The Connection Between Mormonism and The Boy Scouts of America?

[ztodd]

Originally Posted by Believer_1829

Do you people realize BSA is a huge worldwide organization? Just because somebody accepts money for something doesn't mean they are only in it "for the money", they have to eat and provide for their families also.

True, but I think salaries upwards of 200k must have an influence in at least some cases, don't you think?

[Hemidakota]

Originally Posted by mhansen

I was quite an active boy scout before going away to school, I even achieved the rank of Eagle. In all that time, I never knew how active a part Mormonism played in the BSA. I was wondering if someone could explain the precise relationship between the LDS Church and the BSA. Thanks in advance!

About 70-80 percent of Boy Scout funding is from the church. It was the same for the Girls Scout until the notable changes where the church withdrew and now what is left is not much to talk about.

Originally Posted by ztodd

True, but I think salaries upwards of 200k must have an influence in at least some cases, don't you think?

Perhaps for some. But who am I to sit here and presume motives to men I know nothing about and have never met? What value is there in even speculating about those men?

[Just_A_Guy]

Originally Posted by Hemidakota

About 70-80 percent of Boy Scout funding is from the church. It was the same for the Girls Scout until the notable changes where the church withdrew and now what is left is not much to talk about.

What is your source for the claim that the LDS Church ever had a formal affiliation with the Girl Scouts? My mother (61 this year) remembers no such activities when she was growing up.

Originally Posted by Believer_1829

Perhaps for some. But who am I to sit here and presume motives to men I know nothing about and have never met? What value is there in even speculating about those men?

The issue isn't that the men are or aren't decent guys with sincere motives. The issue is that the BSA is continually whining about budget shortfalls, selling off to real estate developers properties that were donated to the boys (like the old Camp 49er in California some years back), and raising the financial burden on its members with increasing fees and materials costs at its Scout Offices--all the while maintaining an overpaid bureaucracy whose primary objective (from the round table meetings I've been to) is to justify its own existence. Then they have the unmitigated gall to ask me for a couple hundred bucks on the pretense that it's "for the kids", while conveniently omitting the fact that those kids all belong to the local council executives.

[pam]

I don't remember any affiliation with the Girl Scouts either. I joined the program but it had nothing to do with the Church.

I'm at a loss...

I guess the BSA is the worst thing to come along since the Hitler Youth of Germany.

Originally Posted by Just_A_Guy

What is your source for the claim that the LDS Church ever had a formal affiliation with the Girl Scouts? My mother (61 this year) remembers no such activities when she was growing up.



The issue isn't that the men are or aren't decent guys with sincere motives. The issue is that the BSA is continually whining about budget shortfalls, selling off to real estate developers properties that were donated to the boys (like the old Camp 49er in California some years back), and raising the financial burden on its members with increasing fees and materials costs at its Scout Offices--all the while maintaining an overpaid bureaucracy whose primary objective (from the round table meetings I've been to) is to justify its own existence. Then they have the unmitigated gall to ask me for a couple hundred bucks on the pretense that it's "for the kids", while conveniently omitting the fact that those kids all belong to the local council executives.

What do you believe is the proper salary for the executives of a worldwide mostly volunteer organization?

[qedd]

Originally Posted by Believer_1829

I'm at a loss...

I guess the BSA is the worst thing to come along since the Hitler Youth of Germany.

Why is there so much opposition to the Boy Scouts of America within the Church? I believe it stems from the LDS culture somehow pulling Boy Scouts into the Priesthood rather than keeping it what it is -- a program. When priesthood leaders are expected to act as fundraisers for those that profit from such fundraising, when quotas are set for said fundraising, when better-off members of wards are targeted for fundraising, when fundraising activity is announced over the pulpit, when scout activity is somehow implied to be a part priesthood duty, when scout uniforms are somehow acceptable church attire (especially when coupled with the attitude that a suit and tie or a dress are the ONLY acceptable church attire), etc. I believe you will naturally hit resistance.

I believe the scouting program can be and frequently is helpful for the development of many young men. However, I start getting antagonistic when scouting is raised beyond the status of a program. (That and I have personal issues with taking oaths to unconditionally promote and further advance any temporal organization, with the BSA Eagle oath being just one such instance.) I would love it if there were comparable programs for the character development of young women as well.

On a side note, I believe the character of the young men could be further helped by NOT attaching their accomplishments to their uniforms. Badges of honor feed the ego, and we should be working to control and ultimately defeat the ego -- should we not? Do we seek for the praise of the world? This isn't to say the scouting program is inherently flawed because of this, just that I personally see room for improvement.

The BSA is what the LDS leaders have deemed as the proper program for the young men of the church... are they inspired in their decision or not?

***By the way I agree with qedd's opinion about taking oaths and things, that's why LDS frats and sororities have always puzzled me.***

[Just_A_Guy]

Originally Posted by Believer_1829

What do you believe is the proper salary for the executives of a worldwide mostly volunteer organization?

1. The "Boy Scouts of America" is by definition not a worldwide program.
2. I believe I already mentioned the DesNews' article referring to the salaries of employees of the Girl Scouts and Boys & Girls Club (about 50% of what the BSA pays), as well as anecdotes I've heard about 4H (similar ballpark).

The BSA is what the LDS leaders have deemed as the proper program for the young men of the church... are they inspired in their decision or not?

LDS involvement with the BSA was an appropriate course of action when the policy was initiated. Whether it is still appropriate in light of the BSA's increasing financial demands in general, and its policy of pointedly shaking down LDS units in particular, is an open question.

Let me ask you this: If, after President Monson's death, his successor elects to ditch the BSA--will that be an inspired decision?