CalicoPenn

The Unit Commissioner was wrong - very wrong - to not allow people who were not on the committee to observe - the BSA makes clear that all meetings are open to parents to observe. You actually don't, regardless of popular opinion, have any obligation to the chartered organization, unless you are part of the chartered organization and it's part of either a calling (as is often the case in LDS units) or is part of your responsibilities within the chartered organization. You have stated in this e-mail that this is now affecting your health. While your desire to stick around for the boys

Question - have you asked the Scouts that are not participating why they aren't participating? I think too often we spin our wheels trying to figure things out and never think to just ask.

When I was a Scout (in the 1970's) neckerchiefs were worn by the boys - the only exception was the Wood Badge neckerchiefs and we understood that as the adults playing at being Boy Scouts. The adults wore ties or bolos - being from the suburbs of Chicago bolos tended to be worn as part of the "informal" uniform - which really was just the full uniform without a tie. Bolos were typically worn to scout meetings and roundtables. Ties were reserved for Courts of Honor and Scout Sunday. My uncle in Arizona only wore Bolos - no ties - as an adult Scouter. When I was a Scout, we didn't lik

Why the arcane Patrol Yell? Stosh keeps answering his own question. #1 reason - group cohesiveness. SPL asks if Coyote Patrol is present - the Coyote Patrol, as a group, does the yell. Helps cement the group. Patrols playing capture the flag? Coyote Patrol get's the flag - does the Patrol Yell in celebration. Helps cement the group. Coyote Patrol finishes a camporee event - does the yell - helps cement the group. #2 reason - communications. Sure, we have cell phones and internet, etc. but if you're out camping and the grubmaster wants to tell the Patrol that dinner is ready,

The Congressional Charter was issued in 1916 - signed by Woodrow Wilson on June 15, 2016. WOSM was founded in 1922. The Boy Scouts of America was one of the founding members. The Congressional Charter was issued mostly as an imprimatur of support of the BSA's goals and objectives by Congress. Though mostly honorary, it does give monopoly protections and adds a bit more weight to the BSA's copyright and trademark claims. It wasn't issued as a desire by Congress that the BSA be the US's representative in WOSM. That Congress gave a Congressional Charter to the BSA is more a matter

I was hoping for cobbler.

OMG - Scout Membership is dropping! It must be the gays!! It must be the girls!! It must be the trans kids!! It must be the non-religious!! It must be the liberals!!! Everybody Panic!!!!!!!!!!!!! There have been a lot of stories about whole troops and packs folding as a result of the policy changes. So what? There have been a lot of stories about CO's dumping units and those units being picked up by new CO's too. If a CO has decided not to keep a unit and it folds instead of being picked up by another CO, chances are pretty good that the unit didn't have very dedicated adult leade

Is there any particular reason that it can't be both?

Premise 3: It doesn't matter if it's a choice or not a choice - we're all human beings and it's our job to love each other, not judge each other. Why do we have heavy violence in Chicago? Hint - it's not about gangs anymore - it's about people feeling disrespected and not knowing how to appropriately respond.

Unit Leader = Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Coach, Advisor and Skipper - or their assistants. Den and Assistant Den leaders are not Unit Leaders - they don't lead the unit, they lead a section of the unit. Committee Members are not Unit Leaders - they don't lead the Unit - they provide support to the Unit.

I've never quite understood how questioning the existance of God is not consistent with doing one's Duty to God. Does it not follow that when someone questions the authority or existance of God, that it often (if not usually) serves to strengthen others belief in God and if that's the case, then hasn't the non-theist actually done God a service?

In a Pack - program leaders (Cubmaster, ACM's, Den Leaders) are NOT part of the Committee (So your new CC is right about this). However, the Committee does NOT plan the Pack's program. The Packs program leaders do that. The Cubmaster (not the Committee Chair) is in charge of the Pack's program leaders - s/he recruits the Den Leaders). The Cubmaster sits on the committee in an advisory/liason position. He tells the Committee what the program plans are, and the Committee does what is needed to support that program. They don't get to veto the program but they are responsibile for making sur

Colonel Mylord Flagg? Can I shorten it to Myles?

Can we just eliminate the need for the terms "transgender" and "cis-gender" completely? I really don't care about some long, complicated story or explanation about why a man becomes a woman or a girl becomes a boy - that's between them and their families/counselors. It's completely unnecessary for Caitlyn Jenner to call herself "transgender", for Chaz Bono to call himself "transgender". Caitlyn is a woman, Chaz is a man - done - not further explanation is needed. I don't care what it says on their birth certificate - if Caitlyn says she's a woman, she's a woman. If Chaz says he's a ma

Which position do you think is questioning the legitimacy of God's creations? If God created all, then God surely created the girls that believe they are really boys and the boys that believe they are really girls. Who are we to question his wisdom in that?

What a great sentiment - good thing she doesn't read parts of this forum.

Now that I have read through the entire thread I have a question for some of you......When did God die and put you in charge of determing the legitimacy of his creations?

No, they are not the exclusive domain of boys, but the stated purpose in the congressional charter is for the training of boys. Read the charter again carefully - it doesn't say boys exclusively - it says boys - I'd argue that you can serve girls and adults as well - heck, you can even serve dogs and cats - as long as you are serving boys. It's if you stop serving boys that you run awry of the charter, not if you serve people in addition to boys.

Tahawk said: So I'm a liberal now? My liberal friends will be stunned to hear that. My Goddess, if you're a liberal, what does that make me?

I understand the sentiment but it leads me to a question - if we decide it doesn't matter where a 15-year old Eagle Scout practices the leadership skills we hope they've gained, why even bother keeping the Boy Scout age at 17 - why not just change the program so that Boy Scouts is from 11-15 and Eagle Scout must be earned before a boys 16th birthday?

I've heard the term "Eagled Out" a number of times. I usually try to correct the record. A Scout can "Age Out". A Scout can't "Eagle Out". If someone refers to a Scout as having "Eagled Out", I tell them no, he hasn't Eagled Out - he's quit. The Boy Scouting part of the program is designed to provide activities, adventures and learning opportunities for boys from 11 to 17 inclusive. Advancement is just one of the methods used in Scouting. As unit leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure that this program is offered. When a boy quits - regardless of age or rank, then there is som

I've got doubts that the disappearance of newspaper customers and newspapers had much influence at all in the loss of paperboys - mostly because the disappearance of newspapers and newspaper customers came a bit later. Except for some smaller markets, most newspaper routes were replaced by drivers in cars by the mid-to-late 80's. I know my local papers (all three of them - the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times and The Daily Herald) stopped using paperboys by 1983 because I had a part time job delivering all three, plus the Wall Street Journal, all at the same time, from my car (I got very g

50 years ago cable television was a nascent industry and there was no 24-hours cable news stations. Local news remained local - if local news did make the national news, it was a paragraph in the middle of a newspaper or a 15-second sound bite in the middle of a news cast. Life seemed simpler back then - or at least less scary. Maybe 12 and 13 year olds were more mature and responsible back then but I'm not sure that's really the case. I suspect that the changes really started in the 1980's and I'll be as bold to say the changes really started on June 1, 1980. What happened on that da

Apple Pie is number 6 on the list of favorite deserts, though it is number 1 on the list of favorite pies. It may not be our favorite desert, but it beats out Jello (though just barely - Jello is number 8 on the list).

No one has ever asked the more important question - How did the chicken cross the road.