|
my brother was a scoutmaster for a local troop the past 3 years and still works with them as an emeritus dude.
and we had a conversation about this last night, strangely.
he claims that the problem is that the bsa was sold to the mormons sometime in the 50s, which explains the emphasis on god, whic apparently wasn't the case in the same way previously, and other strange things like the fact that it is only in the united states that girls and boys are separated. which is why the united states cannot host a world jamboree. which he attended, along with his troop, a couple years ago.
pressure from outside of late (over the past few years) has also made the conservative xtian thing at the level of ownership more obvious as the bsa retreated into being a private organization in order to refuse to adapt to the times in some ways.
from what i've seen, though, that scouting is for folk varies from place to place, troop to troop and has little to do with the bsa proper. my brother's troop provides a pretty amazing range of experiences for the kids, who seem to enjoy and benefit from it all greatly. 10 eagles in 3 years. that kind of thing. and they regard the bsa organization as a pain in the ass. necessary in some ways for them to do what they do, but a pain in the ass nonetheless.
as for myself, i was a dismal failure as a boy scout.
i like the ham radio jamborees though, even as the radio operators who were kind enough to host me as a kid never actually found any of the traffic and i spent the time listening to static and looking at radio dials. the experience probably had some impact on the music i do and listen to these days. but that's another story.
__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
|