religous awards

[wmjivey]

My son is currently a Den Chief and the Den has now started to work on everyones Religous awards, I thought the boys do this on their own through whatever religion they practice. Should I step up and see where this leader is going with this?

Confussed

John

[Oak Tree]

Yes, normally boys work on the religious award on their own through whatever religion they practice. It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask the leader a friendly question about it. If the boys are different religions, it's not going to be easy to pull that off in a group.

[scoutldr]

Should YOU question the DL? No. Your son may ask about it, but his job is to assist in whatever the DL wants him to do.

[Bob White]

While the scouts do the actual requirements for the recognition of their particualr religion individually, there is nothing wrong with the Den Leader encouraging the den members to work on the award or even discussing the requirements at the Den meetings, as long as he or she stays respectfull of the beiefs of the individual members.(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[ManyHats]

Our Bear Leader just pulled this off with his group. He talked to each parent individually before putting it together. They were awarded the God and Me under a more generic Protestant. The only downfall is it took 6 meetings to complete and he has to have every minute of his remaining meetings to complete the other requirements.

[jmwalston]

In my District, it is common for many Packs to offer the God and Me and God and Family programs as part of the Cub program. However, it is generally coordinated with the CO if a religious body, and after the regular Den meetings. The Cubmaster is usually the coordinator, not the DLs. And usually only 6-12 Cubs participate.

 

As to the Cubs having to hurry to finish their requirements for advancement, why? The advancement should be done with their parents, not at the Den meetings.

[msnowman]

Our Web I's did this last year as Bears and again this year as Webelos I's (God & Me and then God and Family). Last year as Bears they had 4 out of 5 choose to participate in the program (most of the families either had no formal religion or where alreday Methodist). This year they had 4 out of 4 (one dropped out over the summer) participate. They did the religious classes in addition to their regular den meetings.

 

The DL and ACM left it up to the parents if they wanted their son to participate or not. One of the boys has an Agnostic mother, but she let him participate so he can make his own choice.

 

I think organizing it and offering it as a den is fine. However, if not all the boys can participate (for whatever reason), then replacing den meetings with the religious class isn't quite fair to them.

 

YiS

Michelle

 

 

[Herms]

This is a very bad idea. First, one of the ideas behind the different religious awards is for the PARENTS to spend time with their sons teaching them about their religion. Are all of the boys of the same faith? Second the Den meetings are for the boys to get together to work on the SCOUTING PROGRAM! The religious awards are not part of the Scouting program, but are simply recognized by BSA. To answer your question YES step up.

[ManyHats]

jmwalston

We have trouble with some of the parent involvement, so we try to cover the requirements in den meetings and electives are set aside for parents to work with the boys.(This message has been edited by ManyHats)

[SSScout]

wmjivey: I am of the opinion that the Den meeting should be for Scout stuff. If the boys in the Den (and their parents) agree to work on their Religious Awards together, that's great, but it should not be in the context of a Scout meeting. To do so would discriminate against any Cubs not of that faith, and frankly, I do not see how multiple faiths can work on their own awards together.

I have been told that Scouting is "religious" but not a "religion". The multiplicity of religious representation in the average Pack or Troop is certainly an advantage to my mind. If the Den in question is truly mono-faith, then take the boys after the Den Meeting and do the Faith thing, but one MUST be sensitive to any who chooses , for what ever reason, not to join the Award class. You may lose a boy to Scouting by such action. Is that what you want?

 

 

[Greaves]

My son and I are the only Protestants in a Catholic Pack. We like it; my husband's Catholic, so this gives us a chance to spark inter-faith conversations.

 

In our pack, too, religious awards are earned on "your own time," so to speak. The Catholic boys who earned the Light of Christ have the chance to have them awarded by the Bishop. It's a great chance to teach my son to appreciate the success of his peers.

 

I wouldn't want the Den to work on it; my son uses a different booklet.

 

[SSScout]

My favorite story about Religious awards:

 

I was at a more 'formal' Scout event. I came across a Boy Scout who had a pocketflap full of dangles.. On closer examination, he wore the "God And Country", "Ad Altere Dei" and the"Ner Tamid".

When I asked him about this overt display of Diversity, he told me his Troop was sponsored by a Methodist Church, his dad was Catholic and his mom Jewish. He said he liked doing the comparisons.

I suppose when he becomes an adult Scouter, he could wear 3 blue and silver knots.

 

YiS&C

[Argyle]

SSScout - Great post about diversity. As den leader, I checked with all the parents regarding their religious affilitations. All were protestant, but not all from the same protestant denomination. The parents had no problem with using the general protestant God and Me program. I took a pass on the IH, she gave me the willies, something wasn't right with her. Found a minister who was a former military chaplain, he worked very well in non-denominational or multi-denominational activities. We did the God and Me through the summer (after baseball season). 5 of the 7 Cubbies in the den finished, taking five weeks. The parent(s) all participated. Went very well. We had a nice ceremony at the pastors church, during a Sunday service. That went over very well, both with the kids and their congregation. We look to do the next one, next year as Webeslos II.

[buffalojoe]

SSScouter,

 

If you had been in Last Frontier council back in the late 80's you would have seen another boy in a similar situation.

 

I have a Jewish Mother, Latter Day Saint father and converted to Catholicism in high school. As a consequnce I had the On My Honor, Ner Tamid, and the Ad Altare Dei. Now all i have is a roman collar and working on a couple of beads.

 

 

Hermes,

 

Yes the Religious Awards are part of the scouting program. And only reason a person would be reasonable to question the DL on the exercise is if it was in the way of normal advancement or more importantly causing a boy undue or unnecessary stress. But the point is valid, in that this type of activity is best reserved for Dens/Packs/Troops that are of one unified faith such as the LDS troops... but those are a whole other bag of worms.(This message has been edited by buffalojoe)

[ScoutNut]

buffalojoe states -

"Yes the Religious Awards are part of the scouting program. And only reason a person would be reasonable to question the DL on the exercise is if it was in the way of normal advancement or more importantly causing a boy undue or unnecessary stress."

 

 

Nope, sorry Buffalojoe, you are incorrect. While BSA has approved these programs, and allows the various emblems to be worn on the BSA uniform - they are NOT BSA programs.

 

BSA has this to say -

 

"What are the religious emblems programs?

 

The religious emblems programs are programs created by the various religious groups to encourage youth to grow stronger in their faith. The religious groupsnot the Boy Scouts of Americahave created the religious emblems programs themselves.

 

The Boy Scouts of America has approved of these programs and allows the recognition to be worn on the official uniform, but each religious organization develops and administers its own program."

 

 

This is what BSA says about working on religious emblems in your unit -

 

"The religious emblems programs should be presented to youth members and their families as an optional program for them to complete through their religious organization. Religious instruction should always come from the religious organization, not from the unit leader."

 

 

So there is some reason, from BSA itself, to question why a den leader is running a religious emblem program in his den meetings.