Interesting development with Scout Sunday

[skeptic]

A Scout is Reverent. No stipulation as to where or how. How hard can it be?

[Stosh]

Scout Sunday should be no different than any other Sunday, except for what one wears...maybe. It would be nice to have the uniform on, but it's not necessary. Uniforms are not required for any scout activity and just because one wears one, doesn't make it an activity either.

 

Stosh

[KenDavis500]

Wow. This group never agrees on anything.

 

 

I disagree!

 

[T2Eagle]

Scout Sunday should be no different than any other Sunday, except for what one wears...maybe.

 

Stosh

 

This seems like a bit of an odd sentiment Stosh. In our unit we try to make it different than other Sundays. It is after all the celebration of Scouting's anniversary and the celebration of the faith component of Scouting. We and our Pack are chartered by a Catholic Church, we all process in and sit together. We fill many of the service roles in the service, we always receive a nice word from the priest, and we gather together afterwards for either pancakes or donuts. On any given other Sunday we would be spread over 6 different Masses, or at a different Church, or off somewhere camping --- something we never schedule for this one Sunday of the year. We have a few non-parishioners who are scouts; we hope, but do not demand that they celebrate with us. I would definitely consider it an "activity" for purposes of number of activities outside a troop or patrol meeting, just as I would consider attending a parade or a service project.

 

As to the original OP, my recommendation would be to congratulate your scouts on doing their Duty to God and being Reverent, and get them whatever patch you get for everyone else.. You would never want to be in a position of saying you shouldn't have gone to your Church you should have come here.

 

For those wondering about the advancement, I'm guessing that we're talking about electronic tracking of advancement, which I would think can either supplement or supplant tracking in a book, according to the Troop's SOP.

[Scouter99]

I'd need to know what you mean by "credit for an activity" before I really felt comfortable in an opinion.

Do you mean your troop actually tracks their percentage of attendance for advancement?

[SlowDerbyRacer]

I am sorry to hear that your Scouts' freedom of religion upset your Scoutmaster.

This is the best line I've read on hear in a long time, maybe even ever.

 

What amazes me the most is that there was any resistance at all from the troop leaders. Never should have been questioned at all. Scouts are to be reverent, but nowhere is it stated they must practice a certain religion or attend a certain church. Direct from the BSA Declaration of Religious Principle:

"The Boy Scouts of America maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God and, therefore, recognizes the religious element in the training of the member,

but it is absolutely nonsectarian in its attitude toward that religious training

. Its policy is that the home and the organization or group with which the member is connected shall give definite attention to religious life."

 

[SSScout]

Slowderby: Well noted. I always like to go back to the original: ~~“â€ÂReverence to God and reverence for one's neighbour and reverence for oneself as a servant of God, is the basis of every form of religion. The method of expression of reverence to God varies with every sect and denomination. What sect or denomination a boy belongs to depends, as a rule, on his parents' wishes. It is they who decide. It is our business to respect their wishes and to second their efforts to inculcate reverence, whatever form of religion the boy professes.â€Ââ€Â

= Robert Baden-Powell, “Aids to Scoutmastership†=

 

Give credit for an "activity"? If that is the Troops "culture", then give that credit. To expect or require a Scout to attend a specific religious service or participate in a specific religious ritual, that is just WRONG. I once was asked by a Scout if he HAD to go to the All-Camp "Scout's Own " Vesper service. I said no, but we thought it would be a good thing, and he might learn something new. He (and the rest of the Troop, too) went and there was no problem. It was a prayerful, spiritual service, with no specific, religious direction, maybe 20 minutes, I thought well done. Seemed to be a choice between either attend the service or stay back in camp and play Hearts.

[NJCubScouter]

SlowDerbyRacer: To be fair to the leaders of CherokeeScouter's troop, I doesn't sound like their concern was what religion or denomination the boys were practicing. It sounds like they wanted as many Scouts as possible at their Chartering Organization's church, in order to show support and appreciation to the CO. But the bottom line is, they can't tell the boys what church to go to - nor for that matter, can anyone really be required to go to any specific event or activity.

[koolaidman]

 

But the bottom line is' date=' they can't tell the boys what church to go to - nor for that matter, can anyone really be required to go to any specific event or activity. [/quote']

 

For this reason I don't think this should count towards Second Class 3a or First Class 3. If your unit leaders want to give credit for participation as a troop or patrol activity, it should be all or none and SM approval is not part of the requirement.

 

So its a pretty cut and dry case of defining a troop/patrol activity and "no more no less".

 

Good luck with this issue Cherokee.