How much religion is there in Scouting?

[captainron14]

Back to the original question.

As some of the more esteemed members of this forum have said previously (and tried to keep on topic).

"As much or as little as the CO and parents want". That sums it up nicely.

Some units will maybe have a prayer before meals (or not), while some will do that and have a evening devotional and or scripture reading too. Some will not camp on Sunday, some will.

Some observe "Scout Sunday", some do not. etc.

A huge example is in Venturing, where there are Crews chartered to Churches who use this as their "Youth Ministry" (IE; Religious Life Bronze & TRUST award).

That is the beauty of the CO program with BSA. The unit will have the "flavor" of the parent CO when it come to religion.

You can not have that with GSUSA. it's not "PC".

BTW;

Pappy, great story. My hat is off to you and your boys.

[packsaddle]

I have to say, "Welcome to the forums!" to Pappy and encourage him to feel free to bring back any old thread he can still find that interests him. Thanks for sharing that story.

As for the topic, local option looks better than ever.

[ScoutNut]

"That is the beauty of the CO program with BSA. The unit will have the "flavor" of the parent CO when it come to religion.

You can not have that with GSUSA. it's not "PC"."

 

"PC"??

 

Or perhaps a GSUSA unit will not have the "flavor" of it's CO because GSUSA does NOT utilize Charter Organizations!

 

It has nothing to do with being "PC". BSA and GSUSA are two SEPARATE organizations that are set up VERY DIFFERENTLY. Every Troop/Group is a unique, individual unit, that pretty much does their own thing.

 

However, many GS units are set up thru a school. If the school is a religious one, the girls, their families, and their leaders will be much more likely to bring that religion directly into the unit and the girls will be more likely to earn their Religious Awards.

 

If the school is a public one, the leaders will be dealing with a number of very different faiths and so will be more likely to keep things on a more "generic" religious basis. The leaders will not really have a knowledge about how the different faiths in their unit promote their Religious Award programs. As a result, if that program is mentioned at all, it is to simply let the girls know it is available and that they should talk to their own religious organization about it.

 

 

 

[fgoodwin]

Pappy, welcome to the Forums.

[John-in-KC]

Pappy, welcome, great story.

 

 

[captainron14]

"PC"??

 

Or perhaps a GSUSA unit will not have the "flavor" of it's CO because GSUSA does NOT utilize Charter Organizations!

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Your are right, they are two different types of organizations.

In my opinion it's because of this you will not find very much "flavor" with the GSUSA. Very bland and generic, VERY PC. That is from my experiences with different GSUSA units in three separate states.

They control the leadership and content and they "own" the unit. It is just the oposite with BSA.

 

Novice_Cubmaster I am sorry for diverting the original thread. I should have kept my personal views about the GSUSA out of this thread.