Becoming a Man

[scoutingagain 20]

How could I have been so stupid? Of course

 

"A Man Needs A Maid"

Neil Young

 

My life is changing

in so many ways

I don't know who

to trust anymore

There's a shadow running

thru my days

Like a beggar going

from door to door.

 

I was thinking that

maybe I'd get a maid

Find a place nearby

for her to stay.

Just someone

to keep my house clean,

Fix my meals and go away.

 

A maid. A man needs a maid.

A maid.

 

It's hard to make that change

When life and love

turns strange.

And old.

 

To give a love,

you gotta live a love.

To live a love,

you gotta be "part of"

When will I see you again?

 

A while ago somewhere

I don't know when

I was watching

a movie with a friend.

I fell in love with the actress.

She was playing a part

that I could understand.

 

A maid. A man needs a maid.

A maid.

 

When will I see you again?

 

 

And then there is always "Old Man"

 

SA

[Guest OldGreyEagle]

Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.

 

Socrates

 

 

I aplogize for my dead skunk lapse, however, as our ol' buddy Socrates illustrates the concept of worrying that the end of civilization as we know it will occur due to the inheriting generation is not new.

[NJCubScouter 1389]

Yeah, OGE, these kids today...

 

On a more cosmic scale but somewhat related, I saw a tv show a few days ago on my favorite channel (the History Channel) in which it was said that in virtually every generation of mankind since people started to write, some percentage of the population believed that they were living in the "end time." But that does not deter some people today from thinking they know something that all those thousands of years' worth of other people did not. It may, however, help explain why there are so many cranky people around.

[WHEELER 10]

Who were the Zulus?

 

They were the largest, strongest tribe who ruled a greater portion of South Africa.

 

Why were they that way? Because they were weak or effeminate?

 

They ruled because they were hard. They were the best. They got that way because of their training. The good comes through the hard. They were hard and they were number one! Baden-Powell was inspired by the Zulu nation. It had a lot in common with Bristish mentality.

 

The Zulus were winners in the game of life and so were good examples to follow. Every Boy Scout is a Zulu Warrior, as he is an Indian Brave, as he is a British Trooper standing on the front line rifle in hand, as he is a Spartan standing in the spearline at Thermopylae.

 

(This message has been edited by WHEELER)

[evmori 11]

OK - Who asked about the Zulu's? It seems Wheeler is answering his own questions now! Did ya ever notice the later in the day it gets the stranger Wheeler gets? The medication must be wearing off again.

[WHEELER 10]

This is taken from the book, "The Church Impotent", by Leon Podles.  He is a Roman Catholic with six sons and is an Assistant Scoutmaster.

"In almost all societies, learning to be masculine also means being initiated into the religion of that society, since religion teaches the meaning of the mysteries of the life and death.  The holy is a masculine category:  men develop their masculine identity by a pattern of seperation, both biological and cultural, and to be holy means to be seperated.  The more transcendent God is, the holier he is and the more masculine he is." pg 197

"Learning to be masculine".    Wow.  How can men develop their masculine identity when mixed and lead by women??????  Impossible..  The EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE of the BSA doesn't have a clue what it means to "be a Man".

 

[WHEELER 10]

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned like a child; when I BECAME a Man, I GAVE UP childish Ways."

 

Let me ask the community, AT WHAT POINT DOES A BOY BECOME A MAN!??!

 

If I gather from the official handbook and official literature, it would seem that Manhood starts at wha 30 years of age, or 40 years of age or maybee its 50 years of age!

 

AT what time Executive Committee does the boy take up THE MANTLE OF MANHOOD and put away childish ways??? If I understand the mentality, it is never.

 

Look at the Zulus the boy is 12 or 13. Look at the Bar Mitzvah, 13 years old. Look at the Victorian British Navy, officers started at the age of 12.

 

How long are we going to keep boys childish?????

[Guest OldGreyEagle]

I dont know how long "we" keep boys "childish"

but the Founder certainly thought scoutmasters should have a touch of the boy in them. So I guess the thought is be a boy forever, I know I certainly try to mature, but not grow up

 

AS A PRELIMINARY word of comfort to intending Scout masters, I should like to contradict the usual misconception that, to be a successful Scoutmaster, a man must be an Admirable Crichton - a know-all. Not a bit of it.

 

He has simply to be a boy-man, that is:-

 

He must have the boy spirit in him; and must be able to place himself on a right plane with his boys as a first step.

He must realise the needs, outlooks and desires of the different ages of boy life.

He must deal with the individual boy rather than with the mass.

He then needs to promote a corporate spirit among his individuals to gain the best results.

 

B-P Aids to Scoutmastership

[WHEELER 10]

But the question still remains At what point do boys become men????

At what point do we start demanding manhood from them?