".... standard of morality"?

[Eamonn]

On my honor I will do my best

To do my duty to God and my country

and to obey the Scout Law;

To help other people at all times;

To keep myself physically strong,

mentally awake, and morally straight.

 

 

In the other thread it was suggested that when someone fails to meet an expected standard of morality, that morality has failed.

 

In that thread I said that each of us has ownership of the oath we make.

My best might not be as good as your best, my idea of duty might be very different than yours?

Many of us have different ideas of who or what God is and how God goes about dealing with things.

For some of us duty to God might have a lot to do with the religion we practice or follow, for some it just is a way of doing things, while for me it's a mix of the religion I practice and the way I go about dealing with things.

Standards of morality are at times hard to deal with.

 

I know at the end of the day the only person I can really be responsible for is myself.

I know what I have done that was right and what was wrong.

My "Right" and my "Wrong" might not be the same as anyone else's.

While of course much that has been written about Robin Hood is fiction.

Some might say that Robin Hood was a good guy.

The idea of taking from the rich to give to the poor. Might not seem that bad.

But some will say that the bottom line was that he was taking stuff that didn't belong to him.

This makes him a bad guy.

Part of why we do what we do for the youth that we serve is to help them make ethical choices.

The best tool we have to help us do this is the Scout Law.

Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,

courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,

brave, clean, and reverent.

Trying to live by the Oath and Law is no easy task.

It seems that every time you think that you have it mastered the bar seems to be raised a little!

I know in my case that as I have got older my interpretation of the words has changed or I now see them in a different light than I used too. (I'm not sure if this is wisdom or just old age?)

I'm 100% convinced that the example I set does have an effect on the people around me and the youth that I serve.

My hope is that they take the good stuff that I'm able to show and leave the not so good stuff behind.

Eamonn.

[skeptic]

Thanks for the clarification Eamonn. The "do my best" part is always part of my intro to a new scout and my expectations. I try to make it clear that they ultimately are their own judge of how well they live up to the various components of the Scouting guidelines. My observations and comments will be guided by how well I feel they may be doing based on what I have grown to understand about them, and they will become greater as they advance and grow in the Scouting program. The back of our troop T says "Live the Twelve", and they are spread throughout the landscape depicted as the coast of Ventura. The same phrase is atop our blackboard in block letters, soon to be replaced with a carved wood version they all have worked on to go above the board. With luck, they occasionally take that personal measure.