Sikh Religious knot??

[dcastro]

Can someone tell me where to find what religious knot award someone who is Sikh earns?

 

Thanks

Cubmaster Castro

www.ourpack49.com

 

[ScoutNut]

You can find BSA's list of Religious Emblem programs here -

 

http://www.scouting.org/awards/religious/awards/index.html

 

I did not find one that is specific for Sikh. The closest I could see was the Hindu programs.

 

You might suggest to the boy's parents that they speak to their religious leader to see if there is a Sikh program of some kind.

[emb021]

The same knot is worn for all the religious awards. So its a little incorrect to speak of a "Sikh religious knot".

 

I am not aware of a religious award for Sikhs. Such an award would not be created by the BSA, but would need to be created by the religious body. There would need to be a national sikh organization, they would need to charter units (I've heard there is a minimum needed), get a representative on the Religious Relationships Committee (which can only happen if they are chartering units), create an award within the guidelines of all the others, get it approved, and off you go.

 

 

[fgoodwin]

dcastro, just one clarification: there is only one youth religious knot (silver knot on purple background). It is awarded after a youth earns the religious emblem of his faith (i.e., the "medal").

 

On the other hand, the medals of the various faiths can be different, and requirements to earn them are different. But there is only one knot.

 

The requirements for the medals of the various faiths are determined by the faiths themselves (or their Scouter Associations). I am not aware of a Scouter association for Sikhs, and I am not aware of a religious medal for Sikhs.

 

Here is a link that to which you can direct your Sikh family; perhaps they can help identify if such a medal exists:

 

http://www.worldsikhcouncil.org/

 

If it turns out that such a medal does not yet exist, please remind your Sikh family that it is the responsibility of their faith to come up with a medal -- BSA does not do that.

 

Good luck,

 

Fred Goodwin

[fgoodwin]

I found two links to a document that relates to the "Religion in Life" program for Sikhs in Scouts Canada / Girl Guides of Canada:

 

http://www.girlguides.ca/media/pdfs/14-3/14.3.6.27.pdf

http://www.scouts.ca/media/documents/94-389.pdf

 

This isn't a BSA program, but perhaps US Sikhs can start a program based on this Canadian model.

[Trevorum]

Excellent advice, Fred.

 

If the Scout's family belongs to an active religious community that would like to develop a Sikh religious award for Scouts, either Fred or I could put them in touch with people on the BSA National Religious Relationships Committee.

 

There should be a religious award for Sikhs, and all it takes is one dedicated person to start the ball rolling.

[John-in-KC]

Absolutely concur with Fred and Trev.

[fgoodwin]

Nick: I checked an old roster of the National Religious Relationships Committee (Jan '05), and it did not have a Sikh representative on it.

 

I know I have a more recent copy (10-06), and while I can't put my hands on it, I don't recall seeing a Sikh representative on it, either.

[epalmer84]

Before you can propose a new program, your religious organization must sponsor at least 25 units:

http://usscouts.org/scoutduty/sd2gc16.html

 

I seem to recall that this was in response to a proposal from a Wiccan group who wanted to create a program

 

Ed

[ScoutNut]

Just a little clarification - The religious programs are NOT BSA programs. They are programs created by the various religious institutions to help their youth gain a better understanding of their faith. The ONLY thing that BSA has to say in the whole matter is if they will allow the religious organization's award (usually a medal of some sort) to be worn on their official BSA uniform.

 

If the Sikh religion already has some sort of youth award program that entails learning more about their religious values, then, by all means, boys in that religion should be encouraged to earn it. Even if the BSA does not recognize that particular award to be worn on the uniform.

 

I did not see a program of that sort on any of the Sikh sites I looked at. That does not, however, mean there is none. It simply means that I could not find one. That is why I suggested that the family speak to their religious leader about this. There might be a Sikh program that he would know about (maybe even just a local one). Failing that, he might be able to direct them to a program (maybe even one approved by the BSA) that would be compatible with their religious beliefs.

 

BTW - If a boy earns a religious award that has not been approved by the BSA, that means ONLY that they can not wear the AWARD itself on their uniform. However, they HAVE earned the religious award of their faith & are therefore eligible to be recognized for that effort by being presented with the BSA religious emblem knot.

[epalmer84]

The religious emblem (square knot) can only be worn for these programs recognized by the BSA. Not all of the P.R.A.Y programs are BSA recognized. If you go to http://praypub.org/ and search by faith you will see that there is a program for Unitarian Universalist, but if you search by agency and choose the BSA you will see that UU is not listed as the BSA does not recognize their program. I'm not sure if there are any other faiths that have a program that is not recognized.

 

As best I see, any new programs that are developed must go through a process. The faith must sponsor 25 units, develop a program through P.R.A.Y and have it recognized by the BSA.

 

Ed

[epalmer84]

ScoutNut: You are right in that the program is 'owned' by the faith and not the BSA The square knot is a BSA emblem and can only be awarded for those faiths on the list.

 

Every Scout should be encouraged to work the program of their faith, regardless of the patch.

 

Ed

[Trevorum]

Ed,

You are incorrect. In the spring of 2005, the BSA Religious Relationships subcommittee approved the Unitarian Universalist (UU) "Living Your Religion" award for uniform wear.

 

see http://www.uuscouters.org/

 

There is another UU award, "Religion in Life" which is no longer authorized by BSA for uniform wear. You are probably thinking of that. The two programs are 99% identical.

[epalmer84]

I guess this is straying a bit off topic- I did not mean to stir this one up again. The UUSO is not connected to the UUA, thus the emblem is still not recognized. I would be disinclined to tell a UU Scout to remove the knot, but technically the BSA just doesn't recognize it.

 

This was discussed here before:

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=88667

 

Also see:

http://www.uua.org/news/scouts/050316_statement.html

 

The official list from BSA is at:

http://www.scouting.org/awards/religious/awards/index.html

 

Ed

[Trevorum]

Ed, all threads wander from topic to topic - don't worry!

 

In case it is not clear from my post above, please let me clarify. There are currently TWO religious awards programs for Unitarian Universalist (UU) youth. The first (Religion in Life) is sponsored by the UUA but is no longer authorized for uniform wear by the BSA. Because the spat between personalities at the UUA and those in the BSA could not be resolved, an independant group of Scouters formed the UUSO with the express intent of bridging the gap. In 2005, the program developed by the UUSO was accepted by the BSA Religious Relationships subcommittee and the new Living Your Religion (LYR) award was authorized for uniform wear. Since the programs debut at the 2005 Jamboree, UU Scouts nationwide have completed this program and have been awarded the new medal.

 

It is important to understand that not all BSA youth religious awards programs are offered directly from a church body. Some are, but others are offered through independant organizations, like the UUSO.

 

Because the UUA aleady has a youth award program, they see no need to recognize the UUSO award (which is perfectly understandable - especially considering the entrenched positions of the UUA vs. the BSA). Also, not all official BSA publications, including webpages, are updated. This is unfortunate. Nonetheless, the UUSO LYR award is in fact recognized by BSA.

 

As I said, the two programs are nearly identical. We encourage UU youth to learn about their faith through either program. Typically, non-BSA youth will choose the older RIL program; BSA youth have an option and are increasingly choosing the newer LYR program because they can honestly wear the medal/knot on their uniform.

 

I hope this helps! We now return this thread to it's regularly scheduled programming...