I learned a great deal from the Boy Scouts and many of my basic ethical ideals are rooted in the concepts that the organization promoted of helping others. The marching and saluting were innocuous, no more than fantasy fun to most. That was then.
Imagine my surprise when my own boys reached the age where they were eligible to go into Scouting. Naturally, I figured I'd help as an adult leader since I had been inspired by some wonderful men myself and a little giving back was in order. A little inquiry into the organization though brought a sobering reality to me. I, an atheist, was ineligible to be a part of the organization. My sons also seemed to be following in my philosophical ideals and not that of my more spiritual wife and would've faced some major barriers to their participation should they have questioned the religious aspects of some of the rituals.
Even though I was a Christian back in my younger days, I don't remember ever thinking someone of another faith or even one without any couldn't participate in Scouting. It was an inclusive organization then that stressed ethics instead of hard-coded Biblical morality. The little military symbolism of marching, oaths, uniforms was more just used as a discipline and organizational tool than any kind of indoctrination into warfare. I wonder today if that's changed.
Art
Current Events » in reply to Kinder garden.
Boy Scouts
The whole thread (38 posts)
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- re: Looking at the face of evil.......
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- Very Scary Indeed!