SemperParatus

"However, if we are talking about religious beliefs, they are for the most part unverifiable by anyone else. So yes, unverifiable religious beliefs are all equally valid and true because they are valid and true to the person who holds them, and therefore, deserving of respect by the rest of us." If one's 'religious belief' involved the worship of the Spirit of Intolerance and Disrespect, calling him or her to be blatantly disrespectful of all religions other than their own, as well as those that follow them, then by your own words, you would respect that belief and would therefore not be offended by the comments of such a person?

Welcome to the campfire. Hope you brought some extra logs to throw on. CA_S, how do you know our new friend is not a sister?

"Nope, you wouldn't be silly. You simply have a different belief about Morrigan than I do. However, I would praise you for your knowledge of Celtic mythology." So, should I take that to mean that all beliefs are equally valid and true? "However, I am interested in the answers to two questions from my last post: "1. Do you disagree that there is intolerance for the beliefs of others within certain groups of Christians?" I would agree that intolerance may exist among people of all faiths and beliefs. "2. What denomination of Christianity to you personally subscribe to?" I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I have worshipped as a Roman Catholic and a Presbyterian, and now have membership in a Christian Church founded out of the Restoration Movement of the early 19th century. (This message has been edited by SemperParatus)

Beav, Perhaps you have missed the past 50 posts of the 'airing of grievances'. DK, Thank you for sharing. I do not disrespect you or your beliefs. You are free to believe what you will. Now, if I were to say to you, I think that Morrigan was a good human philosopher and really dig how she handled those Fomorians, would I be silly?

DK, I have reread all of your posts on this forum, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out what your 'belief' is, other than that you believe you are somehow being disrespected for it (whatever it is) by a bunch of intolerant Christian bigots. Something to do with yule, winter harvests, Saturn etc.? Why don't you explain what you believe, I am interested in understanding. And, please don't just direct me to a website. And you can wish me anything, I am not offended. After all, 'words are cheap'.

"I base my label on actions rather than words. Words are cheap, and can be misinterpreted and misquoted. Actions speak much louder. It is how Jesus lived his life that I admire, how he treated the people around him, rather than what he actually prosletized. Now, I do have to make some assumptions that Christ's actions have been relatively accurately portrayed in the Bible, but I find it more likely that his words might be distorted than accounts of his actions." Okay, lets look at some of his actions (which in your own words you assume to be accurately portrayed): Turning water into wine. Feeding thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread. Healing lepers by a simple touch of the hand. Giving sight to the blind with spit and dirt. Walking on water. Bringing dead people to life. Being resurrected. Are these the actions of a mere teacher?

If I were to start proclaiming myself to be God on this forum, I would surely be lambasted as a kook. Because I am not God. If you don't believe Jesus is Lord, in spite of his many claims to be, why do you hang the label 'great teacher', rather than kook, around his neck? How could he be a great teacher for you, when you do not accept the premise for his existence in the first place? You may like and ascribe to the catch-phrase 'love your neighbor as thyself', but at the same time you discount as fallacy his first and greatest commandment to 'love God with all your heart and soul'. Summing up his existence as a great teacher or philosopher because he said some things you agree with, ignores the fact that he said much more that you would object to as delusional, misinformed, or just plain wrong.

Welcome. Hope you add 'Frequent Contributor to Scouter Form' to your impressive list of current service roles. I look forward to your contributions to the discussions.

Jack Lewis' famous quote on why Jesus should not be patronized with the teacher/philosopher label... I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: Im ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I dont accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." ~ Phillipians 2:9-11 Get your squawkin' in now boys, 'cuz your time is runnin' out.

Dear Pack, It is with deep regret that I must step down as Cubmaster of Pack XXX due to personal reasons, effective XXXXXXXXXX. It has been a pleasure working with the boys and leading this pack over the past year. I wish you all the best in your future scouting endeavors. Yours in scouting, dlw73078

There is something on my hand (finger)...but it sure doesn't look like free time to me

Should Web2 Dens FEEL like they're being recruited? That is an interesting question. I've always been of the opinion that recruitment is an ongoing process built up over years of interaction between the scouts in our troop and the cubs in our affiliated pack. In other words, cubs are heavily 'recruited' over time not in a flashy, hard-sell manner in the few meetings and campouts just prior to crossover, but rather in the years of orchestrated joint endeavors that enable the young boys to see, talk to, and do scouting with the fine young men of our troop. We get the overwhelming majority of our scouts from our feeder pack. We do have dens from other packs visit us on several occasions. Our scouts are always respectful to them and make them feel welcome, but they do not know them like they know the many boys in the affiliate pack. When I speak with the adults of these dens, I do not do a hard-sell recruitment. I explain our troop culture, boy scout methods and our typical calendar, and answer any questions. I am quick to point out that there are many fine troops in our area and they would not go wrong in choosing any one of them. Maybe part of this approach is that we have enough new scouts crossing over each year that I don't need to focus efforts on reeling in every 'troop shopper'. As long as the boy stays in scouting somewhere, I am happy for him.

Okay, perhaps this is a little strange...but I can't seem to help myself. As the mouse pointer crosses over the face of Greenbar Bill on the right side of the page, it turns into a hand with an extended index finger. For some inexplicable reason, I always seem to position the finger in just such a manner that it feigns a nose pick by that legendary scouter. I feel guilty, as if I'm mocking this great man, but the size of the hand and the size of the face just seem so natural that I can't help myself. Am I the only one with this problem? Can someone help me put an end to this nasty habit?

Life is too short to hassle with argumentative people...recharter the boy, do not pay for Boy's Life renewal and do not recharter her as an asst. den leader (she has 2 months left before crossover?)

Nick, Have fun at the climbing gym - sounds like a nice alternative to a troop meeting.

I smell a teaching moment. As this boy grows into a man, he will have to do many things that he does not necessarily enjoy. Many times because someone else requires him to do it (a parent, a teacher, an employer, the government, his own kids). He needs to learn to accept this fact and deal with such situations in a mature manner (i.e., suck it up and get r' done). This situation is a perfect opportunity - he does not want to be there, but his parents are making him. Make the most of it with patience and understanding, sharing with him the lesson he is learning about life and how his response and attitude is all that stands in the way of either being miserable or cheerful. Our heavens and hells are only inches apart. With a couple of months to go, I would not seek his ouster but rather embrace the challenge of imparting knowledge and working through a difficult situation. Who knows, you may actually make an impact on him. His learning how to effectively deal with such situations will be much more important than earning the Communicator pin. Of course, truly disruptive behavior needs to be addressed with the parents, requiring immediate pickup or their attendance at meetings.

Me four.

Before our Webelos den crossed over, we had a campfire/party complete with torches, facepaint, fire arrows, etc. We retired various items to the campfire as we celebrated the old memories and looked forward to the new life as boy scouts. Some of the items retired included the den flag (after inquiry, no one wanted it), a pinewood derby car (one of the many extras built), a neckerchief from each level, ashes from our cub camping trips, trinkets from day camp, etc. It was pretty moving...we had several adults crying.

Very depressing.

"After thinking about this I decided that reason that I dislike people that cut the uniform down or only wear parts of it is that I look on the uniform as a symbol of the BSA." Dan, Do you really dislike a boy merely because he is wearing jeans with a scout shirt? Or was this just a typo?

Four frogs sat upon a log that lay floating on the edge of a river. Suddenly the log was caught by the current and swept slowly down the stream. The frogs were delighted and absorbed, for never before had they sailed. At length the first frog spoke, and said, "This is indeed a most marvellous log. It moves as if alive. No such log was ever known before." Then the second frog spoke, and said, "Nay, my friend, the log is like other logs, and does not move. It is the river that is walking to the sea, and carries us and the log with it." And the third frog spoke, and said, "It is neither the log nor the river that moves. The moving is in our thinking. For without thought nothing moves." And the three frogs began to wrangle about what was really moving. The quarrel grew hotter and louder, but they could not agree. Then they turned to the fourth frog, who up to this time had been listening attentively but holding his peace, and they asked his opinion. And the fourth frog said, "Each of you is right, and none of you is wrong. The moving is in the log and the water and our thinking also." And the three frogs became very angry, for none of them was willing to admit that his was not the whole truth, and that the other two were not wholly wrong. Then a strange thing happened. The three frogs got together and pushed the fourth frog off the log into the river. ~ Kahlil Gibran, The Forerunner

Walking out of an Eagle BOR because of a non-uniformed candidate, speaks volumes. It says more about you, then anything that could be inferred about the scout in light of his uniforming or lack thereof. You would be making the statement that the uniform is more important than the boy. I am glad this is only a hypothetical question.

Steve, I commend you for the thoughtful care you are showing to your pack's history. My personal opinion is that the cords could be replaced to ensure the ribbons are adequately attached and to present a uniform appearance. I like your idea of reorganizing them along some chronological order. As for cleaning them, I would probably let the dirt help to tell the pack's story.

I am Mr. Mark to most scouts...although I am sure some have called me by some other names over the years.