David CO

What a foul comment. I'm sure Mackey didn't have anything like that in mind. I certainly didn't.

Is it true? That depends on who you heard it from. If you heard it from the Scoutmaster, than you can depend on it being true. Troops vary quite a bit in regard to how much interaction takes place between the adults and the boys. Your Scoutmaster should be able to explain to you the policies and practices of the troop. Ask him.

How long do you think it will be before people start to identify as bi-gender, and demand to join both BSA and GSA? Would a so-called transgender adult leader be excluded from my unit? Yes. If this became a problem, we would probably drop scouting altogether. These problems aren't unique to scouting. Most service clubs have seen a huge drop in membership over the past decade. It is simply getting to be too difficult to have a club anymore.

There are many things that I teach in the classroom that I learned in scouting. I don't think there is anything wrong with my attributing them to my experience as a scout.

BSA has always had a policy. Only boys can be Cub Scouts.

People who self-identify as transgender are a very small minority, but those who support them are not. The number of people who support these views are too large to ignore. I don't see it as the minority dictating to the majority. I see it as half the country trying to impose their beliefs on the other half. I don't care what they believe. I only object to them trying to use the strong arm of government to compel my family to accept and act on their strange, dangerous, and disturbing beliefs. I don't think the two halves of this country will ever see eye to eye. We need to have a divided and polarized country. We need to remain separate. It is the only way we can get along.

Things have certainly changed. When I was growing up, I understood the value of a dollar. It was made of silver. It was real money. Today's fiat dollar is more of an abstract concept than it is money. When I was growing up, most of my major purchases were items that would not be obsolete in a year or two. I took care of my things because I knew that they would still have value. Even those things I outgrew could be passed down to the younger kids. Kids have a different attitude today because they live in a different world. They live in a much more disposable world, where things quickly become obsolete. My attitude has changed some, too. I can be nostalgic for the past, but I must live in the present.

Eagledad, If you were to come to one of our unit meetings and suggest that it would be better if each boy were to start paying $5 or more per camping trip for food, in order to be more boy-led, I think you might find yourself boy-led right out the front door.

I don't see why the boys need to have access to the walk in freezer or other behind-the-counter food services. They don't have that sort of access at the grocery store. We don't charge the scouts for the food. The cost is negligible.

Many Chartered Organizations routinely order food in bulk. A twenty-pound box/bag of food from a bulk supplier is much less expensive than 10 2-pound boxes/bags from the grocery store. I understand the learning value of having the scouts budget and shop for food on their own. But when there is such a striking difference in price, I think it may be better to err on the side of thrifty.

The majority of boys in the Lone Scouts of America were not from isolated rural areas. The first Lone Scouts were newspaper boys (and other working class boys) on the streets of Chicago. Lone Scouting was originally much more of a group activity than it is today. A few years after BSA acquired LSA, it turned Lone Scouting into the home school version of Boy Scouting. BSA has expanded the membership rules to potentially allow many more Lone Scouts to join, but they must still register through the councils. Councils will often not accept Lone Scout registrations. I agree that this is a mistake.

The scout doesn't feel comfortable joining a unit chartered by a church. That sounds to me like an acceptable reason for Lone Scouting.

If you join a unit you don't like, you are doing a disservice to both yourself and the unit.

I would suggest that you register as a Lone Scout. You can always change your mind and join a unit if you find one you like.

I believe one of the high points of my Church's history is when Pope Paul III issued the papal bull, "Sublimis Deus", declaring that Native Americans are human. Many people of the time were arguing that they were not. It is amazing to me to look back in history and see the many examples where some people claimed that other people weren't human. How can someone born with a human body not be human? I have to suspect that they actually knew better. I now hear a similar argument that someone born into a female body might not actually be female, and someone born into a male body might not actually be male. This is a very dangerous idea.

Adamcp, If you have read my posts, then you would know that I am not a wonderful scouter. Unlike many on this site, I have no exceptional outdoor skills. I'm just an average guy. I have had some pretty wonderful scouters in my unit. They made me look good. It is easy to look good when you have a great bunch of guys working for you. Most importantly, I have a great Chartered Organization. It is their unit, not mine. The CO deserves the lions share of the credit for having chartered a unit and offering this program for the boys. I truly hope that I am not a big influence on the boys. I want the Holy Spirit to be the guiding influence in their lives.

If one looks at how people responded to Lance Armstrong (before he was caught cheating) and compare it with the public perception of Bruce Jenner, it is obvious that reproduction isn't the issue.

I'm not sure who exactly you think Jesus was referencing. Perhaps "eunuch" does need some interpretation. I take a pretty literal interpretation of the reference to being born a eunuch. I think it means they were born with cryptorchidism (undescended testicles). This condition effects about 1% of male children. I don't think it could be surgically corrected in that time and place. I don't know if ancient peoples were perplexed by birth defects. Jesus certainly had great sympathy for people with physical handicaps. I think you are probably correct if you are saying that Jesus took people with cryptorchidism seriously and wanted them to be included and not shunned. Otherwise, I think you are making a pretty big stretch.

Qwazse, The quote you cited refers only to the practice of celibacy. The "it" Jesus is referring to is celibacy. It is a real stretch to suggest that Jesus is referring any alternative lifestyle or sexual practice other than celibacy. Of course, it is your right to interpret it any way you want. I wouldn't mind if proponents of transgender rights used a religious argument to support their views. If, for example, they were to claim that there are male and female souls, and that it is possible for a male soul to accidentally get put into a female body, I would respect their religious freedom to believe it. Of course, in that case, the government would have no right to compel any of us to accept their religious belief.

I don't smoke or drink alcohol. Consequently, I don't like to frequent pubs. Please don't infer that I do. My degrees are in Health Education. I teach middle school Science and Health. I actually do have years of study in Anatomy and Physiology, as well as Human Sexuality and Adolescent Development. It is a frequent tactic of the left to infer that conservatives are all a bunch of uneducated, beer swilling, NASCAR loving yokels who get their all information and develop all their opinions from frequenting pubs and watching Fox News.

We live in a time in which wearing unisex clothing is not only acceptable, it is largely the norm. The same is also often true of hair styles. Many boys wear long hair and many girls wear short hair. As a teacher, I have occasionally had some difficulty guessing the gender of a new student, once or twice with embarrassing results. My point is that it not necessary anymore for a kid to stand out. If they do, it is because they want to stand out.

There is no such thing as trans people. It is a hoax. To subject a prepubescent child to hormone therapy to suppress their natural development is nothing less than medical quackery and child abuse.

LGBTQ. The T stands for transgender. If liberals insist on lumping these things together in one acronym, they really shouldn't complain when we conservatives see them all as one issue.

Exactly right. She is a girl. That is the issue.

Have you never seen children disfigure themselves with tattoos and skin piercings? How about anorexia? How about cutting? I have seen kids do too many strange and inexplicable things to dismiss Beavah's comments so quickly. I don't know why children hurt themselves. I can't offer any explanation for the behavior. All I know is that they do it. The thing that amazes me (on this thread) is that any responsible adult would condone or encourage a child to mutilate his/her body.