packsaddle

Or belief in Trolls for that matter, lol. I'd chime in with something to the effect that Satan is a myth but I used to get yelled at for doing that...so I won't.

The option I have chosen, which completely solves most of the problems I've had in the past, is to tell each person (scout, student, etc.) what the travel itinerary is and then give them personal responsibility for arranging (and paying for) their own travel. I tell them to get on the same flights that I'm on if they want to travel with me. If they want to travel independently, I tell them where to meet and what time the van will leave. If they don't make it, they're on their own to get to the next destination. Most opt to match my flights. I admit, as I board the plane I try to make sure that the ones who are supposed to be there ARE there. But if they get caught in traffic, or if their connecting flight is late...not my problem. On the other hand, if a parent or a boy asks for me to 'guide' them through the experience, I'm happy to do that too. Their choice, their responsibility.

Oh Morticia, you spoke French!

Can't say I miss the accent but I did enjoy the give and take. My guess is he's busy chomping on spring saplings somewhere in the Boundary Waters.

Youth are easy compared to 'adult' interactions. dedkad is right about expectations. Set them low and then don't expect even those to be met by adults. You'll appreciate the youth more as a result.

A few times. A new SM wanted the entire troop to pursue the religious award through the CO as a troop activity. I had to explain that since there were at least 6 different religions represented in the unit, he might want to rethink his idea. He figured it out. The topic has come up several times at EBORs. One boy (a Unitarian Universalist) was grilled by the district guy who wanted to disqualify the boy. It has come up at roundtable, mostly as a gripe session about non-Christians trying to take over the country or some such....

First, it is not a fern. It is a flowering plant. Ferns don't have seeds. Kuska evidently knew that much at least. Next, his credentials are not relevant if this species is listed as T&E (it is, BTW). If so, and a council did this, then as far as the public is concerned (me too) BSA did it. Unless you can make a good argument that councils are not administrative units of BSA. In that case, like Ross Perot, I'm all ears. I couldn't care less if the guy was a bank robber or some illiterate bum. If what he claims is true IS true, then BSA (through its representatives) has some explaining to do. BSA should step up and explain. And if they've committed a crime, they need to take responsibility and accept the consequences. As for reinstatement, as it has been explained to me many times in the past...in the form of veiled threats...BSA can remove anyone from membership at any time and they do not have to give a reason. The guy got crosswise of the council and they kicked him out. He blew the whistle and paid the consequences. Now it's time for someone else to take their consequences if they've done what he claims they did.

When I as CM, the Webelos not only attended troop campouts at different times, they also participated in camporees in which the troops established Webelos-appropriate activities and contests. Our Webelos had a blast at these things. I can't remember a single indoor activity we ever did outside of B&G and PWD in which troops assisted with judging, etc. So, it appears that the requirement was 'fudged' if I read the OP correctly. Time to get those boys outside!

LNT sounds kind of hollow in the face of this kind of thing doesn't it? If BSA broke the law, BSA should confront its crime and offer its defence in court. If someone in BSA authorized criminal activity, they should face criminal charges. Regardless, this is a great example for the boys to learn from in the Citizenship and the Environmental Science merit badges. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

I have long been uncomfortable with this idea of individual accounts. First, the practice opens the unit to potential problems if someone doesn't keep the accounts carefully. I've heard the occasional accusation that the unit is acting like a 'bank', the legal ramifications are something I have no idea about. And finally, the basic ethical question that you ask. And I can only say that I see the conflict. On the one hand, we have the benefit of teaching the boys the benefits of a marketplace driven by earned, merit-based rewards. On the other hand, that isn't necessarily in support of the idea that fundraising is primarily for the group. Capitalism versus communism? I wish I had a good resolution to this but I don't. This unit has taken the approach that if there is a strong consensus among the families, the treasurer will keep such individual accounts. But most of the time, nearly everyone has chosen to allow the unit to pool these funds for the benefit of everyone. The leaders keep a careful eye for boys whose circumstances might prevent them from affording something and there have been occasions in which the CO has stepped up to cover those costs. I don't consider that necessarily to be optimal either, but I don't have a better answer. Fortunately, most of the time we've been able to raise the funds needed to cover the communal costs for everyone. I guess that makes us communists.

I concur with Twocubdad and Scouter99. There's nothing wrong with having a SMC, though, to find out his reasons for his absence. If it is a heartfelt conversation, you might learn that he had good reasons, or you might learn what the troop can do to help head this kind of thing off in the future. Good luck.

And, as my son learned the hard way, if the person in charge doesn't understand that left-handed people find it nearly impossible to use right-handed bows, someone needs to instruct the instructors.

I deleted a post by Aimeejohnson because it was an advertisement.

I'm trying to get my mind around that euphemism of 'crawled under my porch'. I've never 'heard' that one before. What does it mean and what is its origin, if you know it?

I say give it a shot (not pun intended) and let us know how it went. Sounds fine to me.

I made roughly the same comment about Jehovah's Witnesses once, and a friend replied "How dare you demean one of the greatest heresies of Christendom! Well, they got the 'heresy' part right at least, lol. No intent to demean anything in that. Actually, I admire their pluck.

I would like to clarify here that while self-identified atheists are sometimes members of the UUA, and they are welcomed and respected for their individual beliefs, the UU faith is not inherently atheist (popular and erroneous opinions to the contrary notwithstanding). There are also Buddhist, Jewish, Wiccan, and Pagan individual members of the UUs. But the historical foundation of the UUs goes back to the Council of Nicea whereupon their ancestors in faith rejected the Trinity. When I ask a group of UUs today, what is the best way to characterize the UUs, I get as many different opinions as there are UUs in the group. I give them a lot of credit, every last one of them, for making well-reasoned and thoughtful statements about their faith. They really do know something about what they believe. On the other hand, if someone wants to argue that UUs are space aliens........

I agree with Rick and ScoutNut on this.

If you're working on the award through the UUSO, that particular award is recognized. Trevorum can give you more info. The original award through UUA is still not recognized. I could be wrong but I think the UUSO was organized in response to BSA's action and they worked with BSA to create awards for UU boys that BSA was willing to officially allow on the uniform. If this is confusing to you, that's understandable.

See the lovely circular logic? All that is required is a belief in God - the BSA refuses to define what constitutes belief in God. That is for the scout and his family to decide. As for A Scout is Reverent, I believe this is the current wording: This doesn't define what God is either. So if someone belongs to a religious faith that doesn't have a god (like many forms of Buddhism) or require a belief in a god (like Unitarianism), who believe they can do their "Duty to God" as their faith defines it, the BSA appears to say they can be members. Which is the situation the OP was in. So to tell the OP: "stop whining, it's all their in black and white" is incorrect. @Scouter99, I noted the derisive tone you employed in your use of the phrase 'you Greenbar fanboys'. Could you elaborate on what your intent was in that? Was it intended to imply that 'you Greenbar fanboys' are hypocritical for some reason? Please explain. It isn't clear from your comment what the relevance is for your mention that Trevorum is a member of the UUA. What's that all about? Also, why it is bad form to note the fact that BSA accepts the Buddhist faith, in which many of its members are explicitly atheist? The element of hypocrisy seems obvious. So why is THAT bad form?

See the lovely circular logic? All that is required is a belief in God - the BSA refuses to define what constitutes belief in God. That is for the scout and his family to decide. As for A Scout is Reverent, I believe this is the current wording: This doesn't define what God is either. So if someone belongs to a religious faith that doesn't have a god (like many forms of Buddhism) or require a belief in a god (like Unitarianism), who believe they can do their "Duty to God" as their faith defines it, the BSA appears to say they can be members. Which is the situation the OP was in. So to tell the OP: "stop whining, it's all their in black and white" is incorrect. Rick, take a look at the top of this page. You'll see an old guy in a campaign hat named Bill. That's him. Bill Hillcourt. He was called 'Greenbar Bill' because of the two green bars he wore on his uniform. He's also the center of a lot of discussion regarding the structure of not only the program but also of many other aspects of BSA as well. But regardless of which 'side' you end up on, nearly everyone recognizes that he was a monumental figure for BSA. Well, not everyone...because he was evidently left out of the historical representation (read about this in another thread on Scouting History, I don't want this to hijack this topic).

It seems to be a popular local tradition. I've seen this practice in numerous troops. But it is essentially a troop practice. This unit does not employ the practice. For us, a single infraction like the one mentioned in the OP gets a complete retraining exercise and perhaps an additional mandate to train someone else as well. The boys observe this and usually take great pains to avoid being the next guy who has to go through all that again. It works for us.

"....I'm using "His" and "He" in the gender-neutral form..." Well I'm not. A long time ago, one of my redneck buddies, obese, beer-guzzling, tobacco-drooling, unwashed, smelly, nearly bald, and profane....liked to laugh and remark: "God made ME in His image...har, har, har, har". I had no choice but to laugh just as hard. Can't deny a good sense of humor.

I took my daughter on a similar trip (6 weeks, whole continent) but since she's not a boy scout, what I did was to stop by some road construction on the northern CA coast, found a nice redwood sapling that they had cut for the construction and trimmed it to make a hiking staff. Then every place we stopped, I purchased those little hiking medallions as mementos of the trip. When we got back, I carefully carved recessed spots for all of the medallions, mounted them in chronological order, and then carved an inscription commemorating our trip. Years later she still hauls that thing out, looks at it and comments, "Wow, we really did go a lot of places didn't we". Then we take them in order and talk about each place, what we saw, how hot it was, our favorite things, what we ate, how much I snored, and basically relive the whole trip together. It's a great memory stick. If you want to do something absolutely amazing at Carlsbad, take them to the bat emergence in the evening. And THEN, get them up at 4 am and go sit at the entrance to listen to them coming back. While they emerge as a mass, they return all through the wee hours of the morning but just before sunrise they return in greater numbers. You'll likely be absolutely alone. Silence, except for the sound of the bats. Thing is, owls and hawks lurk at the cave entrance to pick off returning bats. So the bats, while they are way high over the entrance, fold their wings and drop like rocks. They are going so fast as they approach the entrance that the trailing edges of the wings vibrate giving of a buzzing sound like little buzz bombs. Then when they are safely past the predators and in the entrance they spread their wings and fly back in. So you will sit there, listening to hundreds of little bat-meteorites buzzing down out of the sky. The knowledge of that natural drama, combined with the redness of dawn way off in the east...is an experience of a lifetime, a way to know true grace, a gift from nature.

Eagledad, I agree.