Peregrinator

I would think that "resting backstroke" is just enough for the swimmer to stay floating and "resting" in position. But clearly they don't mean that if one is to swim 25 yards.

I would think one adult leader plus 1 leader per 2 patrols should suffice. Fifty kids = 6 patrols = 4 leaders. Thirty cubs is another thing entirely. I would think you would want at least 6 leaders in that case.

FWIW, when Canadian football adopted gridiron football rules, the umbrella organization was still known as the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), I guess out of tradition. Gridiron seems to have developed out of rugby football but there were a lot of innovations (of which the forward pass is probably the biggest). Surely equipment has something to do with those differences too ... in rugby you keep your head up, in gridiron players tend not to but if they weren't wearing helmets....

I'm not an Evangelical but I'm pretty sure there is no one Evangelical interpretation of Scripture. I'm not trying to make waves; just pointing out what seems to be obvious. That said, there's nothing wrong with not having the one right answer all the time, and I suppose each unit's having a religious identity will go some ways toward preventing certain problems or solving them as they come up.

Of course then you have the issue of Scriptural interpretation. I'm not trying to be flippant but that is one of the primary divisions among Christians.

Can't vouch for the app but I use this web site all the time; if the app is 1/2 as good then it's well worth the cost. http://www.animatedknots.com/

There wasn't a service project required in the 1940s so that's no surprise: http://scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0211/d-wwas.html

Songs and skits at the campfire are de rigeur. Traditional scout songs, patriotic songs, funny songs, religious songs, etc. We like to mix it up.

Merit badges or what Baden-Powell called proficiency badges are hardly unique to the BSA. Are you suggesting that the badge requirements in Trail Life are the same as those in the BSA?

Surely if all they did was copy the BSA program then the BSA would not be shy about tying them up in court.

Yes, an FM system can be helpful for someone with APD (in my family son #1 has APD, son #2, a toddler, is hard of hearing) but the speaker has to wear or hold a mic. I'm not sure how that would work in a patrol. Our son's APD seems to be relatively mild and he's been able to accommodate (in fact, I was surprised to see how well he did at summer camp -- it could be because he was motivated to do well), though I think he would have problems if he went to traditional school (he is homeschooled).

That's certainly true. Personally I think an all-volunteer model (which is what Baden-Powell wanted) is best. Although one could also point out that AHG serves over 25K youth on a $1.4 million budget while the Atlanta Council needs $11 million to serve approximately 30K youth. There's something to be said for that kind of frugality. Of course AHG doesn't own camps and whatnot and isn't responsible for developing them.

Charity Navigator also lists salaries as reported on Form 990. The BSA Atlanta Council can be found here: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=5513 and it reports a salary (not sure what year) of $313,794 for Tracy Techau. The 2011 Form 990 can be found here (officer compensation on p. 28): http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/580/580566122/580566122_201112_990.pdf

It bears repeating: "If a scout were to break his honour by telling a lie, or by not carrying out an order exactly when trusted on his honour to do so, he would cease to be a scout, and must hand over his scout badge and never be allowed to wear it again." (Lord Baden-Powell)

As a Catholic, I wouldn't feel comfortable in an explicitly Christian organization unless it was explicitly Catholic. There are some Protestant groups that really do not like Catholics. I don't think it has much to do with not liking. I mean, it can, but really the critical thing is Protestants, especially those influenced by the pietist tradition (which I think describes most of TPTB in Trail Life), not understanding what makes Catholics tick.

Per, I had friends in the Canadian scouts at the time, it was a direct relationship. I didn't say it wasn't a direct relationship, I said it wasn't the sole reason for the decline. Yes, I have friends who were leaders in Scouts Canada at the time of the membership policy change (1998) and who left not because girls, homosexuals, etc. were allowed but because units were not permitted to opt out. That is, units were forcibly integrated. That the new membership policy was not the sole reason for the decline can be seen by the fact that membership had already declined over 20% from 1990 by the time the new policy was put in place (1998). Now if membership had continued to decline at the same rate, then we would expect to see a total membership of about 135,400 in 2014. Instead, total membership stands at 98,142 as of 2013. So, again, the new membership policy accelerated the decline that was already taking place. I suspect that the new co-ed policy has more to do with it than the policy on homosexuals, as Beavers and Cubs have experienced the worst decline and one would expect that they would be least affected by gays in their midst.

As I've written before, the membership decline in Scouts Canada began several years before the changes to its membership policy (1998). You can see the statistics for yourself here: http://www.scoutscan.com/issues/membershipstats.html I have no doubt that the changes to the membership policy helped to accelerate the decline that was already taking place, but becoming "inclusive" (which for Scouts Canada meant forcing the new policy on all their units, thus excluding those opposed to it) is not the sole reason for the decline. Also interesting: Scouts Canada has fewer members per employee than the BSA.

There definitely weren't any "orders" to speak out or stage protests ... for all the nativist fear of Catholics getting their marching orders from the Vatican, it doesn't actually happen. Take France for example -- do you think the "Manif pour Tous" movement is taking orders from the Pope? Sunday Mass attendance in France is so bad (in the single digits) that a priest would be thrilled with the level of Mass attendance in the U.S. (around 25%).

The problem is not that the LDS has additional scriptures but that they don't believe that God is a Trinity.

I find the Trail Life oath rather lacking, myself. There's no mention of helping others or of obeying the Law. Indeed, I can't really tell whether they have a Law.

What's wrong with that?

I can't agree. Scouts Canada's membership peaked in 1965 at around 320,000. By 1998, when the association became "inclusive" -- even to the point of forcibly integrating individual units -- membership was down to 211,562, about 2/3 of what it was at its peak. Yes, they have since experienced a precipitous decline, one which shows no sign of stopping, but my guess is that the "liberalizing" of the membership policy only accelerated the rate of a decline that was already happening.