No Respect?

[SSScout]

As the resident Quaker Scout Chaplain,  I note with chagrin the discussion occurring about our friends the LDSs self removal from the BSA fold. 

What are/were their official reasons?  Unofficial reasons? Does it matter? 

What recognition,  distinction,  respect for such things is appropriate?

My Quaker Meeting, here in Sandy Spring MD , dates back to at least 1753, making our congregation one of, if not the oldest congregation in our county.  As Friends Meetings go, we are rather large and active.  The Friends (European white settlers) came to our area before 1730, seeking new undepleted soil to farm and land where native Americans did not live (altho the Algonguin trails led thru the area). 

Family story:  One summer,  we went on a road trip up thru New York, Niagara Falls and thru the Midwest ,, visiting family. Stopped in Binghamton NY for lunch at a Subway shop. Poster in the window:  QUAKER DAYS FESTIVAL ! Asked the clerk, what is this?  "oh, the town was founded by Quakers, we have a parade, a fair, games, it's lots of fun !".  Great. Where's the Meeting House?  "what's that?"      The town police cruisers have a broadbrim hatted profile on the door.  Later research found Binghamton  Meeting (small and active by our standards)  more tolerated than actively supported the festival.  

I often marvel at the seeming irony with which we, Quakers, are  treated. Examples:   About 1975, I read in our local newspaper that the county government was going to encourage tourism (!money!) by dividing the county into three areas for promotion:  Agricultural Heritage (we now have a Farm History Park, very nice and an Agricutural Reserve area for land zoning), Industrial Heritage (the C & O Canal, various mills ), and . . wait for it . .  The Quaker Heritage  Area....   Well, this was news to our Meeting.  I'll not bore you with the back and forth that ensued.   A very nice museum was created from a local historic stone barn and MOST of it they got right.  It was even renovated under the direction of a very talented architect member of our Meeting, but he did not curate the exhibits.  Mores the pity.  Ongoing discussions will eventually correct the few, small but important errors in the exhibits.  They did consult with "Scholars" but not with us, not 3 miles away.

Now, we drove home from a more recent (last month !) vacation trip, and lo, there was a new sign. Actually, there are several new road signs, vis:   "Quaker Legacy Corridor" with directional arrows.  Guess where they point?  Inquiries to the State Highway Administration ( thank you for the new notoriety) garnered the response "thank you for your question. We will research the origin and reason behind the mentioned signage".  And, yes, the State decided that mentioning such "history" was good for the driver who might not have Quaker History cross his/her mind as they travel thru our eastern provinces.  The agency folks  were invited to come and meet with our Meeting and discuss their work, (potluck lunch after !) but so far, the State folks have demurred. 

Now, to be fair,  there are other faith sites noted around (Catholic Shrines,  LDS Temple, etc.) but not the sort of official signage I mention.  

We haven't seen much in the way of Catholic or Jewish Legacy Corridor yet, but I'm keeping an eye out.  

 

[skeptic]

There is no point in posting, again, the reasons behind the LDS change of direction, the details that were shared directly from their highest levels.  Some simply cannot accept the simple truth and have to add their own interpretation.  That is not to say that there are not tangential reasons to the core decision "by the world LDS church".  But the basic reasons cannot have been spelled out more clearly, or at least I do not see how.  You can find them on this forum and also in other similar ones.  As far as this thread goes, can we simply back off and live by the simple twelveth point of the Law?

Edited January 5, 2020 by skeptic
Add comment as to where to look for info.

[SSScout]

On 1/5/2020 at 12:00 PM, skeptic said:

As far as this thread goes, can we simply back off and live by the simple twelveth point of the Law?

Yes we can.  But, again, I find it interesting how "outside"  folks like to view the "inside" folks.  In Utah, is there a "LDS Legacy Corridor" ?  Mmmmmmaybe not. 

When I noted to the MD SHA folks that one of their new QLC signs  pointed in the wrong direction, they thanked me.  That was three weeks ago, the sign still points AWAY from us. Oh well. 

Freezing rain tonight,  gotta cancel the big potluck amateur talent show..... 

[The Latin Scot]

On 1/5/2020 at 9:00 AM, skeptic said:

There is no point in posting, again, the reasons behind the LDS change of direction, the details that were shared directly from their highest levels.  Some simply cannot accept the simple truth and have to add their own interpretation.  That is not to say that there are not tangential reasons to the core decision "by the world LDS church".  But the basic reasons cannot have been spelled out more clearly, or at least I do not see how.  You can find them on this forum and also in other similar ones.  As far as this thread goes, can we simply back off and live by the simple twelveth point of the Law?

Amen!