comply with the don't ask don't tell practice, which means they should maximize secrecy and not tell anyone what they are up to, but continue to support us in our many leadership positions.

As the SM of the troop, you are the top leader of the unit. You do not have to follow troop traditions. You set the tone of the program. When an adult tells a youth not to enter the "adults only zone," say, "My scouts are always welcome in my campsite as long as we are not alone. Come on in, son. What do you need?" Tell the boys they are welcome in your area. That will spark one to approach, and give you the opportunity to issue the correction. Probably no adult will try and stand up to you. If one does, say, "I'm the scoutmaster. My scouts in my troop will always be welcome up