DanKroh

"There is no sound evidence that homosexuality is biological." I completely disagree. There is debate over whether it is "genetic" or whether it is due to maternal factors present during gestational development. But either way it's biological. Slews of evidence about brain structure, hormone levels, etc. being different in gay men and straight men. Hmm. Sound biological to me. "Natural selection would virtually preclude a genetic basis for homosexuality." Um, no, not really. Natural selection doesn't wipe out all genes that prevent successful reproduction. If it did, we wouldn't

"If gays want to redefine the gender in marriage, I think we should redefine the quantity in marriage. Instead of one wife, how about 3 or 4? You see, we can't always have want we want. No I really don't want 3 or 4, Mrs. Gonzo wouldn't like that." Nope, the whole slippery slope thing doesn't impress me either. Especially the polygamy part. Polygamy is not a biologically defined state. Homosexuality is. So advocating for what you see as a civil right is "forcing" someone to "accept" you, and is therefore, intolerance? Well, it is certainly an interesting piece of reasoning, and I com

We just had our planning meeting last night for the November pack meeting, for which the Program Helps theme is "Cubs in Shining Armor". I thought it might be nice to pass along some plan ideas. We are having members from the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a medieval recreation group, come to do a demonstration of various activities at our pack meeting. I'm a member of the SCA myself, so contacting and arranging the demonstration was simply a matter of talking to some friends. But if you don't know about the SCA or don't know how to contact them, here is some info which migh

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the use of these books in public schools. On the one hand, I think that gay couples and gay parents are part of the reality that all children have to face, even young ones. My 2nd grade son has a classmate with two mommies. But then again, he's been raised on my knee to understand that love isn't and shouldn't be bounded by gender. I read "Daddy's Roommate" to him myself when we were visiting his (married) godfathers. I guess what it comes down to is that, however distasteful I may find it personally, parents do have a right to teach their children to

Thanks, Packsaddle, for the vote of confidence! As I said, I'm looking ahead a couple of years on this, both because the current Chaplain is still doing the job, and because I'm still getting comfortable in my Cubmaster role with the pack, which I will be doing for another 3 years or so until my younger son crosses over. But maybe after I finish Wood Badge (starting that this spring), I might be ready to take on a role in the troop as well as the pack.(This message has been edited by DanKroh)

No, I don't mind at all Fuzzy. Sharing knowledge is the only tool we have for defeating ignorance, after all. There are many, many belief systems that fall under the umbrella of Pagan. My particular beliefs are Wiccan-ish (big debate in the Pagan community I won't bore you with, but I'm not a traditional Wiccan because I'm not in the British Tradition). I believe that the creative force of the Universe has male and female aspects, which we generally refer to as the God and Goddess. The particular gods I name generally are from the Welsh pantheon. Wicca beliefs do include a duty to th

Pack, the folks in the units I am associated with (a pack and a troop) have been very welcoming, for the most part. Most of the people I've encountered in the BSA who actually understand my faith (as opposed to what they have seen in bad horror movies) are pretty tolerant. I have had some scouters look at me like I have two heads; some obviously have a pre-formed negative opinion of what a pagan is and aren't about to let anything as trivial as facts change it, because that negative opinion are dicated by *their* religion. But I live in a pretty tolerant area of the country that has prett

"The tent is pretty diverse as is." Perhaps in theory and by policy, it is. However, in the practice of many of the people who are members, not so much. I've had to explain to a not insignificant number of people that no, the BSA is not a *Christian* organization. I've even had questions come up from Jewish families about whether they would be welcome in scouting. As a pagan, I've had people react very negatively to me within scouting (not within my local unit, but even at my Council level). Did I feel welcome in the "big tent"? Again, sometimes not so much. There are a number o

John-in-KC, By "what faith groups are outside the BSA tent?" do you mean faith groups that do not have a religious emblem registered with the BSA (since you referenced the PRAY website)? Or do you mean religions that the BSA don't "approve of" (which is *technically* none of them)?

Thanks, pack and Trev for you responses. Since I think the answer to the second part of my question (Can a non-BSA approved religous emblem fulfill Bear and Webelos rank advancement requirements?) is a yes, that brings up another question as well. In the Webelos requirements (this is #8, btw), it says "if you earned your faith's religious emblem earlier in Cub Scouting, and your faith does not have a Webelos religious emblem, you must complete requirement 8e. Can a boy complete a *different* religious emblem for the Webelos requirement if he already earned one for Bear? In the

"Dan, I asked my council guy and he says that the patch, if purchased from the official BSA supplier, can ALWAYS be worn on the uniform. There is no way for anyone to know which specific religious award it represents. However, BSA does not (and this is important) RECOGNIZE the official UU religious award. Therefore at ceremonial events, the medal may not be worn." Ok, not to hijack this thread away from the UU award, but this has brought up another question in my mind that is related. If my son completes the curriculum for the Over the Moon or the Hart and Crescent emblems offered by the

Hi Zarah, welcome to the forum. I'm sure Trevorum will have something more to say about the UUSO program, but here is an opinion from a UU member who is not involved in the UUSO. While the idea of the UUSO emblem program for Boy Scouts is all well and good, you should be aware that the UUSO emblem program does not have the approval of the UUA. On the other hand, the UUA emblem program does not have the approval of the BSA. While the difference is currently moot for Cubs, since the UUSO Cub program is still in development, it is something you might want to keep in mind. As f

"Its not the price its the price point!!!" I agree totally. And here's some evidence to support that. Last year, the best selling item we had was the tin of caramel and peanuts, which in our Council, sells for $8. Aside from the "singles" that we sell for $1 each. However, this year, they offered a microwave variety pack which consisted of 5 smaller boxes that contained 6 bags each. We broke the case apart and sold each of the smaller boxes for $6 each. Sold like crazy. Sold out of it, got some more from council, and sold out of them again, and this year still have tins of the c

We also use that tradition in our pack. However, our new Bobcats usually stay to help clean up after the pack meeting where they get there badges, so they can get turned right side up pretty fast.

mtm, sounds like your new pack is off to a good start. Our September pack meeting used the "Shipbuilding" theme (actually from October helps). One of our former leaders is a naval architect, so he did a presentation to the boys about what make big ships float. The boys then put that into some practice by building boats using aluminum foil sheets. They tested how well their boats floated by counting how many pennies the boat could hold before it sank in a tub of water. The boys had a blast. October is going to be a Halloween party with each den creating a "street fair" type game for

Well, hi to you, too, Barry. Let me try to cut through the hostility here a little and address some of your points. "I didnt ask if you were religious, I asked if you have ever heard of the religious left. The term religious right which is not used to suggest a good person unintentionally doesnt give any option either. Youre either religious and a republican, or you are not religious." Yes, I have heard of the religious left. However, in my experience, they are often not acknowledged as being religious by those on the right exactly because many on the right seem to believe the last s

"Have you ever heard of the religious left?" Hi! I'm a religious person on the left. And there are a lot more of us. We just don't tend to wear it on our sleeve. "We are a county where religious beliefs are accepted as a part of our way of life. The democrats have just made their party look hostle to religous people in general, so where else can a believer go? You only have to look at the homosexual thread to see posters telling other posters that they shouldnt take their bible so seriously. That is friendly?" Actually, I think the Democratic party is mostly hostile toward fund

Wow, too much misinformation in tominrichmond's post for me to let it slide on by. "The reply to the original question "why no homosexuals in boy scouts?" is simple: no sane parent would entrust his child to a group that allowed people sexually attracted to him to be in close quarters with him." Actually, homosexuals are not attracted to my son or your son, or any other CHILD. But to follow your reasoning, we should obviously do away with female leaders (at least, the straight ones), because they are the one attracted to our sons, right? "If, as has been suggested here, the scou

"the loops can only be earned once - so running through them the first year can mean boredom later in scouts when others are learning" Actually, beltloops can be earned more than once. Hence the requirement for some Webelos Activity Pins to earn a certain beltloop "as a Webelos". That said, our pack (and I've read the same from others) will not buy a beltloop more than once for a scout. If the scout wants to wear multiple art beltloops, f'ex, then they will have to purchase the extras himself. In fact, unless earning the beltloop again is a requirment for another advancement (like We

All the requirements are available online at http://usscouts.org/advance/cubscout/a-s.html The other thing we do is if a group is going to work on a beltloop together (as a den or as a pack), we copy the pages for that beltloop/pin from the manual to distribute to the parents.

"First, we are not talking about a kid asking a question about why his gay parents aren't included in a book. We are talking about a book being sent home to ALL families. Why, again, did the author write the book? If you don't see the problem with this, then I can only assume you are a member or supporter of GLSEN. GLSEN goes in to schools under the premise of protecting gay kids from abuse, and then turn into recruiters for the homosexual movement." Oh, so the children of gay parents should have been given a DIFFERENT book about "What is a family?" than the children of heterosexual paren

"Softball questions?" Not really; I was truly curious what level of activities you considered "pushing the homosexual agenta". "An ongoing struggle in a Boston suburb over homosexual material in elementary classrooms has culminated in a lawsuit between parents and the school system. The Parkers were upset over a book sent home with their five-year-old son in January of 2005, Whos in a Family, that presents families with gay or lesbian parents as normal. Robert Skutch, author of Whos in a Family, says that the whole purpose of the book was to get the subject [of same-sex parent ho

"But many groups, homosexual activists included, view public schools as their best avenue for creating long-term social change." Can you give some examples/instances of how "homosexual activists" are pushing their view in the public schools?

"There is no resistance to people with other abnormal sexual desires such as S&M, spouse swappers, toe-suckers, etc. Largely, people with such proclivities keep their sex lives private and don't organize politically." I guess you've never heard of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, then.

Can you speak to the outgoing SM as a friend (not in an official scout capacity, whatever that is) and tell him about the situation? Or would it be too awkward to reveal to him that you know about this aspect of his personal life? If your committee still wants to get him a some sort of recognition, let him know that, but that you are concerned about the wife showing up and making a scene. He might know better than you whether she is just blowing smoke or is actually likely to follow through with her threat. It will spoil the surprise of the recognition (if you intended it to be a surprise