National, Religion, Membership, Oath and Law

[Hawkwin]

This leads me to wonder if this "joint statement" and the fact that LDS has been working on this "for years" might have something to do with the new membership changes. Perhaps BSA knew this was coming and including girls was an attempt to offset this upcoming and eventual loss. Speculation, but certainly this change didn't happen overnight or in a vacuum.

And hey, no need to shout it. 😏

Edited May 17, 2018 by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

As we were told, the BSA National Executive Board voted unaminously to approve last years membership change. Since only a quorum is needed, did LDS members abstain from attending or attend and vote in favor or...?

Edited May 9, 2018 by RememberSchiff

[Jameson76]

1 hour ago, RememberSchiff said:

As we were told, the BSA National Executive Board voted unaminously to approve last years membership change. Since only a quorum is needed, did LDS members abstain from attending or attend and vote in favor or...?

[prof]

1 hour ago, RememberSchiff said:

As we were told, the BSA National Executive Board voted unaminously to approve last years membership change. Since only a quorum is needed, did LDS members abstain from attending or attend and vote in favor or...?

I have been wondering this since the vote.

[ParkMan]

This clearly was in the works before the vote.  I wouldn't just assume that the move to add girls was a reaction to lost revenue.  Instead, I really wonder if this is simply what happened when the BSA leadership found itself free of the pressure of the LDS church.

I wonder if we'll see some other, progressive changes in the next few years without the LDS influence.

[prof]

5 hours ago, ParkMan said:

 

I wonder if we'll see some other, progressive changes in the next few years without the LDS influence.

No doubt. Not sure what the changes will be, but I bet things will change. I also bet the rate of change will be much more rapid.

[Eagle1993]

36 minutes ago, prof said:

No doubt. Not sure what the changes will be, but I bet things will change. I also bet the rate of change will be much more rapid.

I think we have been seeing the changes already.  LDS and BSA are tightly tied together.  I’m sure LDS notified BSA of their long term plans years ago.  I think it is likely BSA made the gay youth, gay leader, transgender youth and girls with knowledge that LDS was eventually leaving anyway.  

[prof]

8 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

I think we have been seeing the changes already.  LDS and BSA are tightly tied together.  I’m sure LDS notified BSA of their long term plans years ago.  I think it is likely BSA made the gay youth, gay leader, transgender youth and girls with knowledge that LDS was eventually leaving anyway.  

Agreed

[Tampa Turtle]

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Keep on Scouting (whatever they call it)

Edited May 9, 2018 by Tampa Turtle

[Jameson76]

1 hour ago, Tampa Turtle said:

I will miss @The Latin Scot he had a sense of humor, loved scouting, and was a voice of common sense.

You could see this coming a looong way off still a bit of a shock. I can understand their dilemma. I am active in an international religious organization and the very conservative (and growing) members in Africa, South East Asia, and South America are much opposed to  the social policies proposed to appeal to North Americans. You go where the growth is.

But I too am sad that a story rich in Scout history is ending.😢

 

Ahh - Open Hearts Open Minds Open Doors...lifelong member of the same group (I think).

Not to be to far off topic but I read the recent Bishops decision for annual conference and am really not sure what the plan forward is

[Jameson76]

8 hours ago, The Latin Scot said:

The BSA has now made a powerful statement - that girls learn just the same as boys, and so they should get to enjoy the same program, which should be made to teach both genders the same. The Church firmly stands by the belief that boys and girls, and men and women, are inherently different from each other, that gender is an eternal part of our divine nature, and that men and women have different needs and learn in different way in order to best fulfil their roles in the family. The Boy Scouts of America has now effectively moved away from this belief which for over a century it fought to protect, and as such, it no longer aligns with what we believe. 

Many of us who have worked with BSA for now these many years have the same feelings.  If BSA had said..hey we want to form an outdoor focused program that services girls, built on the framework of the current BSA program with the same requirements...I would have been more supportive

What we get is "Scout Me In"...Linked troops, single gender dens, and the fervent hope that these unnamed and unidentified district and council resources will somehow be able to form all these new units and implement this new dynamic change

Oh... and pay for the sins of the past with increased membership fees to support the great white elephant that is Summit

[Eagledad]

8 hours ago, ParkMan said:

This clearly was in the works before the vote.  I wouldn't just assume that the move to add girls was a reaction to lost revenue.  Instead, I really wonder if this is simply what happened when the BSA leadership found itself free of the pressure of the LDS church.

I wonder if we'll see some other, progressive changes in the next few years without the LDS influence.

The only thing left is taking god completely out of the program. That will make the transition to total progressivism complete.

I know it's just me and my nature, but I have to laugh when these changes are called progressive. 

I know progressives, "still laughing", like to use the Scouts program in England as and example of a scouting program recovering after making sharp left turns, but I keep watching the Canadian Scouts which doesn't show such hope.

Doesn't really matter, the program lost its soul. 

Barry

[CalicoPenn]

8 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

 

Doesn't really matter, the program lost its soul. 

 

I always thought the soul of the program was the volunteers at the unit and district level that made it work either because of or despite National and Council priorities and despite any political differences that volunteers may have with one another.

If the program has truly lost its soul, then that's a sad reflection on us, not on BSA corporate.  People can claim that it was the BSA that left them, not the other way around, all they want but the fact is the BSA has made many changes over its existence and has marched ahead because of the volunteers who refused to take their ball and go home but stayed and adapted. 

[Tampa Turtle]

'A Scout is Reverent' from the BOR (and EBOR) is a pretty low, low hurdle these days. We had an Eagle who marched in and declared that he was an atheist and somehow managed to get signed off (I think his folks came pre-loaded legally). I was not there but I heard it was quite a scene. I think you can be a Druid, Wiccan, or Buddhist and get over the BSA requirement. I do think given National's spine in the face of public opinion the future of that 'G' falling is less on moral courage and more on marketing trends. Another very divisive issue. I did note at a recent High School graduation event a Senior proudly declared herself an atheist and  a growing minority at the school and about 20%-25& of the kids raised their hands. So yeah it is out there.

[Gwaihir]

51 minutes ago, Tampa Turtle said:

'A Scout is Reverent' from the BOR (and EBOR) is a pretty low, low hurdle these days. We had an Eagle who marched in and declared that he was an atheist and somehow managed to get signed off (I think his folks came pre-loaded legally). I was not there but I heard it was quite a scene. I think you can be a Druid, Wiccan, or Buddhist and get over the BSA requirement. I do think given National's spine in the face of public opinion the future of that 'G' falling is less on moral courage and more on marketing trends. Another very divisive issue. I did note at a recent High School graduation event a Senior proudly declared herself an atheist and  a growing minority at the school and about 20%-25& of the kids raised their hands. So yeah it is out there.

Meanwhile Dr. Peterson is literally reaching millions and growing and you're seeing a rebound where many young people and young adults are finding God again, so it's an interesting time we live in.