Wiccan Scout Kicked Out of Troop

[DanKroh]

Two brothers in a troop in Louisiana were told they were no longer welcome after one boy admitted that they were Wiccan. Although they were later reinstated to the troop (a month later), the boys decided not to stay.

 

Here's the article:

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS01/605090308/1002

 

I found this paragraph particularly disturbing (in so many ways):

"[scoutmaster] Doherty called Army Cpt. Todd Buchheim, the boys' father and a former Eagle Scout stationed at Fort Polk, to inform him that the boys no longer were welcome in the troop. The Buchheims said Doherty told them that if Cody had lied about his faith, the boys could have remained with no problem."

 

The CO for the troop is a United Methodist Church, and it was evidently their decision to kick the boys out. The pastor (who was out of town at the time) referred the question to the UMC council, who reversed the decision.

[funscout]

I can't believe a Scouter would encourage a Scout to lie! I don't know much about Wiccan, but if they believe in a higher authority, then that should be okay with BSA.

[fgoodwin]

Scout's admission of being Wiccan leads to turmoil

 

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006605090308

http://tinyurl.com/klgp8

 

Article published May 9, 2006

By Melanie Crownover

Special to The Town Talk

 

ANACOCO -- The camp is going well so far. Boy Scouts have gathered from around the area in khaki button-ups and red scarves, eager to earn their God and Country badge.

The leader in a room of about 20 Scouts decides to break the ice by showing how religiously diverse the gathering is.

 

By a showing of hands, he asks who belongs to the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, continuing on until two boys are left who have not raised their hands.

 

One of the brothers is called out to tell the group what church he attends. He replies, "I'm Wiccan."

 

Little did 12-year-old Cody Brown realize how much that answer would affect his life.

 

During the past six weeks, Cody and his 15-year-old brother, Justin, have waited with their parents to see how the controversy sparked by Cody's answer would play out.

 

Within 48 hours of Cody's confession, the troop committee of Holly Grove United Methodist Church in Anacoco was meeting to discuss the implications.

 

The church sponsors the boys' chapter, Troop 71. Pastor Doug Lewellyn was out of town at the time of the meeting.

 

"The number one scout law is to do your duty to God and your country," Troop 71 Scout Master Gene Doherty said. "They met to discuss whether or not the boys could live up to that because of their religion."

 

The conclusion was that they could not.

 

Doherty called Army Cpt. Todd Buchheim, the boys' father and a former Eagle Scout stationed at Fort Polk, to inform him that the boys no longer were welcome in the troop. The Buchheims said Doherty told them that if Cody had lied about his faith, the boys could have remained with no problem.

 

"I was trying to give them a head's up so that they wouldn't come to the next meeting and not be prepared for what was going on," Doherty said. "They've been so supportive of our troop, and they're good people."

 

Two days later, Doherty said, the committee held another meeting with the church's pastor and decided to contact the district United Methodist Church committee and the National Council of the Boy Scouts before anything official was done.

 

Doherty, however, had already acted upon the original orders and kicked the boys out of the troop.

 

"The boys had been in that troop for over a year, and it wasn't exactly a secret," said Aileen Buchheim, the boys' mother. The boys became a part of the troop when the family lived in Anacoco, but wanted to continue on after they moved to Fort Polk in August 2005.

 

"No child should have to be told in 2006 that they can't take part in a group because of their religion," Aileen Buchheim said.

 

The district church committee in Lake Charles agreed and overturned Holly Grove's decision to oust the boys from the troop on religious grounds.

 

"Our church's motto is to open our hearts, minds and doors to everyone because we all have to come to an understanding of God on our own -- these boys should be no different," District Superintendent Doug Ezell said. "We are just a sponsor for the troop, so if the Boy Scouts do not have a problem with them being there, we don't."

 

According to the Boy Scouts, it's up to the sponsors to make that choice.

 

"Boy Scouts own the program but does not control the unit," said Legare Clement, executive director of the Boy Scouts for southwestern Louisiana. "We partner with community organizations and churches as sponsors to present the program, which is actually a youth outreach for them.

 

"They approve leaders by our standards, but they have a right to choose members," Clement said.

 

Although there are no troops or packs sponsored by Wiccan circles, the national office informed Clement that any boy who believes there is a God -- not just the Christian God -- can live up to the creed.

 

"They said that we believe in more than one God, but that depends on the branch of Wicca, just like any other religion," Aileen Buchheim said. "We believe in one goddess and god with different names and aspects depending on the time of the year."

 

Not everyone embraced the church's decision, including some parents of troop members who, officials said, feared that their children would be preached to by the two boys.

 

The irony is that the original troop was founded on parallel circumstances.

 

Doherty said Troop 71 began as a half-Baptist/half-Pentecostal troop led by a Jewish man.

 

Although the children had no problems with one another, the parents wanted the troop separated because of religious beliefs, Doherty said. When Doherty needed a charter for his Cub Scout troop, the troop leader transferred the charter and ferried his children to Anacoco from Pitkin for years to avoid the split.

 

"I've seen what difference of belief can do to a troop even if we aren't here to do doctrine," Doherty said. "It's not right or fair, but it's there. The world just isn't ready for diversity when it comes to their kids. People fear what they don't understand."

 

After almost a month of noncommittal answers on the boys' status, Aileen Buchheim said she received an apologetic call from Lewellyn to invite the boys to the next meeting, which occurred April 25.

 

Lewellyn attended the scout meeting to talk to the parents and Scouts about why they all were welcome and how doctrine was not a Boy Scout topic.

 

Numbers were sparse, and two mothers allegedly came back to pick their boys up 10 minutes after Capt. Buchheim brought in his sons.

 

"This (the controversy) has weakened the group," Doherty said. "I will probably lose some parent support and some good boys over this no matter how it turns out."

 

This past week, he officially lost two.

 

Cody and Justin decided not to remain with Troop 71 after the ordeal.

 

"This was devastating," Aileen Buchheim said. "My husband puts on a uniform to fight for ours and other nations' rights every day, and yet this happens in our own backyard. We just wanted to make sure it was straightened out so no one has to go through this again."

 

In the meantime, Aileen Buchheim has filed paperwork to charter a local chapter of Spiral Scouts, a Wiccan-based scouting organization that accepts members of any background, belief or gender between the ages of 3 and 18.

 

About 15 children are already on the sign-up list if the charter is approved, she said.

[fgoodwin]

I wanted to post the full article in case it gets archived off the website in the future (as many do).

 

There are many things wrong with this case:

 

(1) This is a perfect example of why religious emblems should be conducted by the family at home or church, NOT in the unit.

 

(2) "God and Country" is a Protestant program -- why were there any Catholic and Wiccan Scouts in attendance to begin with?

 

(3) Yes, the troop did an abysmal job of dealing with this. There was no reason to kick the boys out. The course instructor should have informed everyone that God & Country is a Protestant program, but that any family was welcome to follow it as long as their minister or clergyperson was OK with it and willing to sign off on the book once the requirements were completed by the boy.

 

(4) Given how little I know of Wicca, I wonder how far the boys would've gone in the "God & Church" anyway before their family or "minister" decided the program wasn't appropriate for them?

 

All around, this is a very sad example of how religious emblems should be handled by a unit.

 

This is exactly why I urge unit leaders to proceed with very great caution if they choose to do this as a unit activity.

[scoutingagain]

Well, it would appear the boys in this unit did get a lesson regarding religious diversity and respect for the beliefs of others. Unfortunately is does not appear to be consistent with the 12th Point of the Scout Law. I would hope the Scoutmaster would have been able to explain this point to the Committee.

 

Our unit is sponsored by a UMC, and those boys, and others of their faith, are welcome to join.

 

SA

[yellow_hammer]

I'm a Southern Baptist. Our troop is sponsored by a Southern Baptist church. I consider myself a fundamentalist.

 

This was a bad decision by the CO and Scoutmaster. They should go to the family of the boys, apologize profusely, and ask them to please return to the troop.

[Trevorum]

Untrained/weak leadership by the troop committee and Scoutmaster.

 

It looks to me like it was the troop committee, not the CO which met and voted to revoke unit membership of the two Scouts. And then the SM went meekly along. Once the CO got involved (after the pastor returned to town), they voted to delay action pending further infor from National and from their own parent organization. By that time though, the damage was done.

 

[DanKroh]

Yep, Trev, you are right, it was the troop committee who decided to kick them out. For some reason when I first read the article, I thought it said church committee; probably because it said "troop committee of Holly Grove United Methodist Church". My mistake.

 

In my mind, this makes the situation even worse. Scouters are supposed to know the BSA is non-sectarian. If they thought that Wicca did not satisfy the BSA's religion requirement, did they actually bother to try to find out anything about what Wiccans believe, or did they just assume that pagan=godless?

 

My sons and I are openly Pagan, and neither the troop nor the pack has a problem with it. I have had a couple of instances of ignorance/mild prejudice by individuals, but have always had the support of the leadership. The Catholic Church who is the CO of our pack certainly doesn't seem to have a problem with a Cubmaster who is Pagan.

[fgoodwin]

Hanlon's Razor:

 

"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence" (or stupidity)

 

Thanx for starting this thread.

 

We need to be reminded that our actions as adults can have immediate and long-term effects on the youth in our charge. Religion, faith and spirituality are so personal and innate that one must tread very lightly when addressing them in a unit environment.

 

Training and sensitivity to diversity are so very important in this area that my heart just goes out to these poor kids and their family; their situation was bungled so badly by the ham-handed actions of the Troop Committee that I'm at a total loss to understand it.

[Trevorum]

For ffunscouts and others who may not "know much about Wicca".

 

-----------------------------------------

WICCA

 

Wicca is not a single organized religion like Christianity or Islam, but is an umbrella term for modern revivals of a variety of ancient European traditional religions. These are pre-Christian and usually polytheistic. Today, there are about one million Wiccans and other "NeoPagans" in the USA and Canada.

 

Origins of NeoPaganism

 

A Neopagan religion is a modern faith which has been recently reconstructed from the beliefs, deities, and practices of an ancient religion. For example, the Druidic religion, popular in Great Britain and northern Europe, is based on the faith and practices of the ancient Celts. Followers of Asatru adhere to the pre-Christian Norse religion and worship several gods including Odin. Wiccans also trace their roots back to the pre-Celtic era in Europe but are more nature-based. Other Neo-pagans follow Roman, Greek, Egyptian or other ancient traditions.

 

Wicca Sacred Texts

 

Wiccans have no sacred texts. Each individual is responsible for discovering his or her own true nature and developing it fully, in harmony with the outer world.

 

Behavior is guided by the Pagan Ethic: "Do what thou wilt, but harm none". This saying emphasizes personal freedoms, as long as one does not harm themselves or anyone else. The "Law of Return" is similar to the Golden Rule and states that "All good that a person does to another returns three fold in this life; harm is also returned three fold." This belief strongly motivates each Wiccan to avoid harming or controlling another person.

 

Wiccan Beliefs

 

Some people confuse Wicca with Satanism, but Wiccans do not worship the devil they do not even believe in such a being. Although Wicca is pre-Christian, it is not anti-Christian. Wiccans are considered to be pagans because some of them worship several nature gods instead of a single supreme god.

 

Most Wiccans believe that a creative force exists in the universe, which is sometimes called "The One" or "The All". Most regard the Goddess and the God as representing the female and male aspects of the All. These deities envelop all the world.

 

Wicca is non-centralized, non-hierarchical, and doesnt posses a strict set of dogma. NeoPagans believe in love for and kinship with Nature. Rather than trying to dominate over Nature; NeoPagans revere the life force and its ever-renewing cycles of life and death.

 

Wicca is a natural religion, grounded in the earth. All things (including stars, planets, humans, animals, plants, rocks) are regarded as having a spirit. Many Wiccan rituals deal with bringing harmony and healing to nature. Wiccans tend to share a great concern for the environment.

 

----------------------------------------------

From "A Guide to the Faiths of Other Scouts"

http://www.inquiry.net/ideals/faiths/index.htm

 

[fgoodwin]

Wiccans and pagans may also earn a religious emblem:

 

HART AND CRESCENT AWARD

 

http://www.cog.org/projects/hartcres.html

 

I don't know if the medal can be worn on the BSA uniform, but I post it for everyone's information.

[Kahuna]

A real shame. This is one of those cases where I would have suggested talking to the SE before taking any action.

 

God and Country should definitely not be a troop activity, even if they all belonged to the same church. These guys need a lot of training and guidance.

[DanKroh]

Trev, while your posting on Wicca is good for getting a general sense of it, it has a few errors.

 

Wicca is not really an umbrella term synomymous with Neo-Pagan; the article seems to use the two terms interchangeably. That's like using "United Methodist" and "Christian" interchangeably. Pagan (or neo-pagan) is the umbrella term that encompasses many religions that are as different as the different flavors of Christianity (and sometimes as different as Christianity and Islam). Wicca is just the largest and best known of the Pagan religions.

 

Wicca is a specific tradition based on the teachings of Gerald Gardener (among others), and is based in the British Isles (predominantly Celtic), not Europe in general. Wicca actually IS hierarchical if one practices it as part of a formal group, called a coven, in that there are degree levels based on how far you have advanced in learning within the group. However, there are also solitary Wiccans, who practice without belonging to a formal group. Wiccan covens are often oath-bound groups, which means that they are not allowed to talk about the specific teachings of their coven to outsiders (although that is changing).

 

As far as gods, the article is essential correct that Wiccans believe that there is a male/female polarity to Deity, and that all the names used to represent gods and goddesses are only that, representations of different aspects (character traits, stages in life, etc) of THE God and Goddess.

 

It was interesting that the article says that one of the "concerns" that led to the ousting of the boys was concern that they would "preach" to the other boys. Wiccans don't proselytize. We don't recruit. We do try to educate and dispel misconceptions, but we don't try to convert others.

 

 

[Trevorum]

Dan, thanks for the corrections and clarifications.

[nldscout]

This appears to be a knee jerk reaction from adults who knew aboslutly nothing about what they were talking about.

 

Its a shame it turned out badly for the boys and looks like it has destroyed or almost destroyed a Troop.