JustanMBC

From the Office Hours discussion, it looks like the basic merit badge may not change much, but for scouts whose "family or religious principles" run contrary to some of the contents, "There will always be an alternative for them to do, or just things for them to consider." How is that going to work? (Particularly since this is a "classroom"-style merit badge).

With regard to religious COs that adhere to more traditional moral beliefs, the main issue obviously is going to be with the sexual orientation and gender identity components of the D&EI requirements. Given that the original stated idea behind the DE&I endeavor was "BSA's commitment to act against racial injustice" (6/15/20 ScoutingWire statement), the inclusion of other areas of diversity/inclusion was perhaps a bit of scope creep that might have been avoided. But now that the draft requirements are out there publicly, it will be difficult (impossible?) for BSA to scale back to its original stated intent without taking a lot more heat than they are probably willing to endure. I guess the question now is, "Is it even possible to draft something covering these issues that will be satisfactory to most of the diverse constituencies inside and outside of Scouting that are involved?" (I say "most" because "all" is pretty much definitely impossible.) Maybe it would help to add some discussion of religious tolerance -- right now, there are passing mentions of "faith" in requirements 3 and 8, but no substance about faith-related issues. Perhaps a fourth scenario might be added -- "how to be upstanding for a friend disciplined at school for discussing his religious beliefs," or maybe "imagining how a civil discussion might occur between young people with differing moral values, in which all viewpoints are respected." At the end of the day, I hope this doesn't cause additional religious COs to follow the LDS out the door. (If news accounts are correct, the LDS took 400,000 scouts with them).