LDS?????

[King Ding Dong]

Was reminded of this thread by a Facebook discussion that showed up in my newsfeed today:

A Mormon friend's church has a new Branch President. Before, there were so few boys (only 3) that the church wasn't bothering with Scouts, and the boys simply met on Weds nights. But the new Pres says they're to join Scouts and that's that, no ifs ands or buts. Her son had tried Scouts previously, didn't like it, and says if it's Scouts or nothing then he'll take nothing. She tried talking to the Pres, but he won't budge.

 

She posted this to a Mormon FB group asking whether there was any kind of recourse. As a non-Mormon, I find the responses a little absurd; the people who've replied are basically calling the boy an apostate and telling the mom that she's a bad parent:

 

Mormon 1: "If your sons only anchor at church is swayed by this, you still have much to instil in this young mans heart about what the gospel is and isn't. There will be plenty of times in the gospel where people will offend. This is never a reason to quit coming. It is the church that is true, the gospel of Jesus Christ, not the people! People are fallable and always will be! Have a family meeting with your Home teachers and maybe even the Branch President. Pray with your son for inspiration. Make him a part of the solution."

 

Mormon 2: "I agree with [Mormon 1], but would add that there will be times that the church asks us to do things that we may not understand at the time, or don't agree with. Following the prophet shouldn't come conditionally. It is similar to you wanting him to do chores, or homework, or other things he would prefer not to, but are necessary for him to learn how to be a better man in the long run. My husband had a similar experience in scouts- he didn't feel supported, and eventually quit. He wishes now that someone had pushed him to continue to get his eagle. The scouting program does so much more that teach you how to tie nits and build a fire. It teaches endurance, problem solving, self reliance, courage, working in a team as well as independence. As long as you don't think the scouting program will be hurting him (emotionally/physically), I would tell him, "It is what the prophet has asked young men to do, so you are going to do it. We'll look for the blessings together for obeying the prophet."

If you don't agree with me about the importance of the program, then perhaps give him a time frame- if he still hates it after one year, he won't have to keep going. Most likely by then he'll have bonded with the kids better and want to keep going."

 

(The mother replies to say she has spoken to the Pres and he's not interested in talking)

 

Mormon 1 again: "Re-read [Mormon 2]'s passage about obedience. Set the example for your son."

 

Mormon 3: "Scouting is done all throughout the church. That is something done in almost every ward, branch, and stake. There is a lot he can learn from the other boys, the leaders, and from the program itself. A lot of other churches do scouting too. Sounds like prayer is the best answer for you. Sometimes its praying for understanding, to soften someone else's heart, soften your own heart, or just for peace. There have been a lot of times the situation has not changed for me but I have changed my heart through prayer. Life is like that. There will always be things we don't like. We just have to go at them and everything else with prayer."

 

While these are just 3 random Mormons, which is not enough to scientifically apply their opinions to all Mormons, let's say they are representative (we know that LDS considers adult scouting positions to be a religious calling, which is the same tilt these people take). We quickly see how LDS units could easily get a bad wrap for not participating in the district or council, not fraternizing with non-LDS units if they do, leaving early, pumping out paper Eagles, etc. when they don't want to be there.

As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, it seems like with a compulsive particiaption for both adults and boys, it's probably the rare adult that wants to be a scout leader, and iffy at best with the boys. Frustration from non-LDS units isn't "bigotry" (grow up, and buy a thesaurus) it's a result of an intrinsic problem with the system.

 

In my district, the LDS units are happy to attend Cub Camp, and I have to spend time/resources on their Webelos the same as the non-LDS boys, but I'm not allowed to have their contact info or recruit them. That doesn't rub me raw because I'm a bigot, it rubs me raw because they're freeloaders and that's annoying regardless of why they're freeloaders.

I have no opinion of the LDS Boy Scouts or frustration with them because I've never seen one.

Cub camp is a recruitment tool ?

[Scouter99]

Was reminded of this thread by a Facebook discussion that showed up in my newsfeed today:

A Mormon friend's church has a new Branch President. Before, there were so few boys (only 3) that the church wasn't bothering with Scouts, and the boys simply met on Weds nights. But the new Pres says they're to join Scouts and that's that, no ifs ands or buts. Her son had tried Scouts previously, didn't like it, and says if it's Scouts or nothing then he'll take nothing. She tried talking to the Pres, but he won't budge.

 

She posted this to a Mormon FB group asking whether there was any kind of recourse. As a non-Mormon, I find the responses a little absurd; the people who've replied are basically calling the boy an apostate and telling the mom that she's a bad parent:

 

Mormon 1: "If your sons only anchor at church is swayed by this, you still have much to instil in this young mans heart about what the gospel is and isn't. There will be plenty of times in the gospel where people will offend. This is never a reason to quit coming. It is the church that is true, the gospel of Jesus Christ, not the people! People are fallable and always will be! Have a family meeting with your Home teachers and maybe even the Branch President. Pray with your son for inspiration. Make him a part of the solution."

 

Mormon 2: "I agree with [Mormon 1], but would add that there will be times that the church asks us to do things that we may not understand at the time, or don't agree with. Following the prophet shouldn't come conditionally. It is similar to you wanting him to do chores, or homework, or other things he would prefer not to, but are necessary for him to learn how to be a better man in the long run. My husband had a similar experience in scouts- he didn't feel supported, and eventually quit. He wishes now that someone had pushed him to continue to get his eagle. The scouting program does so much more that teach you how to tie nits and build a fire. It teaches endurance, problem solving, self reliance, courage, working in a team as well as independence. As long as you don't think the scouting program will be hurting him (emotionally/physically), I would tell him, "It is what the prophet has asked young men to do, so you are going to do it. We'll look for the blessings together for obeying the prophet."

If you don't agree with me about the importance of the program, then perhaps give him a time frame- if he still hates it after one year, he won't have to keep going. Most likely by then he'll have bonded with the kids better and want to keep going."

 

(The mother replies to say she has spoken to the Pres and he's not interested in talking)

 

Mormon 1 again: "Re-read [Mormon 2]'s passage about obedience. Set the example for your son."

 

Mormon 3: "Scouting is done all throughout the church. That is something done in almost every ward, branch, and stake. There is a lot he can learn from the other boys, the leaders, and from the program itself. A lot of other churches do scouting too. Sounds like prayer is the best answer for you. Sometimes its praying for understanding, to soften someone else's heart, soften your own heart, or just for peace. There have been a lot of times the situation has not changed for me but I have changed my heart through prayer. Life is like that. There will always be things we don't like. We just have to go at them and everything else with prayer."

 

While these are just 3 random Mormons, which is not enough to scientifically apply their opinions to all Mormons, let's say they are representative (we know that LDS considers adult scouting positions to be a religious calling, which is the same tilt these people take). We quickly see how LDS units could easily get a bad wrap for not participating in the district or council, not fraternizing with non-LDS units if they do, leaving early, pumping out paper Eagles, etc. when they don't want to be there.

As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, it seems like with a compulsive particiaption for both adults and boys, it's probably the rare adult that wants to be a scout leader, and iffy at best with the boys. Frustration from non-LDS units isn't "bigotry" (grow up, and buy a thesaurus) it's a result of an intrinsic problem with the system.

 

In my district, the LDS units are happy to attend Cub Camp, and I have to spend time/resources on their Webelos the same as the non-LDS boys, but I'm not allowed to have their contact info or recruit them. That doesn't rub me raw because I'm a bigot, it rubs me raw because they're freeloaders and that's annoying regardless of why they're freeloaders.

I have no opinion of the LDS Boy Scouts or frustration with them because I've never seen one.

Definitely. Me and my boys are there for a week building relationships with Packs. We don't recruit at the event, but if there's a connection we get hold of the people later.