David CO

I think that statistic only refers to sexual abuse by an older child. I don't think it includes same age sexual assaults.

The most likely abuser is not an adult, male or female. The most likely abuser is another child.

That may be true, but the bowling club, the tennis club, and the soccer team don't usually charter boy scout units. Chartered Organizations charter boy scout units, and many of them are churches. Religious and moral beliefs are a big deal to the churches. All of our sports teams begin each game with a public prayer. This is very common in Catholic schools. Our religion is a big part of every activity we do. That includes sports and scouting. These issues may not be a big deal for all of our kids. They might not even be a big deal for all of our parents. But they are definitely a big deal for many of the Chartered Organizations.

Of course it had to be an issue. The issue is everywhere. There is no place in our society where it is not an issue.

I don't want to see the data. My moral values don't change with the poll numbers.

Our experiences in scouting are so diverse, it sometimes feels that way.

I don't mind that you keep saying that you're better than us. The thing I do mind is that you describe yourself as humble while you are saying that you're better than us.

I did all of that. It never bothered me.

The truthful answer is that neither candidate's presidency will unite and heal our country. One side will win the election. One side will lose. The anger and division will continue. The same is true of scouting. We will have winners and losers. We will never have unity.

I haven't been responding to him at all. I wish he would stop engaging with me. I wish he would stop asking me to reply. I don't want to talk to him.

True. It has nothing to do with scouting. I was saying that we expect this sort of anti-Catholic behavior at pro-life rallies. We shouldn't have to expect it at scout activities. I didn't want to go into any detail about pro-life rallies, since it not a scouting activity. But if it will help you to calm things down, you should know that the rally organizers have the kids wear custom printed shirts, designed specially for each rally, so that the supervisors can easily spot and identify our kids. Even if a boy was to want to wear his scout uniform to a pro-life rally, the organizers wouldn't allow it. They have to wear the shirt.

My diocese encourages teenagers to attend these pro-life rallies. I really don't care if you approve or not. It's not your call.

We can, but we are penalized for it. Catholic High Schools usually have to play against public schools with a larger student population. They don't play against public schools of the same size. Our Catholic high school never plays against our local public high school, since they are roughly the same size. The kids want to play each other, but the league won't allow it.

I'm sure they don't see it as discrimination. They think it's a form of anti-discrimination to call us out on our religious beliefs. There is no point arguing with them. We just end up in a "you're a bigot/no you're the bigot" exchange of insults. It is much better to just distance ourselves. They can go camping at council. We'll camp at the church. Problem solved.

It happens all the time. Not just at scouting events, but at sporting event as well. People see the school's name on the bus, uniforms, etc., and they go out of their way to express their disapproval of our religious beliefs. We live in a very politically polarized society. It gets ugly.

Mostly, but not entirely. There is a lot of anti-Catholic bigotry in scouting. Always has been. We would rather camp at our church-owned facility rather than put up that nonsense. After all, the kids join scouting to have fun. We expect to be yelled at, cursed at, and physically threatened at highly politicized events like pro-life rallies. The kids are ready for it. They have been trained to handle it. They will anticipate the crowds calling them all sorts of ugly names (like bigot and hater). They understand that this is the price for adhering to their faith. We Catholic leaders understand that we cannot insulate our children from all of the ugliness in the world. They need to know about it, because they are certain to encounter it. But we don't think they need to encounter it at scouting activities.

Just about every movie about youth camping glorifies bad behavior. Many kids come to camp thinking this is the way it is supposed to be. They don't think they're misbehaving. They think it is a right of passage. The Hooligans probably don't think they are doing anything wrong. It is the same at their public school, Hooligan Jr. High. They don't think constantly disrupting class is misbehavior. They don't think they're badly behaved. Their parents don't think they're badly behaved. This is the expected behavior at Hooligan Jr. High. It is a part of the school culture.

How did Captain Woodrow Call handle it?

Not so awkward. When I was an Athletic Director, it was clearly understood that I would not join the teams for pizza or snacks unless I was invited. I was the supervisor. I wasn't their automatic dinner guest. I would never think of walking into the stands and grabbing a handful of popcorn from a spectator's bag. So why would I invite myself to eat the team's pizza? I can't even imagine myself doing something like that. Our summer home was a converted barn. So I guess I actually was raised in a barn. But I learned better manners than to help myself to other people's food.

Let's start with food. An open meeting is not an open dinner invitation. If the scout leaders buy pizza for the boys, it is not acceptable for visitors/observers to help themselves to a slice.

Was that a cough? EEK! COVID ALERT....COVID ALERT....COVID ALERT. Shut down the screen! Disinfect the keyboard!

Oh. I get it now. You're making this a sexual thing. It sure didn't take you guys long to find the low road. This is about as low as it gets.

It truly scares you? OK. I think that's a bit of an over-reaction on your part, but OK. I haven't seen any mobs of Catholic school children looting businesses, burning down buildings, tipping over cars, or assaulting police officers. In the grand scheme of things, I find Catholic school children to be amongst the least scary people around. But you have a right to your own feelings. It's true that we don't want our kids to go to school with your kids. It is also true that we don't want our scouts to go camping with your scouts. But that shouldn't scare you. You might not like it, but it shouldn't scare you. A Catholic school teacher shouldn't scare you either. I may not welcome you, but I won't harm you. I detest violence, and I abhor profanity. I don't want to hurt you. I just want you to leave us alone.

Councils can pretend to own us, but they don't.

Yes. If you can believe that, despite all the evidence to the contrary, you are definitely an eternal optimist.