My Experience with Scouting

I just got back from a two night, three day Scout camp with my youngest son. He is a Cub Scout and ranked at Webelo, a couple years away from being a Scout should he choose to do so. I think he will. I was not a Scout when I was a kid and teen . All my Rights of Passage as a young man seem like poor choices looking back now. The program is a beautiful way to help a child grow.

I am a bit of a liberal traditionalist so that puts me in the middle a ton and often not liked much by black and white thinkers. Life has so much grey. Everything traditional in the West has been waning in recent years and this includes churches and scouting. Abuse scandals in both are major reasons amongst other things such as the rapid growth of technology. Sports continue to be performing well. There is little doubt in my mind that sports also contain abusers as we have seen in the cases in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal as well as Penn State. Plus the negative effects of taking away every free moment as many of our friends experience. Institutions seem to to have evil lurking within when they are viewed as above reproach or simply innocent and this is incredibly sad as they can also benefit society in many good ways. Sports is competitive and that is very beneficial in America today; ideally, sportsmanship is also learned.

My kiddos are not particularly sporty. We want them to be active in ways other than church and school. Scouting and music are two we currently embrace. My daughter is in Girl Scouts as well. I have been familiar with their organization but it is still sex specific so I have less of an actual experience. Their Promise and Law are very similar to Scouting and are also great for character building.

As my older boy has gotten more involved in his Scout troop, so have I. At first the transition gave me a gut check due to the large amount of traditions that are borrowed and used from Native Americans. I initially had "cultural appropriation" ringing in my head and almost pulled away but decided to reserve knee-jerk judgment and let the program reveal itself. I also had fears it would be nationalistic because the president gave a political speech at the national jamboree before we really got rolling. I realize now that is just him and not the program. I have found that the Native American aspects are extremely respectful and not at all like "playing Indians" as some would suspect. It is more so an embrace of the values learned from the Native Americans. If we cannot adapt and embrace other cultures in this world how can we learn, grow and respect what is good for all?

I see our society becoming more extreme and condemning every aspect of our history, ignoring anything good and only seeing the evil. It is important to correct wrongs and I will always stand alongside those on the margins. We do not have our act together today and someday our children's children could have the same disdain for our generation and 'not believe' how ignorant we could be. A society is like a person, both sinner and saint at the same time. Nothing is pure. There is great danger in extremism on any side as it will almost always lead to the willingness to kill those who are not in agreement. Zealots, puritans, fundamentalists, extremists, anarchists are essentially the same. ‘Know it alls’ ready for war and destruction of every aspect of the status quo in search of their utopian vision.

The ideals of scouting, churches, synagogues, mosques and other such character building groups seek the common good. They have a moral compass. 'Train a child up in the way they should go and when they are old they shall not depart from it." is what the scriptures teach. All the ideals are guided by love and hope for a better life for our children than we had which is pretty much universal for all people of goodwill.

Let's look at the Scout Oath and Law:

Scout Oath 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.

Scout Law

The Scout Law has 12 points. Each is a goal for every Scout. A Scout tries to live up to the Law every day. It is not always easy to do, but a Scout always tries.

A Scout is:

TRUSTWORTHY. Tell the truth and keep promises. People can depend on you.

LOYAL. Show that you care about your family, friends, Scout leaders, school, and country.

HELPFUL. Volunteer to help others without expecting a reward.

FRIENDLY. Be a friend to everyone, even people who are very different from you.

COURTEOUS. Be polite to everyone and always use good manners.

KIND. Treat others as you want to be treated. Never harm or kill any living thing without good reason.

OBEDIENT. Follow the rules of your family, school, and pack. Obey the laws of your community and country.

CHEERFUL. Look for the bright side of life. Cheerfully do tasks that come your way. Try to help others be happy.

THRIFTY. Work to pay your own way. Try not to be wasteful. Use time, food, supplies, and natural resources wisely.

BRAVE. Face difficult situations even when you feel afraid. Do what you think is right despite what others might be doing or saying.

CLEAN. Keep your body and mind fit. Help keep your home and community clean.

REVERENT. Be reverent toward God. Be faithful in your religious duties. Respect the beliefs of others.

Source: scouting.org

As we begin to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' what are going to lose and what will replace it? What is wrong with ideals above? Granted an atheist could be bothered but an acknowledgement of good authority (there is good authority, think of a favorite teacher or coach) could be a way to get around this or whatever the family uses to appeal to being a better human. There is no mention of specific faith and Scouting is across the entire world. There is much more in common amongst the religions of the world when it comes to actual practice if not the theologies. The idea is to be wholehearted in what the scout believes and respect everyone else's right to believe what they believe. And also to be willing to protect their right.

This leads me to the fact that American pluralism is one of our greatest values. It would be good to remember this ideal. The United States was formed by Europeans and that is the main culture understood for good and for ill. Pluralism is the respect for any and every belief and culture even when those beliefs and culture is not originally shared. It can become a shared experience All people are equal and that is the ideal to continually strive for, it hasn't always been the case but change is possible when we don't allow defensiveness and hate to take root. We are rapidly losing this with new and old forms of extremism on both the right and left, religious and secular. Extremism always uses the negative energy of hate and insecurity to fuel its destructive fires.

Revolutions are bloody, the voting booth is the best place for action.. another ideal we must always remember. The current injustices in our country must be confronted. A militant response is from the accuser and that is why blood is demanded. My words are from a position of privilege at this point in my life but I also don't trust the extreme elements that would let me live. I would much rather see all be lifted up in peace.

If we cannot embrace the wholesome ideals of the past as well as the evils in the whole of history with the newer awareness that history lacked we will repeat the bloodshed of the past. The utopian dreams on the left and right can only be achieved by the elimination of the scapegoat(s). Sadly, It is all too easy for all of us to find those to accuse and blame.

We work within the Kingdom of God within the nations of men. Nations built by our forebears, both evil and good. When we attack them we attack ourselves as their children. We shoot ourselves in the foot. The wheat and the weeds grow together. It is our call to help the good grow and not cut it all down. We are not equipped or called to stand and condemn all those who came before us. That is height of arrogance and pride, if this is embraced the fall is what will be next.