I just finished our Summer Activities flyer for our Pack that we'll hand out at our Pack advancement ceremony tonight. My boys are going from Lion to Tiger and Tiger to Wolf. The Tiger den leader decided to quit our Pack so I'll be doing the Tiger advancement. I'll lead the Tigers next year. We still don't have any volunteers to lead the Wolf den next year. We'll figure something out though.

We try very hard to welcome all boys and give them a great experience.

I do think society is moving away from church in general. Every year each den needs to complete the "My family's duty to God" requirement. We have trouble finding any parent who is willing to lead this requirement. I don't think any of the families go to church on a regular basis. I had my neighbor, who is very involved in his church, talk to the boys about it this year. Probably do the same next year as well.

There is an LDS church in my area, but as far as I know, no one from that church is involved in our pack.

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Originally posted by 1967Goat:

I do think society is moving away from church in general. Every year each den needs to complete the "My family's duty to God" requirement. We have trouble finding any parent who is willing to lead this requirement. I don't think any of the families go to church on a regular basis. I had my neighbor, who is very involved in his church, talk to the boys about it this year. Probably do the same next year as well.

There is an LDS church in my area, but as far as I know, no one from that church is involved in our pack.

Some in society have apparently realized that there is not necessarily a 1 to 1 relationship between church and God, and that one’s “duty to God” might be fulfilled in ways other than taking up space in a pew every Sunday, or Saturday, or Friday as the case may be.

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Originally posted by 1967Goat:
There is an LDS church in my area, but as far as I know, no one from that church is involved in our pack.

In my area, the LDS has set up their own packs / troops. These are somewhat tailored to their needs such as minimal scouting activities on Sunday, etc.

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Originally posted by JALLEN:

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Originally posted by 1967Goat:

I do think society is moving away from church in general. Every year each den needs to complete the "My family's duty to God" requirement. We have trouble finding any parent who is willing to lead this requirement. I don't think any of the families go to church on a regular basis. I had my neighbor, who is very involved in his church, talk to the boys about it this year. Probably do the same next year as well.

There is an LDS church in my area, but as far as I know, no one from that church is involved in our pack.

Some in society have apparently realized that there is not necessarily a 1 to 1 relationship between church and God, and that one’s “duty to God” might be fulfilled in ways other than taking up space in a pew every Sunday, or Saturday, or Friday as the case may be.

I believe our duty to God has little to do with occupying space in church. I believe our duty is voluntary selfless service to our fellow man. I think church prepares us to serve voluntarily. This service princple is one that is congruent with the scouting ideal and being prepared is integral with it. Today's BSA will likely move away from the primacy of service to others and focus on self. Maybe not at first, but that is the nature of Leftism which is the direction BSA is headed. As such, I'll predict its demise or at least irrelevance within 10 years.

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....Today's BSA will likely move away from the primacy of service to others and focus on self. Maybe not at first, but that is the nature of Leftism which is the direction BSA is headed. As such, I'll predict its demise or at least irrelevance within 10 years.

Come on Darth, you really believe liberals are self-centered? Nevermind, I withdraw the question.

(Seems to me much of socialism is self-centered, which selfishness is hidden under the cloak of serving others).

I started in Cubs scouts, moved through Webelos and earned my Eagle as a Boy Scout. I was part of a great troop, with great leadership and got to do/wee a lot of things I would not have been exposed to otherwise. I was always taught that being an Eagle Scout was a bug deal and to this day I proudly list it on my bio/resume....looking ahead I am fearful that it will become meaningless.

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Originally posted by Kevmo:
I started in Cubs scouts, moved through Webelos and earned my Eagle as a Boy Scout. I was part of a great troop, with great leadership and got to do/wee a lot of things I would not have been exposed to otherwise. I was always taught that being an Eagle Scout was a bug deal and to this day I proudly list it on my bio/resume....looking ahead I am fearful that it will become meaningless.

Sidenote. I know of two instances, one with a Fortune 500 firm, one with US Naval Aviation, where the execs had to fill a slot, came down to two candidates. In each case one candidate had Eagle Scout on his resume, the other did not. In both cases, the Eagle was the tie breaker.

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Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kevmo:
I started in Cubs sc

Sidenote. I know of two instances, one with a Fortune 500 firm, one with US Naval Aviation, where the execs had to fill a slot, came down to two candidates. In each case one candidate had Eagle Scout on his resume, the other did not. In both cases, the Eagle was the tie breaker.

I’m an Eagle and want my boys to be Eagle Scouts too. With the change, I’m going to have to look at a troop for them to attend. I think being an Eagle shows the ability to complete a difficult project over long periods of time. I’ve also seen situations where being an Eagle was the tie breaker.

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Originally posted by BB61:

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kevmo:
I started in Cubs sc

Sidenote. I know of two instances, one with a Fortune 500 firm, one with US Naval Aviation, where the execs had to fill a slot, came down to two candidates. In each case one candidate had Eagle Scout on his resume, the other did not. In both cases, the Eagle was the tie breaker.

I’m an Eagle and want my boys to be Eagle Scouts too. With the change, I’m going to have to look at a troop for them to attend. I think being an Eagle shows the ability to complete a difficult project over long periods of time. I’ve also seen situations where being an Eagle was the tie breaker.

And I would bet your sons are likely to be an asset to that troop.

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Originally posted by BB61:

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kevmo:
I started in Cubs sc

Sidenote. I know of two instances, one with a Fortune 500 firm, one with US Naval Aviation, where the execs had to fill a slot, came down to two candidates. In each case one candidate had Eagle Scout on his resume, the other did not. In both cases, the Eagle was the tie breaker.

I’m an Eagle and want my boys to be Eagle Scouts too. With the change, I’m going to have to look at a troop for them to attend. I think being an Eagle shows the ability to complete a difficult project over long periods of time. I’ve also seen situations where being an Eagle was the tie breaker.

When the day comes, and maybe it won’t, that one of your sons wants to give up short of Eagle, you can tell them you know of an old man who gave up on Scouting a couple of Merit Badges short of making Eagle, and has bitterly lamented it for nearly 60 years, one of the stupid decisions he made that he would like to be able to reverse.

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Originally posted by JALLEN:
When the day comes, and maybe it won’t, that one of your sons wants to give up short of Eagle, you can tell them you know of an old man who gave up on Scouting a couple of Merit Badges short of making Eagle, and has bitterly lamented it for nearly 60 years, one of the stupid decisions he made that he would like to be able to reverse.

There are thousands of others like you, it is a story often told by many different people.

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Originally posted by DrDan:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
When the day comes, and maybe it won’t, that one of your sons wants to give up short of Eagle, you can tell them you know of an old man who gave up on Scouting a couple of Merit Badges short of making Eagle, and has bitterly lamented it for nearly 60 years, one of the stupid decisions he made that he would like to be able to reverse.

There are thousands of others like you, it is a story often told by many different people.

The first few years of my time as a scout, every single time the Life rank (for non-scouts, the last rank before Eagle) was awarded at a Court of Honor (for non-scouts, the ceremony where ranks and awards are distributed), the Scoutmaster gave a little speech along the lines of "they call this rank 'Life' because if you stop here you'll regret it for the rest of yours."

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Originally posted by maladat:

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
When the day comes, and maybe it won’t, that one of your sons wants to give up short of Eagle, you can tell them you know of an old man who gave up on Scouting a couple of Merit Badges short of making Eagle, and has bitterly lamented it for nearly 60 years, one of the stupid decisions he made that he would like to be able to reverse.

There are thousands of others like you, it is a story often told by many different people.

The first few years of my time as a scout, every single time the Life rank (for non-scouts, the last rank before Eagle) was awarded at a Court of Honor (for non-scouts, the ceremony where ranks and awards are distributed), the Scoutmaster gave a little speech along the lines of "they call this rank 'Life' because if you stop here you'll regret it for the rest of yours."

Lol. I haven’t heard that one before but it is perfect.

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Originally posted by Pale Horse:

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Originally posted by maladat:

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:

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Originally posted by JALLEN:
When the day comes, and maybe it won’t, that one of your sons wants to give up short of Eagle, you can tell them you know of an old man who gave up on Scouting a couple of Merit Badges short of making Eagle, and has bitterly lamented it for nearly 60 years, one of the stupid decisions he made that he would like to be able to reverse.

There are thousands of others like you, it is a story often told by many different people.

The first few years of my time as a scout, every single time the Life rank (for non-scouts, the last rank before Eagle) was awarded at a Court of Honor (for non-scouts, the ceremony where ranks and awards are distributed), the Scoutmaster gave a little speech along the lines of "they call this rank 'Life' because if you stop here you'll regret it for the rest of yours."

Lol. I haven’t heard that one before but it is perfect.

I may have been the inspiration for that one.

Sidenote. I know of two instances, one with a Fortune 500 firm, one with US Naval Aviation, where the execs had to fill a slot, came down to two candidates. In each case one candidate had Eagle Scout on his resume, the other did not. In both cases, the Eagle was the tie breaker.[/QUOTE]

Reminds me of a story I’ve heard of several times but for the life of me can’t recall the details now or find it thru google but goes somewhat like thus: WWII mission in the Pacific, kinda secret, volunteers needed to know survival type skills, bushwacking, ropes, etc. Captain asked his troops if there were any Eagle Scouts present, several raised their hands, and they were the ones he chose.
Eagles are a different breed.

The BSA and the LDS church are entirely different organizations, and it's the LDS church which is withdrawing from the scouting program. Not the other way around.

The LDS church was the first charter organization of the BSA, in 1913, and has used the scouting program as the activity arm of the young men's program ever since.

The LDS church membership, incidentally, is nearly overwhelmingly coservative, and the membership tends to vote overwhelmingly republican.

I have been a scout master twice, and have had several of my boys go through the scouting program, including up through Eagle. I'm not a fan of the program, personally, but so long as the kids get something out of it, there's value.

My biggest bees have been the way the non-profit scouts take things like a simple victrinox swiss army knife, put their logo on it, and charge the scouts double. Same for uniforms and everything else.

Organizations chartered with BSA include most denominations, including islamic and jewish. Faith is an important component of the scouting program, though it doesn't specify what religion or belief.

individually I think both groups were facing membership pressures and it seems like the smart thing to do would be to join forces

that being said, some of the decision making process by the BSA leaves a lot to be desired and they HAD to know that making such a profound impact on the organization to cater to such a small group was going to bite them in the ass (gay scout leaders notwithstanding)

I think this is just another case of the unintended consequences of decisions made by people without any critical thinking skills

quote:

Originally posted by stkfox:
Sidenote. I know of two instances, one with a Fortune 500 firm, one with US Naval Aviation, where the execs had to fill a slot, came down to two candidates. In each case one candidate had Eagle Scout on his resume, the other did not. In both cases, the Eagle was the tie breaker.

quote:

Reminds me of a story I’ve heard of several times but for the life of me can’t recall the details now or find it thru google but goes somewhat like thus: WWII mission in the Pacific, kinda secret, volunteers needed to know survival type skills, bushwacking, ropes, etc. Captain asked his troops if there were any Eagle Scouts present, several raised their hands, and they were the ones he chose.
Eagles are a different breed.

This time last year, a little girl went missing, possibly abducted. The Polly Klaas Foundation in partnership with the local county SAR organization was accepting volunteers to aid in the search. I helped.

After I in-processed, I was told to wait in a large meeting room with about 40 other adults. The group organizer called out a list of quals/certs to poll the group...aside from the obvious SAR, LE, military experience, the very next thing they asked "Is anyone here an Eagle Scout?"

I was the only one in the room who had their hand up.

Later, I asked why--"because we know Eagle Scouts know how to read a map, use a compass, organize others, communicate, know first aid, and who know what poison ivy looks like"

as long as there are competent, responsible adults willing to mentor the children who need guidance,
I don't give a flying shit what they call themselves.

anyone who wants to bitch ,bark, point fingers and complain about what people reaching out to help other people , better have 3000 hours of time in with guidance and supervision in a position of charitable social management.

and typing about it on the www , does not count

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
as long as there are competent, responsible adults willing to mentor the children who need guidance,
I don't give a flying shit what they call themselves.

anyone who wants to bitch ,bark, point fingers and complain about what people reaching out to help other people , better have 3000 hours of time in with guidance and supervision in a position of charitable social management.

and typing about it on the www , does not count

I guess I see things differently.

Combining efforts of my parents (starting in the late 1950's through mid 1980's), and my wife and my efforts (starting mid 1980's through last year), we have well over 12K hours of volunteer time with Scout and equiv Girls Camp activities, including Den/Pack/Patrol/Troop meetings, weekend and summer camps, etc.

I don't see the BSA action as adults willing to mentor youth who need guidance, along the principles upon which Scouts were founded. I see this as BSA wanting to increase membership so as to increase revenues.