Boy Scouts question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Scouts are all (mostly?) affiliated with and sponsored by churches.

Find one that is sponsored through a church that holds your beliefs. So if you are mainstream protestant, choose a mainstream protestant sponsored pack. Catholic? Go to St. So and So's pack. UU? See if a UU church has a pack.

Hmm, interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that there is a god/religion requirement. If you aren't actively involved in a church/synag./mosque, a kid won't be able to meet requirements for advancing. Part of the reason we are leaving cubs.

This is not true. My child isn't actively involved in a church. He has advanced to First Class Scout. He has told the Scoutmaster that his belief in a Higher Power is that the Higher Power is the sum total of all the laws of physics. He fulfills his "duty to God" by learning about nature and science.

I like this! What pack is this, or what neighborhood if you don't want to say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that there is a god/religion requirement. If you aren't actively involved in a church/synag./mosque, a kid won't be able to meet requirements for advancing. Part of the reason we are leaving cubs.

Does the UU church count?

Yes, we are UU and there are many scouts in our congregation - several Eagle Scouts each year. There was an article in UU world last summer or the summer before that was written by a UU Eagle Scout with same sex parents that helped me immensely with the main issues I have with the BSA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that there is a god/religion requirement. If you aren't actively involved in a church/synag./mosque, a kid won't be able to meet requirements for advancing. Part of the reason we are leaving cubs.

Does the UU church count?

Yes, we are UU and there are many scouts in our congregation - several Eagle Scouts each year. There was an article in UU world last summer or the summer before that was written by a UU Eagle Scout with same sex parents that helped me immensely with the main issues I have with the BSA.

Thanks. This helps a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scouts are all (mostly?) affiliated with and sponsored by churches.

Find one that is sponsored through a church that holds your beliefs. So if you are mainstream protestant, choose a mainstream protestant sponsored pack. Catholic? Go to St. So and So's pack. UU? See if a UU church has a pack.

Hmm, interesting.

No UU Congregation will sponsor a pack, but there are a few UCC Churches that do. However, many UU youth are scouts in other troops. The church affiliations of the troops in our area (McLean) are mainly for providing the meeting spot and a few scout projects to help the grounds. There is little theological interaction. The exception is the LDS sponsored troop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that there is a god/religion requirement. If you aren't actively involved in a church/synag./mosque, a kid won't be able to meet requirements for advancing. Part of the reason we are leaving cubs.

This is not true. My child isn't actively involved in a church. He has advanced to First Class Scout. He has told the Scoutmaster that his belief in a Higher Power is that the Higher Power is the sum total of all the laws of physics. He fulfills his "duty to God" by learning about nature and science.

Maybe it depends on the Scoutmaster? Kinda like how things depend on who your boss is.

I'm sure Scoutmasteres vary, but officially you do NOT have to be an active member of any church.


BSA Religious Principles
(Reprinted from the 1992 edition of BSA's Advancement Guidelines: Council and District Functions.)

The Boy Scouts of America has a definite position on religious principles. The following interpretative statement may help clarify this position. The Boy Scouts of America:

Does not define what constitutes belief in God or the practice of religion.

Does not require membership in a religious organization or association for enrollment in the movement but does prefer, and strongly encourages, membership and participation in the religious programs and activities of a church, synagogue, or other religious association.

Respects the convictions of those who exercise their constitutional freedom to practice religion as individuals without formal membership in organized religious organizations. In a few cases, there are those who, by conviction, do not feel it necessary to formally belong to an organized form of religion and seek to practice religion in accordance with their own personal convictions. Every effort should be made to counsel with the boy and his parents to determine the true story of the religious convictions and practices as related to advancement in Scouting. Religious organizations have commended the Boy Scouts of America for encouraging youth to participate in organized religious activities. However, these same organizations reject any form of compulsion to enforce conformity to establish religious practices.

If a boy says he is a member of a religious body, the standards by which he should be evaluated are those of that group. This is why an advancement committee usually requests a reference from his religious leader to indicate whether he has lived up to their expectations.
Throughout life, Scouts are associated with people of different faiths. Scouts believe in religious freedom, respecting others whose religion may differ from theirs. Scouting believes in the right of all to worship God in their own way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Scouts are all (mostly?) affiliated with and sponsored by churches.

Find one that is sponsored through a church that holds your beliefs. So if you are mainstream protestant, choose a mainstream protestant sponsored pack. Catholic? Go to St. So and So's pack. UU? See if a UU church has a pack.

Our Cub Scout pack isn't at all. I know they try to use churches for meeting spaces for meetings and sometimes our meetings are in a church hall. But our scouts come from a lot of different elementary schools (we meet once a month for pack meetings there). There is another pack at my church but we chose this pack b/c all of our neighbors are in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that there is a god/religion requirement. If you aren't actively involved in a church/synag./mosque, a kid won't be able to meet requirements for advancing. Part of the reason we are leaving cubs.

This is not true. My child isn't actively involved in a church. He has advanced to First Class Scout. He has told the Scoutmaster that his belief in a Higher Power is that the Higher Power is the sum total of all the laws of physics. He fulfills his "duty to God" by learning about nature and science.

Maybe it depends on the Scoutmaster? Kinda like how things depend on who your boss is.

That is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that there is a god/religion requirement. If you aren't actively involved in a church/synag./mosque, a kid won't be able to meet requirements for advancing. Part of the reason we are leaving cubs.

This is not true. My child isn't actively involved in a church. He has advanced to First Class Scout. He has told the Scoutmaster that his belief in a Higher Power is that the Higher Power is the sum total of all the laws of physics. He fulfills his "duty to God" by learning about nature and science.

Maybe it depends on the Scoutmaster? Kinda like how things depend on who your boss is.

I have two Boy Scouts and one Cub Scout. We are unchurched and it has not slowed my boys progression through scouts. It all depends on the pack or troop. Some are very religious and some are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that there is a god/religion requirement. If you aren't actively involved in a church/synag./mosque, a kid won't be able to meet requirements for advancing. Part of the reason we are leaving cubs.

This is not true. My child isn't actively involved in a church. He has advanced to First Class Scout. He has told the Scoutmaster that his belief in a Higher Power is that the Higher Power is the sum total of all the laws of physics. He fulfills his "duty to God" by learning about nature and science.

Maybe it depends on the Scoutmaster? Kinda like how things depend on who your boss is.

That is true.

yes, as a volunteer organization, the people involved can change the flavor of the whole process.

[Anonymous]

*the people involved in BSA can change the flavor ....

[Anonymous]

http://bpsa-us.org

Traditional scouting for everyone... Even the godless and the gays. I was delighted to find it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and no, it is totally fine.

Thanks. Seems like OP's original question went a little off track, but I appreciate this response and had been wondering the same thing.

At what grade does Boy Scouts start, by the way?

[Anonymous]

We attend a Unity Church- very similar to UU in terms of beliefs. Very, very inclusive. We encourage people to explore their own spirituality. We just got a Scout Troop at our church. They were asked to leave the local Baptist Church because the BSA now allow gay Scouts.

Their loss. The boys are wonderful and have already been a huge benefit to our church!

To the OP - My DH and one of my boys are both Eagle Scouts. My youngest is a Boy Scout. You do not need to be a Cub Scout first. The boys basically start over once they reach Boy Scout age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and no, it is totally fine.

Thanks. Seems like OP's original question went a little off track, but I appreciate this response and had been wondering the same thing.

At what grade does Boy Scouts start, by the way?

Depending on the troop's tradition, it is in the middle or end of 5th grade. Some troops even wait until the beginning of 6th grade.