funscout

When I looked up berdache, I found one website that said these men were revered, and sometimes taken as "wives" by other men. It did not say whether they were taken sexually, or just used as cook/maid/etc. Other websites talked about the reverence bestowed on these men who were a "bridge" between male and females. They said nothing about these men being attracted to other men. I'm not sure where you found that this meant that a berdache was gay. Perhaps the gay rights websites are interpretting this the way they want to see it.

If only one boy is on the bridge at a time, then it sounds like you have the safety angles covered. The person in the water can follow along with each boy in case anyone starts to fall through. Maybe 2 adults in the water would be better. Some of these boys are quite big, and I know I wouldn't be strong enough to help get one of them back on the bridge.

If my son's troop had a scoutmaster who was not married, but living with his girlfriend, then I would privately ask him to consider whether his lifestyle was morally straight. I would ask him to consider whether he was being a good BSA role model for the boys. I would not be rude about this, but would hope he would come up with the appropriate response. If he was unwilling to change his living arrangements or to step down as Scoutmaster, then I would talk to the DE and the COR. If the situation was still unresolved, then I would talk to my son about why we could not stay in the troop. I know of other families who would feel the same way as my family.

We only have one problem gossiper (is that even a word?) in our troop. When she tries to gossip with me one on one, I immediately remind her that I won't listen to gossip. She does stop, but if she didn't then I would just walk away. When she is complaining about someone else to several leaders then I try to immediately point out the good things that the target leader has been doing, and I remind everyone that we are all volunteers and I go on to tell some of my mistakes... Sometimes this tactic works. Other times I need to be less subtle, and say, "Hey, let's be nice, we're scouts, after all!" I'm always tempted to point out the major mistakes that this woman has done, but I hold my tongue. There is no way we will ever get this woman to refrain from gossiping, all we can do is try to stop her each time she starts. In your case, it will be trickier, since you are the lone woman. It sounds like you did the right things, but if it continues, then you should probably ask the Scoutmaster to address the issue. Maybe try this Dear Abby message for a scoutmaster minute: There is so much good in the worst of us And so much bad in the best of us, That it doesn't behoove any of us to talk about the rest of us. I brought a copy of this paragraph in to my teacher's lounge back when I was working and was tired of the gossip!

I'm hoping our camp's procedures on issuing meds work better this summer. My son would have been sent home on the third day, if they had run it like Gern's camp, and it wouldn't even have been his fault! If the Scoutmaster didn't get down to the med. office in time, then the boys who had evening meds didn't get them, because the med. office was closed! My son has asthma, but luckily not bad enough to have severe repurcussions from 1 or 2 missed doses. I know of a few parents who just didn't tell the Scoutmaster about their son's meds, because they didn't want to chance missing a dose. Our Scoutmaster started keeping our troop's meds in a locked box in his locked truck, so he could make sure our boys wouldn't miss evening meds. What do your camps do about inhalers? My son has had to turn his in to the medical officer, but I feel he should have them with him at all times. At school he is allowed to carry his inhaler with him. I would hate to see a boy sent home for forgetting his meds. I feel this should be partly the adult leaders' responsibility. My son is border-line ADD, and very forgetful. He could take his meds and then not remember that he just took them. I always make up a chart so he can mark off each morning and evening when he takes his meds. I tape this chart to the zip-loc baggie that his meds are in, and I include a pencil. Now, come on, how many of you adults out there are also forgetful? I know I am! For weekend camp-outs, I usually just put my son's meds in a baggie with the chart and pencil. I send only enough asthma and allergy pills that he will need for the weekend.

LOL, this reminds me of the song, "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, here I am at Camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining, and they say we'll have some fun when it stops raining...."

After you've read through the Bear book, and looked at the Program Helps, you should decide which Achievements and Electives you can do as a den. I always let my parents know which ones we would cover at den meetings, so they'd know which ones they would need to do at home. If you know of anyone who is good at knots or any other topic in the Bear book, by all means, invite them to help you run a den meeting on that topic. Check with the parents in your den and you might find people who are willing to help out from time to time, but just didn't want to be the one in charge. Ask LOTS of questions of the more experienced leaders in your Pack. You could even go watch one of their den meetings, if you'd like. That doesn't mean you have to run your meetings like they do, but it's nice to get some ideas. At my trainings, they always stressed: KISMIF - Keep it simple, Make it Fun! Good Luck and have fun!

John-in-KC, No, I wasn't responding to your post, and I agree that churches need to be vocal on not accepting the idea of children having sex. I was responding to Fuzzy Bear's post about churches being happy when a 12 year old gets pregnant. Now, I'm sure FB was just being sarcastic, but unfortunately, there are plenty of other people who jump at the chance to slam churches, so I wanted to set the record straight.

I don't know of any church that truly follows Jesus' teachings, that would turn away someone in need. You should have seen my church mobilize when my friend was dying of brain cancer. People took time away from their own families, work, etc., to help this family. I had women signed up in shifts to stay with my friend every hour that her husband was away at work. People drove the boys to the pool, or other events, made meals for the family, did grocery shopping, laundry, house cleaning, etc. The Hospice workers assigned to her case said they had never seen anything like this before, and kept asking, "You mean these are all volunteers who aren't getting paid to do these things?" I answered, "We are a church family and taking care of others is what we do." I know of other instances where a family (who are by no means rich), gave up their second car, for free, to a family in need. I could go on and on with examples, but the reason many of you don't realize that churches help others, is because we don't stand on roof tops and shout out the good works that we are doing. We quietly do what God wants us to do, and we expect nothing in return. So, do churches care if a 12 year old has a baby and lives in poverty? God's churches care!

How about when people use the hands free models with ear phones, so when they suddenly start talking, you assume they are talking to you? If people are going to use these then they need to look away from any people who are near them. I can't tell you how many times someone has been looking right at me, so of course I assumed they were talking to me, but it turned out they had just received a phone call. I, too, think it is rude to carry on a phone conversation in the presence of others. If your kids had company at home, wouldn't you teach them that it's rude to carry on a phone conversation while ignoring their company? If I ever allow my kids to carry a cell phone, it will be for emergency purposes only. NOT for calling friends just to chat! I only turn on my cell phone when I am away from my kids. There is no other reason for people to absolutely have to get ahold of me immediately. I agree with scoutldr that an etiquette merit badge is needed!

Our Unit Commissioner was younger than you and only had 4 years of Scouter experience when he started, but his enthusiasm for scouting made him perfect for the job.

Just because someone is mature enough to "make" a baby, doesn't mean they are mature enough to raise a baby. I am pro-life and I disagree with these young single moms who keep their babies. I strongly feel they should put their baby up for adoption into a 2 parent family where the child will get the chance to have both a mother and father in his/her life. Currently, there are 3 legal choices for a new mother to make concerning her baby. Keep it, adopt it out, or abort it. I'm surprised that people think that most pro-lifers would choose "keep it" over "adopt it out." One of my former students, who is mildly mentally retarded, became pregnant at age 15. I happened to be pregnant at the same time, at age 32. Talk about weird! Her mother and step-father insisted that she keep the baby, in order to take responsibility for her mistake. That meant that this poor baby was to be punished for the parents' and grandparents' choices.

Is it possible to hold the swim tests at the pool? I, too, know of boys who love to swim in pools, but won't swim in lakes. My younger son always wears swim shoes in lakes, because he hates to step on the plant life on the bottom. Even though he is a good swimmer, he was scared at first to swim in our neighborhood lake/pond, because he couldn't see the bottom like you can in a pool.

I mostly read mystery/suspense novels, but I also enjoy "fun" stories. I always look for new (to me) authors who have written several books. That way if I like the first one, I have several more to choose from that I know I will like. Not having cable or sattelite T.V. encourages my family to read a lot - we're at the library at least once a week. I usually read 3-4 fiction books a week. A few authors (of strikingly different style) that I enjoy are: David Baldacci (similar to John Grisham) Lilian Jackson-Braun (The Cat Who... series - for cat lovers who enjoy eccentric characters and the spoof of Northern small town life.) Jan Karon (another "small town" series, this one about an Episcopal priest and many eccentric characters. Scriptural references flow easily through these novels, but I know non-Christians who have also enjoyed them.) Happy reading everyone!

Clydesdale, don't count on getting much rest tonight! Two years ago, my church's Vacation Bible School was the same week as Day Camp. Each day after we got home from Day Camp, we'd shower, throw our camp T-shirts in the washer, grab a quick bite to eat, and then head off to VBS. After VBS, I put the camp shirts in the dryer, put our VBS shirts in the washer, and got lunches ready for the next day. I was completely exhausted by the end of that week!

I don't know the membership numbers for my scout district, but I do know that we have fewer kids to draw from, then we did 10 years ago. Every year for the past 10 or more years, my school district has had a decline in enrollment. When I was a kid, families with 3-5 kids were the norm, and I knew of some families with 8 or more kids. Now, the average family has 2 kids. So, I wonder if some of the decline in scouting numbers is due to the decline in number of kids in general? So, if we want to boost those scouting numbers, we have to start having more kids, right?!

Good for you, helping other people's daughters! I'm glad your son gets to see that girls can have fun outdoors, too. Have a good time, and I hope the weather cooperates.

Dan Kroh, thanks for the answer. I still wonder, though... In the case of the swans and penguins you mentioned, are they acting out sexually, or are they just "roommates" trying to raise their "children" together? In other words, are these animals trying to have sex with each other, or are they just showing the ritual mating signs? Could they be mentally impaired, instead of gay? Who knows? Hunt, I'm a conservative Christian and I would go for your idea. Marriage is a sacrament between a committed man and woman, period. If other people want to have "unions" and the government is willing to condone it, then I'm not going to try to stop that. I still believe the practice of homosexuality is wrong, but I don't have a problem with them receiving the same government benefits that I do. Just don't call it marriage, when it's not, in the eyes of God. Like you said, it's probably too simple an idea for the government to agree on!

I have 2 cats and a dog living together at my house. They are all male, but have each been neutered, so I don't have to worry about any "hanky panky." I've always wondered how people can say an animal is gay. All the dogs that I've been around will "go for" any animal male or female, and sometimes they even get amorous towards the leg of a human - ugh! Are there really some animals who ONLY seek out the same sex ALL the time? I just assumed that since they are ANIMALS, and not human, they can't control their desires and they act on them even when an appropriate partner is not available. Who out there has actually seen a strictly "gay" animal?

Thanks for sharing a "good news" story! I'm sure it was the uniform tht did it.

To my fellow Judeo-Christians: Thanks for trying, but I don't think our words alone will change anyone's mind on this forum. All we can do is pray the prayer that never fails: Thy will be done. Amen

My son's troop has a rule that any boy who has not yet passed the BSA swimmer test can not canoe unless a BSA lifeguard is in the canoe with him. I thought this was BSA policy, but maybe it's just our troop. Everyone, of course, wears a PFD, but the troop is extra cautious with the non-swimmers and beginning swimmers.

Oh, dear! I'm thinking that maybe I should quit saying to our dog, "Go get Daddy," when I want my husband to take our little darling outside.

jkhny, I must live in a totally different world than you do. The only leaders I know who have quit in the last 7 years are those whose boys have quit. And, the only reason I know of for boys to quit or not join in the first place, is lack of time due to other extra-curricular activities. I've only been involved in BSA for 7 years, but in that time I have never heard of a leader or boy quitting because of BSA policies.

I highly doubt Minnesota's vote will be enough to sway the National Methodist church. Instead, I foresee churches being split.