Scouting and "Myth of the Teen Brain"

[DanKroh]

well, the banner ad at the top of this page is right now for an online Pagan store.

 

I guess my work here is done....

 

snap, Trev. I must have been typing while you posted.

[hot_foot_eagle]

An interesting discussion so far. I''d like some clarificaton please:

 

GaHillBilly said:

"But fundamentally, to revere means to acknowledge your inferior station (in the sense that a knight acknowledges his vassal state before the king) and the superior station of that which you revere."

 

I think my sticking point is "inferior station"? If one is awed, say, by the Grand Canyon is it possible to revere nature as a god? the universe? I wonder if such a non-personified god might result in a revealed religion of sorts, or would that just be made up?

 

On the original topic, though, I strongly believe that young boys and girls are capable of quite a bit more than society would like us to believe. I understand that the story of Davy Crockett killing a bear when he was only three is just a legend, but it''s not all that far off the mark, either. Granted the world of today is much more complex in many respects and much simpler in others (do you really worry all that much about survival in your everyday life?) but I think the abilities are still there.

 

I see glimpses of real maturity all the time in scouting - even among cub scouts. If it''s possible to cultivate these qualities, I can''t think of another program that would work better - that is if we remember that we are supposed to be guides, not another set of parents.

[packsaddle]

I can see it now: The magnificent animal is in his prime. Just a hint of silver on his back, filled out after a full season of feeding on berries and salmon. The bear is walking across a clearing.

At that same time, the three-year-old, just learning how to use the internet is watching the bear through a special web cam. The image has cross-hairs and the child centers the sights...and then hits "Enter". The neck of the bear erupts as a 375 H&H magnum plows through both soft and hard tissues...and then the bear goes down on the spot in a cloud of late summer dust. Flies immediately go for the open wound and begin laying eggs and sucking the juices. Yellow jackets crowd in to chew off bits of juicy flesh, beetles head for the feast. Little Davy has done it again, this time as a young sportsman, established once again the inferior status of animals to the almighty power of the internet.

 

Dan, what was that you asked about floods? Have you consulted the Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District?

The ''great'' flood of the bible is a myth, same as many of the other stories (miracles, mostly). But ''terrible'' floods happen with surprising frequency. Sometimes God must just want to thump someone for the fun of it. Oops, forgot, it was that ''gay pride'' thing or something, wasn''t it? Just like the World Trade Center and AIDS.....

[Trevorum]

Pack observes, "The "great" flood of the bible is a myth ..."

 

Along those lines, I have wonderered why the Thera explosion of ~1600 BCE, mythologized for us by Plato, never made it into the Israelite canon.

[DanKroh]

"The ''great'' flood of the bible is a myth, same as many of the other stories (miracles, mostly). But ''terrible'' floods happen with surprising frequency."

 

Yes, well, *you* think that, and *I* think that, be there are quite a number of biblical literalists (on this forum even) who would disagree with that.

 

If you want some fascinating reading, check out the fairly recent research of the Burkle crater in the Indian Ocean and theories on it''s role in the development of the "Great Flood Myth", which is present in just about every culture globally.

[packsaddle]

Trevorum, I thought that the eruption had been employed to ''explain'' some of the verses in Exodus. I could be wrong.

[Trevorum]

There''s no myth of an island city sinking beneath the waves, I know that much. But you''re right, I have heard the tsunami draw-back and wave offered as a source of the Moses/Red Sea myth. I wonder if the timing matches... Nonetheless, I would think that the second largest volcanic eruption in human history would leave more footprints in the ancient literature of the Mediterranean.

 

(Sorry... the original thread has gone far adrift!)