BSA24

Seattle, It's all about goals. There's some who might want the policy reversed to silence noisy liberals, and in that case, you're right. There will always be someone holding a placard screaming for us to eliminate all traces of religion from the face of the Earth. However, my goal is not to silence the noisy. My goal is simply to be a good scout on the issue. I have gay friends. I have atheist friends. They are good people. I believe it is ignorance and prejudice that lead to their exclusion - almost all of which is based on beliefs in fundamentalist religion - not mainstream relig

Also, your pack is an operating entity of its chartering organization, not BSA. BSA acts like a franchiser and consulting group that charters with other businesses to host scout units using their official program. So, complaining up to BSA or the council is pointless, the pack belongs to the chartering org. If you want to escalate over the heads of the pack leadership, go to their chartering org. I agree with ScoutNut, you are owed no money. You changed units, and the money you raised was for BSA and that unit's use. Them creating scout accounts is just nice of them. They don't have

> It is not like the the athiest where you are > required to believe in a God of some sort, > and are breaking the scout oath to be in scouts > and not disclose it.. By that logic, every overweight man, woman, and boy who ever makes the scout sign and takes the oath is breaking the scout oath and not disclosing it every time they say "physically strong" while carrying an extra 100 pounds around their waists. I'm sorry, but if you can't run 2 miles in less than 20 minutes and do 40 pushups, you are not physically strong, imo. You can't even pass the military's basic t

A unit commissioner (UC) is an adult leader who is registered with the district to coach the chartering orgs and their units they are assigned on the scouting program. Myscouting.scouting.org has a training class for commissioner that is education. It explains the job. Ideally, a UC is enrolled in scouting only as a commissioner and has no other job in scouting. He is expected to visit all of the units he is assigned by the assistant commissioner on a regular basis. He stands in the back of their unit meetings and courts of honor, and he sometimes attends their committee meetings. H

Why can't the OA just get rid of the no sash on your belt rule and instead issue guidelines for doing so?

I think you might want to get each parent who pays for camp to also sign a document saying they understand that. "We sent lots of emails" is not going to withstand a claim in small claims court. You'll be giving them a refund and told your communication is ineffective and lacks receipting. There are parents who don't want spam who don't even tell you that you don't have their email address. Or they give you an email address they never check, because they don't want you able to email their phone and ring it at 1am. There's all kinds of stories back there. I support your policy, but t

Sometimes we get so hung up on the purpose, we forget the fun part. "Let's make men out of them. Get me a car battery! We'll shock some sense into them! We'll build a boy scout shock collar for our next wood badge ticket objective." [sarcasm] Everyone knows that boys love to dress formally. Shiny black shoes for those boy scouts. That will work wonders for attracting youth in a society where the standard is baggy shorts and a tattoo. [/sarcasm] Is the troop committee within their rights? The Scoutmaster needs to represent the boys to the committee and stand them down. The commit

Are you done yet? I'm waiting for you to get it all out of your system. It's all your own internal process. You've got yourself an imaginary enemy, and you apparently need to knock him around a little bit to get out some frustration. I'm willing to serve in that role if it makes you feel better.

BadenP: "Resentment is like drinking poison hoping the other fellow will die. But that's not what happens."

This thread is one of the major reasons I stayed behind as a Cub leader after my boys went on to the Boy Scouts and continue to do so. I just can't see the "fun with a purpose" in all of this. I went through it as a Boy Scout to get my eagle award. It isn't fun when the leaders are trying to make you do things for a purpose that are not fun. Filling out a project write up and having it rejected multiple times is not fun with a purpose. Even having a guide to advancement is not fun with a purpose. Advancement in the Boy Scout program has become this dominating force of sea lawyering

Tobacco is not banned on BSA properties. Using it in front of the youth is. From Scouting.org: > Tobacco > All Scouting functions, meetings, and > activities should be conducted on a > smoke-free basis, with smoking areas > located away from all participants. Never met a ranger that didn't smoke on BSA property out of site of the youth all day long. You are correct that adults will smell tobacco smoke on the leaders. That's an issue for the conscience of the smoker. Relevant: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=285265

> A lot of white liberals have lots of > reasons why they hate Scouting, so > they aren't going to join in any case. White liberal here. Became a liberal because of scouting. Learned about conservation, the trees, the birds, the wildlife, labor unions, and other cool topics. Been a liberal ever since. Was raised in a conservative/moderate family. Been involved in scouting since a long, long time ago.

Too bold? That's subjective and depends on the relationship you have with the people you were talking to. You can call your best buddy ugly names and he'll laugh. You can say something slightly offensive to a stranger and end up being reported to the police. If you have been a regular presence there, and you have established some trust with the unit leaders, then offering a little nudge in the right direction isn't too bold. If you are a new UC for that unit, and traditionally they have been the kind of unit that doesn't welcome a UC in to visit, then you might have snuffed out your

If the bear has been habituated to humans as a source of food (eating our stuff - not us), then anything that smells like humans smells like a potential food source. Black bears are generally shy and timid. I've shooed lots of them off by clapping my hands and saying "Get!" at them. This will make them a little less scary for you: If you see a grizzly, be afraid.(This message has been edited by BSA24)

> The termination WAS out of my control The nature of how people end up poor is a subjective and political one. You've used yourself as your example, so I can't really contradict it with support without personally attacking you, so I won't try. I'll leave it at this: I am a libertarian. I am also a very spiritual person who believes we project the world around us. We make what happens to us through our choices. That's how the universe works. I pulled myself up. I expect others to do the same. Some people gave me help, but also demanded that I give my all. If my cable TV is

> Finally, BSAs approach to uniform issues > baffles me ... Why would you require official socks > but allow Scouts to wear whatever > insignia is fun. Hmmm. Well, I didn't go into every little detail because I wasn't expecting this lovely stake, those nice logs, the smell of kerosene, and that nice man wearing the black hood holding the torch. We require the pants, socks, and shirt because those are the equivalent of a baseball uniform. It's what the community expects to be required of them. And, they can't screw it up. But sometimes they do screw up the p

whitepine, the guy walking with his arms crossed is copying a hollywood actor's image of an Indian Chief from the 1960's. I have never in my life seen an Indian cross his arms like Barbara Eden about to teleport in "I Dream of Jeannie." Do you believe that is something that Indians did in the 1800's? There was lots of arm crossing when things get serious? I'm pretty sure that is a cartoonish representation of how any number of millions of human beings alive in the past might have stood and talked when doing a ceremony. If you have netflix, stream "Reel Injun". I think you'll laugh.

Callooh! Callay! & Eagle92 you make some very interesting points for me to mull over. Some thoughts: Can I make a society in the Boy Scouts where I dress up as the Pope and all the members speak Latin (or what sound like fake Italian accents)? I think you have all made some excellent points about who has and does not have an inherent, God-given righteousness to call themselves victim and claim they are offended. I concede on that front. When one considers the mass hatred between the tribes themselves, and the nonsense they themselves have perpetuated about their own histories, i

> Telling other people what their priorities > ought to be and how they ought to use their > money has always struck me as both a waste > of effort and a bit jerky. I agree. That's not what we do. I was just explaining why I do what I do. What we actually tell our recruits at the parent's night is: * Scouting is a uniformed activity just like baseball * You are kicked off the baseball diamond if you are out of uniform * We don't roll that way, but want every boy to have socks, pants, and shirt * Don't let the scout shop load you up with patches. You can get

> I am a little taken aback that someone who claims > to be so enlightened uses terms such as Indian > and red skinned to refer to Native Americans. > The few Native Americans I know find these terms offensive. LOL! Yes, let's compare sins, because if someone else is sinning, then your own are canceled out. :/ You're saying that people shouldn't be so sensitive and PC about white kids from the burbs dressing up as Indians, walking around with their arms cross like a cheap spaghetti Western, faking a fake Souix accent, but now you want to play role-reversal

Agree with Basement. The Cubmaster, the Treasurer, the Committee Chair should be present any time the pack is fundraising. It's not a good idea to put newly recruited parents in charge of an event without any supervision or oversight whether fundraising or not. Just asking a parent to chair the B&G can lead to chaos if you "over delegate" by simply describing last year's B&G and don't have any meetings with them about it and dump it on them. At work, if you were to give someone a project, you would require them to report in to you weekly as to its progress. In a scout unit, t

> Right now they are going right over your head. Making assumptions about the wisdom of others is never a good idea. Often one finds later in life that he was the one speaking from a lack thereof. > BSA24, you are speaking from a position of privilege Today I am. When I was a scout, I did not have a position of privilege. > and you are not taking into account the different > uniform requirements different units may have I am not in charge of different units. I cannot help you with them. But in mine, uniforms are required, but only the shirt, pants,

> it is not at all uncommon to find a > 'blond haired blue eyed'individual who > is just as Native as someone with darker features. We have a lot of guys around here who are blue eyed who claim to be natives raised with native culture. They fake at being able to speak the language, but I am trilingual, and I can hear their American English accents and slow fake speech just the same as I can when I hear actors recite lines in a foreign language they do not speak. I learn a few phrases in the language and use them, uncommon phrases, and they stare blankly. So then I go

> every family has $135 to plop down Cub scout shirt = $24 Cub scout pants = $25 Cub Scout socks = $6 $55 total. The pants don't even require a belt any longer. They have elastic waists. And if you know someone that needs a belt, let me know, I will mail them a cub scout belt for a youth. If your unit is wise, they have a uniform bank with lots of shirts and pants, and a committee member who does nothing but talk boys and parents out of their old uniforms, and informs parents on the perils of badge magic and how it harms uniform recycling. Any family can find $55.

Seattle, Recruiting is selling. It's person to person consumer sales. Selling is difficult when the product is unknown, or when the brand is unknown. If the brand is tarnished, or the product has received negative press, it is more difficult. Selling something to someone else successfully... it is essential that the brand of the service or product be strong, and the service/product be known about before hand. Creating demand for a product is marketing. I am unhappy to see BSA depending on their customers to create all of the demand and do all the advertising by w