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Boys' Life Bible Stories?


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drmbear sez I spent a lot of time studying storytelling, and it amuses me greatly when anyone actually believes Bible stories as truth. Humans are storytelling machines, and the stories in the Bible, ALL of them, come directly out of human storytelling traditions.

 

While is may seem quite simple and logical to dismiss some elements in the Bible as mythology or storytelling, it is a mistake to categorize the entire document as such.

The Old and New Testaments have been analyzed via historical criticism for quite some time. Many of the individuals, events, places described in the texts have been verified as authentic by comparison with other documents of the time from surrounding countries as well through as the science of archeology.

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I don't think bible stories in Boy's Life are in the top then of issues I would like to see BSA focus on and address.

 

That being said, I am concerned with some of your responses. These are never valid reasons to ignore other people's suggestions for improvements:

 

* It's always been that way (and slavery had always been that way too)

* It isn't intended to offend (doesn't matter what the intent is)

* You have too much time on your hands (so do you if you have time to read this)

 

These are the slogans behind which we gather when we are resisting change. But without past changes, we would today be living in caves slinging our own feces at each other in anger. So, no change for change's sake, but change isn't a bad thing.

 

I'd think that in 2010, and with obvious Buddhist and other faiths participating in Scouting, that it's time to rename the series and include stories from faiths around the world rather than just Bible Stories.

 

If that is not acceptable, then obviously the intent was absolutely to indoctrinate and favor one religion and the comic strip should be removed.

 

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If some cartoonist draws a set of cartoons about various faith traditions and knocks on the door of BL and tries to sell them, they might actually be pretty good, and BL might buy them.

 

On the other hand, if someone at the top makes a decision that BL needs to have cartoons about various faith traditions, then the resulting comic is guaranteed to be something that will bore the readers to tears.

 

Complaining about it might possibly result in someone at the top making a decision, but I doubt if it will result in any additional interesting content.

 

Incidentally, I found it interesting that someone chose to bump this thread in order to link to a website for disgruntled Mormons. I'm not LDS, but I found that site quite amusing. Basically, it's a place for people to post stories, most of which amounted to the following:

 

"My estranged spouse is Mormon and wants our son to be in the Mormon Boy Scout troop. I don't want our son to be in the Mormon Boy Scout troop. Therefore, I have decided that I will be rude to the leaders of the Mormon Boy Scout troop. That'll show 'em."

 

Occasionally, these stories are augmented with interesting details such as the kid who got a fish hook stuck in his finger.

 

Maybe the website could be turned into a comic strip and sold to BL. :)

 

Incidentally, I don't think I ever read the "Bible Stories" cartoon as a youth. (I guess I just assumed that it had been placed there because of some edict from the top, and it would probably bore me to tears.) I was always more interested in "Scouts in Action".

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clemlaw If some cartoonist draws a set of cartoons about various faith traditions and knocks on the door of BL and tries to sell them, they might actually be pretty good, and BL might buy them.

 

Not all traditions approve of visual media for presenting their religion. (I'm sure there are some sects of Judaism and Christianity that find cartoon Bible Stories offensive. But, the majority of muslims for example frown on any renderings of their prophet.) That said, an occasional article on a minority religion -- especially one by/about venturers persuing their trust award -- would be useful.

 

BSA24 I'd think that in 2010, and with obvious Buddhist and other faiths participating in Scouting, that it's time to rename the series and include stories from faiths around the world rather than just Bible Stories.

 

Not sure I would ever take the "Bible Heroes" title from the strip. It grabs the interest of boys who key into such things. And it allows young cynics like Clem to skip over it. It's like asking Kahuna to delete "the Sangha" from his opening scentence at the start of this thread and replace it with "my religious community". It denies him the right to declare where he's coming from and prevents us readers from understanding how his perspective may be more than just his own.

 

I would rather have a story from a minority faith tradition framed in its own right. It gives the boy the right to decide if he's interested in reading it. It also doesn't insult the minority faith by forcing it to be on par with a tradition that it may find offensive.

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The non-sectarian nature of Scouting is a passion of mine. The number of times Scout leaders get diverse groups together and then say a sectarian prayer or make sectarian remarks is not few. It is difficult to ask someone who is passionate about religion to dial back their expression of it. They often feel attacked and threatened and do not understand how being non-sectarian can be a good thing.

 

I think we all get a little over-amped up about being brave. "A Scout is brave - he has the courage to stand for what he thinks is right even if others laugh at or threaten him." When we are not Christian, we are sometimes a little over-assertive in demanding our rights to be heard, and a little overly loud in protesting every Christian display we come across.

 

When we are deeply Christian, which manifests as a very evangelical religious experience amongst many believers, it may feel we are under attack and that God's Own Truth is being challenged by barbarians who believe wrongly. We may feel we are being brave by standing up to these people and demanding that Christ's Truth be the only truth presented - for the good of all souls in the world. We may even say this to people's faces as if we are doing them a favor by correcting their false beliefs.

 

But as scouts we also pledge ourselves to be courteous, kind, and friendly. And it is not possible to say we are following The Scout Law when we stand up for what we think is right not when others may threaten us, but when others say we are being discourteous, unkind, and unfriendly to them.

 

A Scout is courteous, kind, and friendly, which to me means we put extra effort into putting each other at ease and making them comfortable around us and in the world. Scouting's most famous service to humanity is to provide random acts of kindness - good turns.

 

It seems in keeping with the Scout Law that we, who openly declare we are an organization which is welcoming of all who believe in the Almighty and recognize his hand at work in the Universe, follow our law and be consistent with that message in all things that we do.

 

If it pains us, then the sacrifice is more noble, and we are truly being brave.

 

Imagine this. Imagine a Muslim camp chaplain leading prayer before a meal asking all of the boys to face toward Mecca and drop to their knees repeatedly. There would be an outcry of protest! People would look at each other as if they were being asked to throw a virgin into a volcano after chopping her head off with an axe.

 

I think that's the way other faiths feel when they see us put nothing but Bible Stories in Boy's Life while saying we are non-sectarian. Non-sectarian means that no particular faith has any place in the scouts - it is to be handled at home with religious leader and family. Boy's life should probably drop the comic strip in keeping with that policy.

(This message has been edited by BSA24)

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