Cheech said:This is just a smear bullshit article. Boy Scouts was a great experience.
Cheech said:This is just a smear bullshit article. Boy Scouts was a great experience.
TheWiicast said:As someone who was molested in the boy scouts, this does not supprise me.
Boy Scouts was a fantastic experience for me outside of that one person.Obsessed said:I had fun in the boy scouts = boy scouts can do no wrong
You sir are excellent at making HUGE leaps.
Here let me try my hand at your form of logic. I knew a catholic altar boy who was not molested, therefore not a single priest has ever molested a child.
BRILLIANT.
Impossible. Cheech had fun in the scouts so you must be lying!!!!
I'm noticing a trend where people who enjoyed the Boy Scouts seem to think the Boy Scouts can do no wrong. I guess basic logic isn't taught in the Scouts. They do seem to do a good job at instilling blind faith though.
TheWiicast said:Boy Scouts was a fantastic experience for me outside of that one person.
But like the article said, back in the 80s there wasn't much of a system to check out potential scoutmasters. Most of mine were my friend's dads and local men from the church.
Is the scouts 100 percent safe today? No. But at least they're doing background checks.
Are you for real?Obsessed said:I'm not saying the scouts can't be a good experience for a theistic straight male. It certainly can be. However, people are denying the fact that pedophilia DOES happen within the Scouts. It isn't "bullshit" as Cheech suggests even if such cases are rare.
Nor is it bullshit that their code does not allow for atheists or agnostics to be in the scouts (so much for tolerance), or for openly gay scouts to hold leadership positions. To deny this simply because you personally had a good experience is irrational and insulting.
Obsessed said:I'm not saying the scouts can't be a good experience for a theistic straight male. It certainly can be. However, people are denying the fact that pedophilia DOES happen within the Scouts. It isn't "bullshit" as Cheech suggests even if such cases are rare.
Nor is it bullshit that their code does not allow for atheists or agnostics to be in the scouts (so much for tolerance), or for openly gay scouts to hold leadership positions. To deny this simply because you personally had a good experience is irrational and insulting.
TheWiicast said:Are you for real?
PhoenixSFT said:We ask that you believe in something..
"The Boy Scouts of America maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God. In the first part of the Scout Oath or Promise the member declares, On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law.'
What if I only believe in myself?PhoenixSFT said:We ask that you believe in something. I don't care if it's luck. And honestly, how many times will atheism be brought up at a Scout meeting or event, enough that someone gets kicked out?
The Boy Scouts are a federally funded organization that discriminates against people on the basis of religion and sexuality. That's kind of a no-no.PhoenixSFT said:There is the policy about being openly gay, but it comes down to the chartering organization (church, rotary, PTA, etc.) removing the person. The local council will advise in such situations, but can't really kick someone out unless they are a pedophile or something along those lines. I think we should allow people who are gay into the organization, but I understand why the BSA doesn't want people being openly gay.
We just try to give kids a good program when they deal with shit like drugs, gangs, peer pressure, etc. in school and at home. I'm sure the millions of kids who had great experiences will tell you so.
Obsessed said:I'm not saying the Boy Scouts doesn't help millions of young kids, and teach decent values (in some cases). I'm just pointing out the organization isn't perfect, and going "I had a great experience, therefore there are no problems" is irrational.
dead souls said:I don't even see how one can say it teaches decent values. Any group that requires a belief in gods and discriminates against gay people could never be decent, or impart anything of value, until it jettisons that archaic bullshit.
The Boy Scouts aren't homogenous, though. Depending on local influences, some sections of the organization may ignore those restrictions altogether.dead souls said:I don't even see how one can say it teaches decent values. Any group that requires a belief in gods and discriminates against gay people could never be decent, or impart anything of value, until it jettisons that archaic bullshit.
Exactly, they have a POTENTIAL to be good, but with that bullshit in the way they're definitely not right now.dead souls said:I don't even see how one can say it teaches decent values. Any group that requires a belief in gods and discriminates against gay people could never be decent, or impart anything of value, until it jettisons that archaic bullshit.
Orayn said:What if I only believe in myself?
Sometimes, it depends on which troop you are dealing with. There was a Penn & Teller Bullshit episode on the BSA about 5 years ago. They tried sending out a bunch of emails to Boy Scout troops asking if their "Atheist son" could join. A handful of them said they would have no problem with it. If national found out though, they would lose their shit.Obsessed said:You apparently have to believe in some supernatural force or entity... which somehow makes it ok. They don't REALLY discriminate against agnostics or atheists, just skeptics and rationalists. Which... somehow makes it ok.
Really? You understand it?PhoenixSFT said:We ask that you believe in something. I don't care if it's luck. And honestly, how many times will atheism be brought up at a Scout meeting or event, enough that someone gets kicked out?
There is the policy about being openly gay, but it comes down to the chartering organization (church, rotary, PTA, etc.) removing the person. The local council will advise in such situations, but can't really kick someone out unless they are a pedophile or something along those lines. I think we should allow people who are gay into the organization, but I understand why the BSA doesn't want people being openly gay.
We just try to give kids a good program when they deal with shit like drugs, gangs, peer pressure, etc. in school and at home. I'm sure the millions of kids who had great experiences will tell you so.
Oh jeez :\SmokyDave said:Yeah, scouts always seemed dodgy to me. Avoided them as a kid because I thought the leaders were a suspicious
Why don't you refute his claim instead of throwing a one-liner? Which part of what he says is completely off the mark to justify your comment?TheWiicast said:Are you for real?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_Protection_program_(Boy_Scouts_of_America)ronito said:what's this about the Boy Scouts doing background checks? I've been a scout master several times I was never part of any background checks or had any background checks done on me.
You may want to reread wiicast's posts and what he was responding to.Gadfly said:Why don't you refute his claim instead of throwing a one-liner? Which part of what he says is completely off the mark to justify your comment?
he was responding to this post:Yaboosh said:You may want to reread wiicast's posts and what he was responding to.
I'm not saying the scouts can't be a good experience for a theistic straight male. It certainly can be. However, people are denying the fact that pedophilia DOES happen within the Scouts. It isn't "bullshit" as Cheech suggests even if such cases are rare.
Nor is it bullshit that their code does not allow for atheists or agnostics to be in the scouts (so much for tolerance), or for openly gay scouts to hold leadership positions. To deny this simply because you personally had a good experience is irrational and insulting.
are you for real?
The post before that where he said that he was sexually abused in the scouts.Gadfly said:he was responding to this post:
with this:
what did I miss?
eastmen said:I was in the boy scouts.
I started with tiger scouts then did cub scouts. I don't think those were a problem as its mostly parents runing the packs. At least when I was in the age range in the late 80s early 90s. There would be the head scout who was paid and then each town had like 4 or 5 dens per year of age. So there were 4 dens for my group of friends and then 4 dens for the kids younger than us . But one of my close friends mother ran our den with the help of my mom and two other moms.
It wasn't till full on boy scouts when I was 13 or so that we had scout leaders who were paid to be there and weren't parents of friends. My one friend and I left after 3 months since there were so few boy scouts that we had to head like 5 towns away
Same in my case too. I kind of wish I had stuck into Eagle Scouts myself. My dad still does a lot of volunteer work with them helping out a friend who is a scoutmaster.geeko420 said:I really enjoyed scouts as a kid. It had to do with the troop I chose. Once a week we would meet which consisted of reciting a couple oaths, doing a few tasks out of your scout handbook, then playing games like capture the flag for the rest of the time.
A lot of the kids in it were my classmates. We would go camping pretty often, and in the summer we would go on week long camping trips to boy scout camp. The only thing religious I can remember about scouts was the oaths, but it was worth saying that crap for all the fun times I had.
Ours were run by the parents of the kids in the troop, so I think we were pretty safe from outside scoutmasters.