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800 Pound Gorillas


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I find the tone in how some of the posters on this thread describe LDS Scouts and Scouters a bit harsh. Granted they can be a bit stand-offish at times. They do sometimes walk around with a self-superior attitude about how they somehow do Scouting better than the rest of us. And yes, they do tend to wag the Scouting tail on a regular basis even though they have ironically shown an unwavering ability to do things their own way when it suits them. Still, they are Scouts and Scouters and worthy of respectful treatment, whether they choose to reciprocate or not.

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I've seen both the segregation and integration with LDS units.

 

Unfortunately the local units in my district do not do anything with the district at all: no training, no roundtables, no district events, no OA. Only one event have I seen anyone participate: 2 Cubs at day camp. And it's not from want of trying. As both a DE and OA CA, I tried to get them involved. The leaders changed so fast, and the unit would not notify the council of the changes, that I could almost never get up with them. trying ot get them involved in the OA did not go anywhere as only 1 scout was eligible, and he was not interested. Sad thing was these were older scouts who have been around for some time and have not the camping requirements, rank requirements, or both.

 

Now one district in LA was completely different. The units were VERY active, they attended RTs, served on training staff, etc. BUT I bet that b/c the bishop was active in Scouting, it helped.

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I hate blanket statements..allthough I am probablt guilty of it too on occasion. :p

 

I have no experience dealing with anybody who is LDS in a scout setting, but know a few people who are. Not best friends, and do not hang out on a daily basis, but know them fairly well.

 

So, maybe as a scout, any dealins I have withan LDS unit is indicitive of what LDS units in that ARA do or it's a regional thing.

 

You know how it works: Southerners are different from northerners who are different from Californians. We act differently, due to region, culture, whatever.

 

It may be that while somewhat similar, LDS units ( as with any other unit) may not be all exactly alike. Just like anybody else.

 

My pack may not do as your does in the same set of instances.

 

 

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Fish,

Don't know. But my council did have a week that was mostly LDS at camp ( sorry don't know if they still do b/c I haven't been to summercamp since I worked staff in 98 and 99). Only differences were A) Units showed up Monday early and aquatics had to be up and ready and B)less coffee and tea and more bug juice. Those guys were great scouts and leaders. One unit met 45 minutes away from my district, so I wouldn;t copnsider it a geographic thing..

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Nah, more than 45 minutes.

 

By geographic, I meant ...well...say a LDS unit from the mountains of West Virgina probably have alot of differences froma LDS unit in San Francisco.

 

But so would a non LDS troop in the same circumstances.

 

Point being, that the LDS unit that is located 1 mile from my pack may not represent or be similar to the behavior of any other LDS unit.

 

Something in the water, air, etc...

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So the rumour I heard on this forum and in my district from LDS scouters that if the BSA relaxed its policy on homosexual scouters would cause the LDS church to drop scouting is false?

If its true and I heard it with my own ears and saw it written on this forum with my own eys, then the LDS church is an 800lb gorilla on setting BSA policy.

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Gern,

It may be that the LDS from your are have indeed decided that the will drop.

 

But doesn't mean all LDS will.

Technically, I am Episcopal. There was alot of infighting and cliques becasue some were all for gay pastors and some were dead set against it. Churches torn apart and some dropping from mainstream.

 

Your local LDS may be in a similar situaton.

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Here is an article discussing the LDS Church's threat to leave the BSA if the Supreme Court had decided that the BSA was required to allow local units to choose leaders without regard to their sexual orientation.

 

http://www.mormonstoday.com/000430/N1GayScouts02.shtml

 

The threat was right in the Church's legal brief to the Supreme Court, and it referred not only to the LDS Church, but others as well.

 

Now, that was before the Supreme Court decision, which means it was before the "local option" issue became an issue. A quick Google search did not find any explicit threats regarding the "local option" issue, but then again, they don't have to make threats. And when I say they, I mean the combination of the various churches (including the LDS) that want to control the actions of ALL units in the BSA. They have sufficient votes in the BSA leadership to prevent "local option" from occurring, they prevented it in the vote taken in early 2002 (if I recall correctly; there are threads discussing that resolution in this forum, and I remember it because it was right around the time I started posting here), and therefore they don't need to keep making threats about it.

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Scoutfish,

"Gern,

It may be that the LDS from your are have indeed decided that the will drop.

 

But doesn't mean all LDS will.

Technically, I am Episcopal. There was alot of infighting and cliques becasue some were all for gay pastors and some were dead set against it. Churches torn apart and some dropping from mainstream.

 

Your local LDS may be in a similar situaton."

 

Since church program policy comes out of church headquarters in Salt Lake City. If the church decided to drop the program it would be dropped for the entire church. Not just in one area.

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