Boy Scouts Will Now Admit Girls!

[sid]

I was a Boy Scout in Troop 55 in Philadelphia. I made many new friends, learned camping skills, and generally had a good time with the other fellows. It was one of the happiest times of my childhood.

[blackhawknj]

I was an Eagle Scout. I am saddened by this, but in this era of gender-blending and "sexuality as a social construct"...
National Review had a good article on Progressivism in the boardroom-showed a picture of Che in a suit and tie. Interesting how so many corporations are run by liberals who use their clout to push their liberal values on everyone. I note the NFL is starting to feel the backlash from all their players disrespecting the National Anthem.

[bruce]

I joined the Boy Scouts in 1969. I am an Eagle Scout (1973). Throughout my pastoral ministry numerous churches have had Brownie/Girl Scouts. Sadly fewer have had Cub Scout/Boy Scouts. I currently pastor two full-time churches. One has a very active Cub Scout pack with over 35 boys actively attending. This past Friday we started a Boy Scout troop with seven boys enrolled. Like the Cub Scout pack, the Boy Scout troop will grow. The local Scout representative is a Eagle Scout and Order of the Arrow as well as a 10 yr. veteran of the USMC. He and his wife work together in organizing new troops. They are fine people. The Scoutmaster is a lady who waits tables in a local restaurant. I am the Assistant Scoutmaster. One of the volunteers is a retired lawyer. We are already figuring what will need to be done to get the boys manuals, uniforms, etc., etc. There is always something that has to be done.

It will be a few months before we can start camping trips. The boys have no experience in it. I haven't taken a bunch of boys camping in 22 years. We will start with overnight type camping and then do more as we are able. We will need to do a lot of training on skills, etc. At the same time, we must consider that very few people actually live in rural areas. That is the case with most boys and girls. They live in towns/cities b/c that is where they parents live and work. Read through the BSA Manual. Lots of the activities, etc., reflect this reality. Yesterday read through the current 10/17 issue of Boys Life Magazine. Had lots of stuff about camping, canoeing, rope work, etc. Also had stuff about dealing with feelings, etc. Good idea. Lots of boys and girls are being raised in homes where there is much conflict, broken relationships. Not do any good to pretend these kids are living back in the 70's.

Boy Scouts are no different than any other similar organization. They are having to adapt to change. Many adult groups have struggled with this, some less than successfully. Look at any fraternal organization ... Moose, Elks, VFW. Look at once popular activities ... bowling, pool, fishing, hunting, target/match shooting, outdoor activities in general. Most of them are not seeing increasing numbers of people knocking on the door to sign up. Girl Scouts has plateaued. Boy Scouting is wise to think about how it can continue to be relevant in a changing world. Girls and boys ... they are kids who will grow up. They need the values and leadership skills that one can learn in Boy Scouting. If the presence of girls in Boy Scouting kills Boy Scouting, then it was already terminal. I have served numerous churches in 37 years of pastoral ministry. I have not ever had a single church that ever was effective in reaching people and meeting needs in the name of Christ that did so with only the men doing the work. In fact, in the overwhelming majority of local churches, if it were not for the leadership and support provided by the female members, those local churches would not be doing anything at all. If we want Boy Scouting to be the uniquely male institution that Lord Bayden Powell envisioned, then it will require that men get involved in the leadership and development of boys. Right now, I am not seeing a lot of men willing to step up and do that leadership and development.

That lady who is the Scoutmaster is a waitress. She will do a fine job as Scoutmaster. I am her Assistant Scoutmaster. I will see to it. We have seven boys enrolled. We will grow. It will take time. It will take work. If girls want to join the troop, we will welcome them. It will mean some changes. But Boy Scouting has in its existence successfully weathered changes. That is one reason Boy Scouting has continued when other similar programs failed. One either adapts or one becomes a relic in the attic. This past Monday I celebrated my 61 birthday. I spent the day taking care of my grandson. We had a good time. We went for a walk since at age 2, he is not yet up to a serious hike. He played with his "hook," a quasi-weapon made for him by his father, which he used to make the backyard safe for his G.Daddy to sit on the back porch and drink coffee. I have my Field Manual from the 1970's. When he is old enough, I will be so proud to see him enroll in Cub Scouting ... then Boy Scouting ... then Explorer Scouting. I have a granddaughter in NYC. She is almost 1 year old. Down the road, I will be looking for a way to get her enrolled in Scouting. NYC is not a bedroom community in Georgia. But she will need the life skills and leadership development offered by Scouting and I intend to see to it that she has that opportunity. When my identical-twin brother and I received our Eagle Scout rank, we were the first identical twins in the Central Ga. Council to ever earn and receive that award on the same date. The Council commissioned a Eagle Scout pin for my mother. The normal pin w/ a single eagle was used as a pattern for a local jeweler to produce a Double Eagle pin. That pin is currently in my wife's jewelry chest. What a hoot it would be if one day both my grandson and granddaughter were to be Eagles! I would be so proud of them. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[togor]

Bad idea when women learn about outdoor skills, right? Next thing you know states will be issuing hunting or fishing licenses to the ladies.

[swampyankee]

Bad idea when women learn about outdoor skills, right? Next thing you know states will be issuing hunting or fishing licenses to the ladies.

Where do you live because they already do.

[swampyankee]

F'n A. When I was in the scouts we would have loved to have girls in our tent. Play a little Capt's table or measure who's got the longest dick or who can pee the furthest. Yeah let your daughters go in the woods with a bunch of boys with over active hormones.

[Dan Shapiro]

So when donations of money and partnerships drop off, those idiots on the National Council will scratch their collective asses and wonder WHY.

My son and his wife run Scouting groups, seems every time they turn around, the National Council wants MORE money. These people are volunteers. They are the ones who run the scouting programs on a daily basis. The volunteers drop out, that National Council is going to be looking for a job.

[Major Tom]

My grandson and grand daughter will not belong to the boy scouts or for that matter the girl scouts. In our local, we have boys golf teams and girl golf teams. How soon will one or the other admit the other to their teams. Society gone to H in a hurry.

[Allen]

measure who's got the longest dk or who can pee the furthest.

The type girls who would want to joint the Boy Scouts could probably compete with this.

[free1954]

Then let it die a natural death--a tragic end to such a great & historic organization, but better by far than dragging it down into shame with the sodomites, and absurdity with the "girls." The BSA bureaucracy is more concerned with preserving their jobs than preserving the standards & purpose of BSA.

I don't agree sir. instead of ending it, lets work to fix it.

[Dick Hosmer]

I don't agree sir. instead of ending it, lets work to fix it.

A most laudable thought, but how, in this gone-PC-crazy society would you go about doing that? Clearly, the present management is useless, but extremely well-entrenched. THEY won't help you, for a number of reasons.

[free1954]

something. maybe get involved at a local level. if it takes a melding of boy scouts and girl scouts to keep scouting alive, well then so be it.
I don't know what the answer is sir but I do know we won't find it sitting behind a keyboard.
the world is broken, and like our fathers did in the 30's and 40's, it's time to get up and fix it.

[Dick Hosmer]

Well, I'm 80, trapped in a losing business we cannot sell, and a full-time caregiver, so the keyboard is pretty much it for me. I wish you well, however, but I suspect that much of the damage is irrepairable. The present and coming generations have NO clue to the big picture, and do not remember the 1950s. Yes, there were social injustices then, but we were on the path to fixing them until BHO kicked the embers, then fanned the flames.

[JB White]

I fear there may no longer be a distinction soon and the whole ball of wax will melt into simply "Scouting". Cripes..that means Jamborees will be a series of lectures, sales pitches, and politically correct speeches.

[Dick Hosmer]

I fear there may no longer be a distinction soon and the whole ball of wax will melt into simply "Scouting". Cripes..that means Jamborees will be a series of lectures, sales pitches, and politically correct speeches.

Well, the late night hanky-panky might improve from smoking eucalyptus twigs (they burn your tongue something awful) and bowls of warm water (an old staple which I never saw work)!!!!!