If you're looking for a thread for the purpose of bashing scouting, this is not that thread. 
This thread is more about how much, if any, compromise on your personal principles is acceptable to achieve what you think is a greater good. This post is a little TL;DR, but I think necessarily so.
My 10 year old son is active in scouting (he's a 2nd year Webelo in Cub Scouts and will cross over to Boy Scouts next year). Allowing him to participate is not in question - it's something that's important to him, and it's been a positive experience. Of all the different activities he's tried, this is one that he loves (besides video games and sitting in front of the computer for hours).
Some of the leadership in his pack has approached me to ask me to act as a merit badge counselor for the Boy Scout troop, in addition to what I have done so far on an ad hoc basis when I participate in scouting events with my son. I'm good with kids, and have sufficient knowledge / expertise in half a dozen or so merit badge subjects.
Two things concern me about this (which are probably obvious): The BSA's position on participation by avowed homosexuals and atheists. My only personal experience with how these policies are implemented is at a local level, where they are effectively a non-issue (which is somewhat surprising considering my son lives with his mother in a predominately conservative religious rural community. In practice in his area, the attitude is one of "don't make an issue of it, and we won't either". At a national level, the organization is inclusive of all spiritual beliefs, including pagan, polytheist faiths, and pan-deism/theism as well as beliefs such as atheistic forms of Buddhism. The policy appears to encourage some form of spiritual belief, and allows the individual to define what that means. There's no requirement to believe in a personal deity, supreme being, or creator - only that one has some form of spiritual belief.
So I'm faced with a small dilemma. It's important to me to be an active participant in my son's interests, and as he doesn't live with me and our time together is limited, his scouting activities are going to be a sizable part of that time. I enjoy working with and teaching the kids, and a lot of the activities are just plain fun.
On the other hand, I do not care for the BSA's exclusionary policies even though they are not as hard line (particularly at a local level) in practice as many may believe.
As long as he's in cub scouts, it's not really much of an issue - at that level, parents are more involved in that they are encouraged to guide the scout and can sign off on badge requirements. At the boy scout level, it becomes more individual and they've got to go through merit badge counselors for mentoring and to be signed off on the requirements. Volunteers such as merit badge counselors are required to agree with the BSA Declaration of Religious Principle, though given the broad definition of spirituality, I have no problem with calling myself a "Naturalistic Pandeist" if asked (quantum mechanics as god FTW, all hail the holy Shroedinger's Cat, blessed be the Higgs boson).
I'm not usually one to compromise on matters of personal principle. Were it not for my son and my desire to remain a part of his interests, my involvement would be out of the question. I think that in this case, compromise serves the greater good of maintaining (and hopefully increasing) the level of involvement in my son's life, and that consideration outweighs my personal objections.
Were you in a similar general position (not necessarily related to scouting), what do you think you would do?
This thread is more about how much, if any, compromise on your personal principles is acceptable to achieve what you think is a greater good. This post is a little TL;DR, but I think necessarily so.My 10 year old son is active in scouting (he's a 2nd year Webelo in Cub Scouts and will cross over to Boy Scouts next year). Allowing him to participate is not in question - it's something that's important to him, and it's been a positive experience. Of all the different activities he's tried, this is one that he loves (besides video games and sitting in front of the computer for hours).
Some of the leadership in his pack has approached me to ask me to act as a merit badge counselor for the Boy Scout troop, in addition to what I have done so far on an ad hoc basis when I participate in scouting events with my son. I'm good with kids, and have sufficient knowledge / expertise in half a dozen or so merit badge subjects.
Two things concern me about this (which are probably obvious): The BSA's position on participation by avowed homosexuals and atheists. My only personal experience with how these policies are implemented is at a local level, where they are effectively a non-issue (which is somewhat surprising considering my son lives with his mother in a predominately conservative religious rural community. In practice in his area, the attitude is one of "don't make an issue of it, and we won't either". At a national level, the organization is inclusive of all spiritual beliefs, including pagan, polytheist faiths, and pan-deism/theism as well as beliefs such as atheistic forms of Buddhism. The policy appears to encourage some form of spiritual belief, and allows the individual to define what that means. There's no requirement to believe in a personal deity, supreme being, or creator - only that one has some form of spiritual belief.
So I'm faced with a small dilemma. It's important to me to be an active participant in my son's interests, and as he doesn't live with me and our time together is limited, his scouting activities are going to be a sizable part of that time. I enjoy working with and teaching the kids, and a lot of the activities are just plain fun.
On the other hand, I do not care for the BSA's exclusionary policies even though they are not as hard line (particularly at a local level) in practice as many may believe.
As long as he's in cub scouts, it's not really much of an issue - at that level, parents are more involved in that they are encouraged to guide the scout and can sign off on badge requirements. At the boy scout level, it becomes more individual and they've got to go through merit badge counselors for mentoring and to be signed off on the requirements. Volunteers such as merit badge counselors are required to agree with the BSA Declaration of Religious Principle, though given the broad definition of spirituality, I have no problem with calling myself a "Naturalistic Pandeist" if asked (quantum mechanics as god FTW, all hail the holy Shroedinger's Cat, blessed be the Higgs boson).
I'm not usually one to compromise on matters of personal principle. Were it not for my son and my desire to remain a part of his interests, my involvement would be out of the question. I think that in this case, compromise serves the greater good of maintaining (and hopefully increasing) the level of involvement in my son's life, and that consideration outweighs my personal objections.
Were you in a similar general position (not necessarily related to scouting), what do you think you would do?
