Scouting for alternatives

[fgoodwin]

Scouting for alternatives

 

Youth group is rooted in pagan beliefs

 

http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=8709

 

by Monica Price

1/11/2006

 

Its a little before noon on a Saturday, and seven children are gathered around a table in a cozy Troy home, scribbling with markers. Many are dressed in uniform, sporting neatly pressed khakis and crisp green polo shirts. The boys and girls, ages 3 to 10, are busily decorating a box theyll later fill with dry goods. Its part of their latest community service initiative, and will be donated to Compassion Pregnancy Centers (an organization that works with pregnant women in high-risk situations) in Clinton Township.

 

While the kids color, five moms, two dads and two scout leaders look on. The scent of home-cooked comfort food wafts in from the kitchen.

 

Its a scene so wholesome that youd never imagine most of the parents prefer their families names not be printed in this article. Why? Theyre afraid someone will accuse them of being satanists.

 

Founded in 1999 in Index, Wash., the Spiral Scouts was initially conceived as the youth group for the Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC). The ATC is the first Wiccan church to receive full legal status. According to its Web site (aquatabch.org), its a coven dedicated to providing religious services and support to the larger Wiccan community.

 

But when the Spiral Scouts began a national expansion in 2001, the organization avoided rigid identification with any one particular faith. Though open about its basis in pagan beliefs and practices, Spiral Scouts is described more generally on its Web site (spiralscouts.org) as a program for girls and boys of minority faiths working, growing and learning together.

 

Janet Callahan, 29, program director for Spiral Scouts International, says the group draws members from many religious backgrounds. We have Wiccans, Druids and a variety of spiritual people who dont necessarily identify themselves with a certain group, she says.

 

From its grassroots beginnings, the organization has now spread to 20 states, Canada and Europe. Chapters exist as far away as Switzerland and also thrive, according to Callahan, in places you wouldnt expect, like Arkansas and Oklahoma. To date, 127 different groups have been chartered, and Callahan estimates that around 60 are currently active, involving about 600 people ranging in age from preschoolers to teenagers to parents. Groups can be structured in two ways: as a hearth, which is composed of a single family, or as a circle, which has a wider membership. Seven circles currently operate in Michigan, including the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Portage and Ann Arbor areas, and theres a statewide Web site, michiganspiralscouts.org.

 

James OConnell, 14, of Plymouth is a member of the Oaken Grove Circle, which operates in Washtenaw and western Wayne counties. He has been participating in Spiral Scouts for about five years, practically since it started. OConnell, who also has two younger brothers in the program, says his favorite part of Spiral Scouts is his circles yearly summer camping trip to Sleepy Hollow State Park. We camp out, walk around the woods, look at things, and just try to figure out what the worlds like.

 

When asked about the most important lesson he has learned from Spiral Scouts, OConnell responds, Respect the earth. Dont trash it, because if you do, it will bite you later.

 

Callahan is one of the scout leaders for the White Pine Circle, whose members come from Troy, Royal Oak and surrounding areas. The majority of the families in the White Pine Circle discovered Spiral Scouts online, through pagan message boards and mailing lists.

 

On many levels, Spiral Scouts is very similar to mainstream scouting organizations. Members wear uniforms, attend monthly meetings, camp and learn wilderness skills. They perform community service and earn merit badges in subjects ranging from sculpture to ecology and nutrition. The organizational structure of the group is also comparable to its better-known counterparts, with different levels of membership corresponding to a childs age. Youngsters aged 3 to 6 are known as Fireflies and those aged 9 to 13 are termed Spiral Scouts. Pathfinders, the highest level of membership, denotes teenagers aged 14 to 18.

 

But where the Boy and Girl Scouts recite a pledge to do my duty to God and my country, a Spiral Scout promises, among other things, to respect living things and respect the beauty in all creations. Additionally, Spiral Scout merit badges are set up in five categories earth, air, fire, water and spirit that correspond to the five points of the Wiccan pentacle.

 

When asked if Spiral Scouts has ever been formally contacted by the Boy Scouts of America, Callahan reports that the organization received a letter, accompanied by a cease-and-desist order that stated that the word scouts was trademarked at a federal level. She says a response from the Spiral Scouts attorney followed, and no further interaction between the two groups has occurred. At press time, the Boys Scouts had not returned Metro Times phone calls.

 

One key difference between the Spiral Scouts and the mainstream scouts is that membership is not gender-specific. In fact, each circle is required to have both a male and female leader, who must first undergo extensive background checks. Callahan says this openness is essential. She explains, Often it seems when you segregate children according to gender, the mentality arises that theyll either do girl things or boy things. In the real world, its necessary to work with both men and women. How are you going to do that if youre just off in your own little box?

 

Chris, who prefers not to give her last name, agrees. The 37-year-old massage therapist and yoga instructor from Clarkston has a 7-year-old daughter in Spiral Scouts. Chris identifies herself as spiritual, and says earth-based practices fit her belief system. I believe that Spiral Scouts provides an excellent way to draw upon both male and female energies, she says. Having diversity in both ages and sexes is very important.

 

After the crafts project has been completed, the children gather around while Chris reads them a tale explaining the winter solstice, or yule, in terms of the sun becoming more and more tired as the year goes on. The kids then dig into the food, which many helped prepare on their way to earning their cooking badges. Once the meal has been cleared away, the awards ceremony begins. As Callahan reads off each members name and lists the honors theyve received, the children two boys and four girls walk up and light a white candle, which the younger ones hand off to more steady-handed parents.

 

Callahan says, The important thing about Spiral Scouts is that its not about not being some other group. Were our own holistic group that exists for the kids and the families. That said, were just like any other youth organization.

 

Monica Price is a former editorial intern for Metro Times. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com

[OldGreyEagle]

Do a search on this site for Spiral Scouts, we have discussed them before

[DanKroh]

Spiral Scouts looks like a great group, but that is still in its infancy. I investigated it as an alternative, and there are no groups currently operating in my area.

[fgoodwin]

Dan, is there a reason you couldn't start one?

[Trevorum]

Fred, thanks for sharing the article. It appears to provide an unbiased glimpse of the organization and their ethics. I especially liked the quote, "Respect the earth. Dont trash it, because if you do, it will bite you later." How true! I wonder what happened with the BSA threat. Maybe Kudu knows? Anyway, I'm glad there is a place for people who don't feel welcomed elsewhere.

[Kudu]

I wonder what happened with the BSA threat. Maybe Kudu knows?

 

Everybody gets basically the same form letter.

 

The case which will set the precedent for SpiralScouts, and more traditional alternative Scouting associations such as the BPSA-USA, is the "YouthScouts" challenge to the BSA's trademark on the "generic" terms "scouts" and "scouting:"

 

http://youthscouts.org/news.html

 

This case will be heard in San Francisco! If they are successful then the BSA will have to appeal to the 9th Circuit :-/

 

It will be interesting to see how long it takes libertarian news commentators to understand the implications.

 

Kudu

 

 

[evmori]

Interesting. You never know how these type of case will turn out.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[DanKroh]

Yes, Fred, there are several reasons why I can't start one.

 

1. I don't have the time to reinvent the wheel, especially when I can walk down the street and buy a bicycle. I'm busy raising two youngish boys, one of whom has numerous special needs, running my own business, volunteering in my church and community, and dealing with my own health issues. Which of those should I give up to have the time to start a Spiral Scouts group?

 

2. The population density of pagans with young children interested in scouting isn't great enough to sustain a group at this time. I live a fair distance west of Boston, and the pagan families here are spread far and wide. I subscribe to a Spiral Scouts yahoo group, and ever couple of months, someone will post an interest in a group, but none of them are within 25 miles of me geographically.

 

Sorry if this sounds a little harsh, but I get deathly tired of the "if you don't like the BSA, start your own group" arguments. Some of us just don't have the time, energy, or resources for that to be realistic.(This message has been edited by DanKroh)

[fgoodwin]

Dan, I understand -- I wasn't trying to criticize you.

[DanKroh]

Thanks Fred. Again, I apologize for sounding overly harsh.

[GernBlansten]

Our society desperately needs youth organizations to give these kids some structure. Many do not feel comfortable in scouts. I hope all the success they can get.

[Kudu]

Our society desperately needs youth organizations to give these kids some structure. Many do not feel comfortable in scouts.

 

Sure, we need alternatives to Scouting for those who do not care for the stucture of working on advancement while camping in patrols and wearing uniforms, all in the context of practicing Scouting ideals.

 

But we also need alternative Scouting associations for those whose "discomfort" is not based on these five core "methods," but with the BSA brand of Scouting.

 

Kudu

 

 

[EagerLeader]

But we also need alternative Scouting associations for those whose "discomfort" is not based on these five core "methods," but with the BSA brand of Scouting.

Kudu, you hit the nail on the head... and it comes back to the very-popular religious component to Scouting that pushes people away. It's not the uniform, or the community service projects, it's that "higher power" thing.

EL

[Prairie_Scouter]

Ok, so I'm kind of confused. I visited a website about the Baden-Powell Scouts. They say that their organization is based on the teachings and writings of Lord Baden Powell. Yes, I can see the obvious differences and similarities, but there's some history here, I suppose, that I'm missing. If (and maybe I'm assuming wrongly here) BSA is based on the teachings and writings of Baden-Powell, and Baden-Powell Scouts says the same thing, how did they end up going down different paths? Seems like the main differences have to do with the discriminatory practices of BSA, and some things having to do with what look likes a greater respect for nature in the Baden-Powell Scouts. How is that it that they diverged on these things?

 

I could probably read through all the information and come up with an answer, but I was wondering if anyone here already has that knowledge and would be willing to share it?

[GernBlansten]

I too went to the BPS site and came back with the impression that BP Scouts can be compared to BSA like a fundementalist religious sect to a mainstream religious sect. Take the Fundemantalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and the mainstream LDS church for example. FLDS sects still practice the teachings of Smith and Young including polygamy as the LDS church did in the 19th century. But the mainstream LDS church changed its ways for various reasons and have significant differences in practices and beliefs from the FLDS, for better or worse. In fact, the mainstream LDS church does not recognize FLDS sects as Mormons.

BP Scouts looks like its an attempt to get back to the core program that BP envisioned for scouting. I would expect BSA not to recogize BP Scouts as a ligitmate scouting organization either.