DigitalScout

In my opinion, faith, philosophy, and religion are highly personal and should not be scrutinized or debated by the unit leadership. If the family says they fulfilled the requirement, that should be good enough.

I know some troops that only have 2-4 car camps per year and don't do any backpacking at all. Most of their outings are field trips to museums or ships, air shows, model rocket events, etc. I'm lucky to live in an area where there are a variety of troop types to suit just about anyone's interests.

I've had issues with parent's "misunderstanding" about achievements. My favorite was when a parent requested 28 belt loops and pins prior to one pack meeting. I asked her for details about the horseback riding belt loop and pin she requested. She said the family went to horseback riding in Hawaii two years prior (before even joining Cub Scouts). Really?!?!?

I've noticed that our scouts bond the most while camping outdoors. The fact that your son doesn't want to attend monthly campouts or week-long summer camps means he is missing out on a major experience in Scouting. What is your son's goals and motivation for being in scouts? Does he only want to be with his two friends? Why does he want to achieve Eagle? Does HE want to achieve Eagle or is it because his parents or college guidance counselor want him to? These are important questions to ask your son. Of course we are only getting 50% of the viewpoint so hopefully I can provide insigh

You are right, the BSA does not call out specific religious groups as being permitted or prohibited. The BSA Religious Principles are very broad and does not define belief in God or religious practice or require membership in any religious organization. And The BSA respects the "constitutional freedom to practice religion as individuals." In that light, UFO and Lucifer worshippers would qualify.

Ironically the BSA rules permit Satanism, Voodoo/Vodu and UFO religions such as Scientology and Raelism. But a run-of-the-mill atheist is rejected? I don't get that.

Eliminating the discrimination against gay youth was a baby-step. The next step is to stop discriminating against gay adult volunteers. Then corporations and the public can once again start supporting the BSA without controversy.

The chauffeuring has a lot do to with being a helicopter parent as well. Many parents are very fearful of letting their children out of their sight. Other families think I'm crazy because I let my kids ride their bikes to school and around the neighborhood. The are certain that my kids will be hit by a car, kidnapped, etc.

Yeah, that pesky Civil War that emancipated an entire class of oppressed Americans. Which of course led to women wanting to vote. This liberty thing is getting out of hand.

Alcohol is legal in Colorado. I fail to see how marijuana is any different. Neither are permitted in scouts.

"The Atheists are destroying America" is just another make-believe monster created in the minds of conservatives. For instance, all American students can pray when they wake up, at the breakfast table, before leaving for school, in the car going home, during family dinner and before bed. That's called religious freedom in America. But when secular schools don't have Christian prayer time in the secular classroom, some call it religious persecution. I just don't get that. I'm a Christian and I pray every day with my family. I'm hardly being persecuted because my son can't pray in school.

I love Christmas and help decorate our church each year for the Christmas season. But why does the Chester County Courthouse feel the need to put up creche? There are 8 churches within a 1/4 mile of the courthouse with no doubt get decorated with Christmas trees and manger scenes each year. Are the county commissioners trying to make a statement that Chester County is a Christian county and non-Christians aren't welcome? They should accommodate decorations from all religions (including Pastafarians, Wiccans, Satanists) or no religions.

It's good to hear that you have had such a excellent experience health insurance. For me, my rates jump 10% per year which means I need to change to higher deductible plan with fewer benefits. When I see a doctor, I'm lucky to get 5 minutes of his time so he can make his 12 patients/hour quota. I don't think so highly of that system. The way the system was heading, only the rich would be able to afford healthcare. With ACA, now every American regardless of income has access to healthcare.

Stosh - It sounds like an individual for whom we built the social safety net. Surely you aren't going to be begrudge a disabled veteran who served our country and is now unable to work for the princely sum of $346 + $46 for food per week.

Low income individuals and families (e.g., families of four with incomes under around $33,000) now qualify for Medicare. Others will get a subsidy to help pay for their new healthcare insurance. Just because someone doesn't have healthcare insurance doesn't necessarily mean they can't afford it. It may be that they can afford insurance but choose to use the emergency room for healthcare which is a terribly expensive taxpayers expense.

Stosh - would you mind sharing your education background (e.g., public, secular private, religious, homeschooling) and religious background (e.g., Baptist, Pentacostal)? I think it would help us understand where you are coming from. One tends to assume that we all have similar backgrounds, attended similar churches and learned in the traditional education system. I may be completely wrong but I'm assuming that you were taught in a non-mainstream education system.

It can be very difficult when one's religious beliefs seem to conflict with science. But humans are pretty smart at resolving such challenges. The Roman Catholic Church subscribes to the belief of "Theistic Evolutionism" which basically states that humans may have evolved from a more primitive species but that it is the hand of God which imbued us with a soul.

I'm not sure what the age of a theory has to do with anything other than to suggest that in 4000 years there hasn't been enough evidence to promote it to a law. The Theory of General Relativity is 100+ years old but the consequences have been in effect since the beginning of time. I'm hesitant to call Creationism a "theory" because that suggests that it is a scientific theory. Creationism is a religious belief, not a scientific theory as one can't measure it's effect using scientific principles or techniques.

I get the sense that this entire shutdown debacle was an outlandish stunt to get re-election money from the Koch brothers. Ted Cruz probably won in that regard. Although the Koch Brother's have never been accused to having long term vision, Ted Cruz has nearly zero chance at the presidency due to his radical tendencies. What has happened to Marco Rubio? He's been awfully quiet during all this. Oh yeah, he dared to work with Democrats on immigration reform so the GOP no longer trust him.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/thousands-of-sites-hacked-via-vbulletin-hole

My point exactly, JoeBob.

Papadaddy - that will work as well as asking those in favor of a war to contribute as they see fit.

Well, something is broken. Nearly two-thirds of eighth-graders scored below proficient in math. Nearly three out of four eighth-and 12th-grade students cannot write proficiently. For African-American and Hispanic students across the country, dropout rates are close to 40 percent, compared to the national average of 27 percent. http://www.nagb.org/newsroom/naep-releases/2011-reading-math.html

There was a two-page paid ad in the WSJ last week by the CEO of Exxon. He was encouraging the adoption of the Common Core standards in our schools and the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). The new Common Core standards, adopted by 45 states so far, will make schools more challenging and more productive. Students will be learning at higher levels in English and math with an emphasis on critical thinking. Of course it isn't without controversy. Conservatives see it as another Obama power grab by nationalizing the educational system.

Apparently there is a lot of bickering going on inside Congress between the radical "repeal-Obamacare" Republicans and the less radical "delay-Obamacare" Republicans. The "repeal-Obamacare" faction is accusing the "delay-Obamacare" faction of going along with the shutdown just to raise election campaign money from donors and are not true conservatives (i.e., RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only) because they want delay, not repeal.