Is Boy Scouts a thing now? DS wants to get into it, but I have some concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a scout but dropped out because I disagreed with the organization's values (read: discrimination). I would not let my kid join on principle. It has a racist and bigoted history. It also pushes religion, and I am not religious. It is basically a lite version of a Mormon youth group.

For those of use who stuck with it and worked to change the romanization from with in, I am sorry that you still feel this way. The core of the scout experience is not discrimination and like all the institutions our country the arc of history is bent toward justice. We are UU and there are many UUs active in scouting and about 1/3 of the boys in our Congregation end up making Eagle. Change from within works.

[Anonymous]

Leaving aside the issue of whether OP is a troll, I am not going to let my son join the Boy Scouts. The activities are great but, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in similar activities without the Boy Scouts (e.g. 4H). More importantly, while it is good that, after years of intense pressure, the Boy Scouts are finally in the process of addressing their overt discrimination against homosexuals, they continue to be a non-sectarian religious organization that discriminates against atheists and, ironically, has encouraged atheist scouts to lie about their beliefs in order to remain in the organization.

Nope. Not for my son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Leaving aside the issue of whether OP is a troll, I am not going to let my son join the Boy Scouts. The activities are great but, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in similar activities without the Boy Scouts (e.g. 4H). More importantly, while it is good that, after years of intense pressure, the Boy Scouts are finally in the process of addressing their overt discrimination against homosexuals, they continue to be a non-sectarian religious organization that discriminates against atheists and, ironically, has encouraged atheist scouts to lie about their beliefs in order to remain in the organization.

Nope. Not for my son.

It is a group that asks a Scout to have some sort of faith; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.. So yes, doesn't sound like it's for you. But that's your loss, not theirs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leaving aside the issue of whether OP is a troll, I am not going to let my son join the Boy Scouts. The activities are great but, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in similar activities without the Boy Scouts (e.g. 4H). More importantly, while it is good that, after years of intense pressure, the Boy Scouts are finally in the process of addressing their overt discrimination against homosexuals, they continue to be a non-sectarian religious organization that discriminates against atheists and, ironically, has encouraged atheist scouts to lie about their beliefs in order to remain in the organization.

Nope. Not for my son.

It is a group that asks a Scout to have some sort of faith; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.. So yes, doesn't sound like it's for you. But that's your loss, not theirs.

PP, you're basically saying: yes, the Boy Scouts discriminate against boys who don't have a religion, and that's good.

What's your goal here?

[Anonymous]

No worries... Scouts don't want dorks like you any way.

[Anonymous]

Hmm My son is in Boy Scouts... Religion doesn't come up. It is not shoved down throats. Yes, there is a prayer said on occasion, but whatever. BTW we are atheists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leaving aside the issue of whether OP is a troll, I am not going to let my son join the Boy Scouts. The activities are great but, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in similar activities without the Boy Scouts (e.g. 4H). More importantly, while it is good that, after years of intense pressure, the Boy Scouts are finally in the process of addressing their overt discrimination against homosexuals, they continue to be a non-sectarian religious organization that discriminates against atheists and, ironically, has encouraged atheist scouts to lie about their beliefs in order to remain in the organization.

Nope. Not for my son.

It is a group that asks a Scout to have some sort of faith; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.. So yes, doesn't sound like it's for you. But that's your loss, not theirs.

PP, you're basically saying: yes, the Boy Scouts discriminate against boys who don't have a religion, and that's good.

What's your goal here?

Why is there a goal involved? Some troops are more religiously oriented than others. A good many run out of churches, but a good many run out of schools and other public buildings. Our troop is based in a Methodist church. The only time I have heard so much of a prayer in 7 years involvement is as a benediction at Eagle Scout induction ceremonies -- nicely generic as the troop kids who practice several religions. But, a belief in a higher power is part of the organization's principles. So -- it's cool if a family does not want to join because of that. I know several families that did not join because of the stance on homosexuality. Very understandable. Now that it is changed some folks are more likely to join. Others - like the Mormon church based troops - are leaving. It's part of the evolution of the organization. It's also not an organization that folks who decline to swear an oath should join either. Again, one's own personal beliefs can be a guide for what organizations to join and what ones to abstain from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My good friend is a scout leader and has told me that if it's a scout troop in a smaller town, their ideals are smaller. Most troops around here are no longer as 'backwards' thinking as they were years ago. FWIW, he's an openly gay scout leader who wanted to be a leader because he greatly enjoy scouts when he was younger and went all the way through to Eagle Scout. He's in in the NOVA area and doesn't have any parents or scouts who have issues with his sexuality. His troop is also much less religious and more spiritual.

I think most troops meet at either a church or school. And from my experience with troops in this area, you don't have to worry about your son thinking he's more "manly" than you. They mostly stick to "camping" vs camping. My neighbor's son has yet to actually go camping because each time they have a trip scheduled, it rains and they cancel. They've mainly done backyard camp outs where a few parents crash on the host's couch and the other dads leave past a certain time. Their last outing for a badge was bowling, soooo, yeah.

I will suggest that is a very unlikely scenario for a boy scout troop (versus say a cub scout troop). To advance up the boy scout ranks there are certain requirements that must be met - a good many pertaining to outdoor and camping activities. By way of example -- to become a "first class scout" (a rank that usually is reached within the first couple of years of scouting) a kid needs to (among other things): Participate in 10 troop activities (not meetings) 6 of which must involve overnight camping. Five of those overnights must be in a tent, lean-to or igloo. The kid also needs to help plan a least 1 day's menu for a campout, and be responsible for cooking 2 of the meals (help from other scouts allowed). Other requirements include completing an orienteering course using a compass and discussing when to use lashings and particular knots - and then demonstrating how to use/tie them. Scout camp outs will include a lot of activities but will also be focused on helping kids complete requirements for rank advancement and to earn merit badges.

BOth my boys are Eagle Rank, both did not like the camping camping aspect, but still went along with it and that taught them compromise and a few survival skills. They both did the minimum in terms of the camping aspect and it wasn't overly burdensome. There are plenty of other badges to earn ad topics to learn

I'm sure this is technically possible and maybe it varies by troop, but I recall that a lot of the opportunities to earn the badges took place during camping, camps and hikes. If you didn't go on the camp outs, you would have had to find other ways to earn those badges.

My boys loved the camping/hiking outdoorsy aspect of scouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why is there a goal involved? Some troops are more religiously oriented than others. A good many run out of churches, but a good many run out of schools and other public buildings. Our troop is based in a Methodist church. The only time I have heard so much of a prayer in 7 years involvement is as a benediction at Eagle Scout induction ceremonies -- nicely generic as the troop kids who practice several religions. But, a belief in a higher power is part of the organization's principles. So -- it's cool if a family does not want to join because of that. I know several families that did not join because of the stance on homosexuality. Very understandable. Now that it is changed some folks are more likely to join. Others - like the Mormon church based troops - are leaving. It's part of the evolution of the organization. It's also not an organization that folks who decline to swear an oath should join either. Again, one's own personal beliefs can be a guide for what organizations to join and what ones to abstain from.

Because that PP went out of their way to state that Boy Scouts are better off without participation from atheists and others without a faith. What was that PP's goal in saying so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leaving aside the issue of whether OP is a troll, I am not going to let my son join the Boy Scouts. The activities are great but, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in similar activities without the Boy Scouts (e.g. 4H). More importantly, while it is good that, after years of intense pressure, the Boy Scouts are finally in the process of addressing their overt discrimination against homosexuals, they continue to be a non-sectarian religious organization that discriminates against atheists and, ironically, has encouraged atheist scouts to lie about their beliefs in order to remain in the organization.

Nope. Not for my son.

It is a group that asks a Scout to have some sort of faith; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.. So yes, doesn't sound like it's for you. But that's your loss, not theirs.

PP, you're basically saying: yes, the Boy Scouts discriminate against boys who don't have a religion, and that's good.

What's your goal here?

That's it's good to have faith in someone/something bigger than yourself? That you are not the be-all, end-all of the universe?

Anyway, skip Scouts and deny your son if you feel you must. (Would you disown him if he decided to join some sort of religious organization later?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids that I see that stick with scouts through school (to eagle scout) are all good kids with their head screwed on the right way. These are kids that are polite and have inclusive viewpoints.

The troops where I am are fairly liberal.

The issue scouts had in the past was equating gay with pedophile. The anti-gay aspect was nominally (and mistakenly) to protect the kids.

Hint: Joe Biden: former Boyscout
Donald Trump: Not a boy scout

Love this re Trump & Biden! You could add to the list of Boy Scouts, especially Eagle Scouts: Alexander Haig, John Glenn, the list of Senators, astronauts, judges, etc is mind bending.

[Anonymous]

Let me get this straight, you don't want your kid teased by people like you? And you don't want him to learn bad habits from, again, people like you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leaving aside the issue of whether OP is a troll, I am not going to let my son join the Boy Scouts. The activities are great but, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in similar activities without the Boy Scouts (e.g. 4H). More importantly, while it is good that, after years of intense pressure, the Boy Scouts are finally in the process of addressing their overt discrimination against homosexuals, they continue to be a non-sectarian religious organization that discriminates against atheists and, ironically, has encouraged atheist scouts to lie about their beliefs in order to remain in the organization.

Nope. Not for my son.

It is a group that asks a Scout to have some sort of faith; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.. So yes, doesn't sound like it's for you. But that's your loss, not theirs.

PP, you're basically saying: yes, the Boy Scouts discriminate against boys who don't have a religion, and that's good.

What's your goal here?

That's it's good to have faith in someone/something bigger than yourself? That you are not the be-all, end-all of the universe?

Anyway, skip Scouts and deny your son if you feel you must. (Would you disown him if he decided to join some sort of religious organization later?)

I'm a different poster. I don't have any sons. I just wondered why you went to the effort of sharing your opinion that it's good to discriminate against non-believers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leaving aside the issue of whether OP is a troll, I am not going to let my son join the Boy Scouts. The activities are great but, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in similar activities without the Boy Scouts (e.g. 4H). More importantly, while it is good that, after years of intense pressure, the Boy Scouts are finally in the process of addressing their overt discrimination against homosexuals, they continue to be a non-sectarian religious organization that discriminates against atheists and, ironically, has encouraged atheist scouts to lie about their beliefs in order to remain in the organization.

Nope. Not for my son.

It is a group that asks a Scout to have some sort of faith; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.. So yes, doesn't sound like it's for you. But that's your loss, not theirs.

PP, you're basically saying: yes, the Boy Scouts discriminate against boys who don't have a religion, and that's good.

What's your goal here?

That's it's good to have faith in someone/something bigger than yourself? That you are not the be-all, end-all of the universe?

Anyway, skip Scouts and deny your son if you feel you must. (Would you disown him if he decided to join some sort of religious organization later?)

You think that atheists believe that they are "the be-all, end-all of the universe?" Maybe you should crack a book.

And to answer your question, when my son is ready, he can and will make an informed decision about his personal faith. It would never occur to me to try to coerce him by threatening to deny him money. What a bizarre thought. I do hope that we can raise him to think of others so that he will think carefully before choosing to join an organization that excludes a specific group of people based on their decisions about their personal beliefs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leaving aside the issue of whether OP is a troll, I am not going to let my son join the Boy Scouts. The activities are great but, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to engage in similar activities without the Boy Scouts (e.g. 4H). More importantly, while it is good that, after years of intense pressure, the Boy Scouts are finally in the process of addressing their overt discrimination against homosexuals, they continue to be a non-sectarian religious organization that discriminates against atheists and, ironically, has encouraged atheist scouts to lie about their beliefs in order to remain in the organization.

Nope. Not for my son.

It is a group that asks a Scout to have some sort of faith; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.. So yes, doesn't sound like it's for you. But that's your loss, not theirs.

PP, you're basically saying: yes, the Boy Scouts discriminate against boys who don't have a religion, and that's good.

What's your goal here?

That's it's good to have faith in someone/something bigger than yourself? That you are not the be-all, end-all of the universe?

Anyway, skip Scouts and deny your son if you feel you must. (Would you disown him if he decided to join some sort of religious organization later?)

I'm a different poster. I don't have any sons. I just wondered why you went to the effort of sharing your opinion that it's good to discriminate against non-believers.

This is a voluntary group -- no one is "discriminating" against atheists. Belief in God is a cornerstone of the organization. Like service is. You can't be a Boy Scout unless you do a LOT of community service.