This is mostly a personal subject of mine, I typed out the two mentioned topics last night and tried to spell check with my iphone, but it cleared it all. After thinking about my post more thoroughly throughout my day today, I decided I should include more information and explain boy scouts
HISTORYStarted in 1908 by General Robert Baden-Powell, in Great Britain, the Boy Scouts of America are heavily based off of Robert's 'Boy Scouts Association'. The original goal of the young boy's training was to prepare them as military scouts (that is to say, recon)
The stated aim of The Scout Association is to "promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities".
Boy Scouts came to the United States in 1910, and many of the same ideals are still carried out today.
Fun history fact: Admiral Richard E. Byrd was the first man to fly an airplane over Antarctica (namely the South pole) in 1929. Byrd dropped a rock rolled up in the American Flag approximately above the South Pole. For his voyage to the Arctic, he selected
boy scouts to accompany him on his journey. They helped scout out the arctic in case Admiral Byrd crashed and had to be recovered via dogsled.OUR LAW AND OATH -
Scout Law -
"A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, curteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverant."
Scout Oath -
"On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty, to god and my country; to obey the Scout Law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A SCOUT? -
Let me be perfectly clear here; a scout is not some pushover pansy who is going to pick up your trash for you and do your work. A scout simply serves the community as a whole, and learns from his leaders in hopes of becoming a better adult, parent or employee when the time comes.
CAN ANYONE BE A SCOUT? -
I'm glad your interested! No, not ANYONE can be a Boy Scout, but you can participate in some way (yes, even girls, but that's a bit more tricky).
Generally, to be a BOY Scout (not a CUB Scout, those are the little kids in the blue uniforms) you must be between the ages of 12 and 18. You must be of the male gender, and you must not pose any threats to your fellow scout / person (i.e. if your gay, keep it to yourself. This will be adressed later as well)
WHY BE A SCOUT? -
Good question; lots of answers. Hand out with friends, learn valuable skills, Colleges / employers LOVE eagle scouts, instant rank bonus in the armed forces, be a part of the community, etc etc.
WAIT WAIT WAIT, EAGLE SCOUT? WHAT'S THAT? -
There are 7 'ranks' in scouting; Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, Eagle (respectively). Each rank has certain requirements to reach it, but Eagle is the ultimate goal; Getting your Eagle rank is a BIG deal nowdays, because hardly anyone is involved with scouting.
MY HISTORY -
My family has been in scouting all the way up to my Grandpa (it hasn't been around too long, so technically since it's start my family has been involved). My Grandpa never achieved Eagle, my father never achieved Eagle, and now I am next in line; and I
WILL achieve the rank of Eagle. I first started scouting in 2002, 7 years old, as a cubscout. My father was the Den Chief, aka the big cheese of the pack, the leader. (I drove him nuts alot, and he likes to remind me of that by doing the same to me now that Im as tall and big as he is.) I remained with the cub scouts until 2007, when I was SUPPOSED to have a bridge ceremony (celebration of cubscout -> boyscout), but the day of, we moved to North Carolina. I missed my bridge ceremony, but I became a boyscout anyways.
Having moved to my current location now, I joined Troop 200, the largest troop in North Carolina (average of maybe 100 - 200 people any given year). I did it without my dad for the first time however, as my younger brother (many of you know him as Manokal, he's always quiet in-game) was still a cubscout, and my dad had to focus on him more than me. So for the first few years of boyscouts,
I hated it, which is understandable, considering there was alot more challenge, things to know, and I wasn't used to the climate (desert -> humid area).
Now, roughly 5 years later, I am one of the most respected member of my troop. I have been every position in my troop since I have joined (save for ASPL and SPL), and often times younger scouts seek me out for advice on alot of things. Currently, I am a Troop Quartermaster. This means I am in charge of packing all of the Troop's provided gear INTO and BACK OUT of the campsite, as well as making sure it's all working and clean. To give you an idea of the scale of my job;
We have 8 patrols, each with roughly 5 - 12 people in each. Per camping trip, we normally have 50 people go camping
minimum. Since alot of our scouts are younger and they just cannot hike at all, we car camp. As such, we haul 3 small trailers with us; The red, green and black trailers. The green and black are just for standard cargo aka backpacks, tents, coolers, etc. The Red Trailer is my baby ♥. At any given time, if someone needs a piece of gear, they radio for me (we have about 15 radios, each with a broadcasting distance of 10~ miles) to come to the red trailer, and I check their gear out for them. Saturday night (the night before we leave camp), everyone has to turn their gear in, and my three fellow quartermasters and I all check in gear as fast as it comes in. Normally we end up waiting and bored, so we text, hang out, tell jokes, and eventually it's just me and my 6 close friends.
TOPIC #1 - EAGLE BOARD OF REVIEW AND RELIGION -
As I near my Eagle rank, people are constantly telling me what I have to do next, how I need to act, etc. Recently, we had a guest speaker come to one of our Tuesday night meetings and explain to us how to easily obtain eagle. He went through, step by step, each requirement, and I was all eyes and ears. Eventually, he came to discuss the last requirement; have an eagle board of review.
Now, the way this works is, I meet with seven adults from my council that I have
NEVER met before, and I must convince them that I am deserving of the rank, and that I follow the 12 points of the Scout Law.
That said; Religion. Oooooh boy. See, our speaker gave us one of the questions that they commonly ask; "Do you believe in god?" If you say no, then they ask "Do you believe in (a) higher being(s)?" For me, that's a no - yes. I believe in darwinism, the theory of evolution and all that jazz, but I also LIKE to believe that there is a magic man in the sky who invites us all in for groups hugs, happiness and no spiders (otherwise known as salvation / heaven). I DON'T however, believe in a particular religion. I don't believe in Jesus Christ, nor God, nor Buddha, nor any other documented, non-factually proven 'god'.
But just to make things harder,
I need a letter from a pastor of my participating religious establishment regarding my spirituality. Unless the guy from
http://www.venganza.org/ wants to write a letter explaining I believe in science, I'm pretty much forgeted right there. I AM a baptized, non-denominational christian, and I have been confirmed through my previous church... But the pastor from my time has left the church, for another. Potentially, I can get a signature, but at the same time I would be semi-lying in the sense that I don't believe in an actual, named god.
/Discuss Topic #1
TOPIC #2 - GAYS AND BOYSCOUTS -
I remember hearing a quote somewhere that pretty accurately portrays my opinion on gays when it comes to scouting, though I will admit it is a little more direct
Just because the guy at the bar sitting beside you is gay, doesn't mean he wants to suck your richard and cup your balls. In fact, odds are, he has a working relationship with another guy, and your not even his type. Just look at him, then look at you; He's healthy, attractive, in a relationship, and has good fashion sense. You, haha, your single, 50lbs overweight, craterfaced, hoping to bang any drunk chick you can find, and your wearing shorts with a long sleeve.
That is to say,
loveual orientation should not restrict someone from obtaining eagle, and businesses / corporations around the world agree;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/ups-boy-scouts-america-donations-anti-gay-policy_n_2118878.htmlThese are different times. Gay laws are being passed around America to allow GBL to marry legally. But even then, on the other side of that spectrum;
Uganda is passing a kill the gays bill this christmas (See thread for details:
http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=213769.0)
I really don't wanna see BSA's record tarnished just because they can't handle a scout because he doesn't have any interest in someone of the opposite gender who is often whiney, has raging hormones, can't decide which shoes to wear most mornings, has a waterfall of blood cascade from her once a month, and overall just is a 50/50 wager.
/Discuss Topic #2
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