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Text File | 1993-02-01 | 10KB | 180 lines

         =  AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON "REVERENCE" IN SCOUTING =

                  by Jim Howes [76264,2124], April 1, 1992


 Whether one agrees or not with the position of the Boy Scouts of America
 that belief in God is an essential part of the Scouting program to build
 character and  instill  positive values in youth,  a review of treasured
 Scouting memorabilia from the past discloses that historically this view
 has often been presented in Scouting literature,  whenever the Scout Law
 ("A Scout is Reverent")  and the Scout Oath  "to do my Duty to God"  are
 discussed. Both the Scout Law and Oath are mandatory for BSA members.

 For example, in its  *HANDBOOK FOR BOYS*,  of which over 30,000,000 have
 been printed since 1910,  the Fifth edition  (1948) explained the phrase
 "morally straight" in the Scout Oath or Promise this way:

       "George Washington said that morality cannot be lasting without
       religion.  A morally straight Scout knows how to love and serve
       God in the way He wants him to...On Mt. Sinai God gave to Moses
       the  Ten Commandments.  He laid  down certain definite Laws for
       all.  Not to steal, not to lie, not to abuse your body are some
       of these Laws.  Keeping these Commandments is an important step
       towards being morally straight..." .

 Similarly, the *HANDBOOK* had this to say about "Reverent":

         "Reverence is that respect, regard, consideration, courtesy,
         devotion,  and affection you have for some person, place, or
         thing because it is holy?  The Scout shows true reverence in
         two ways. First, you pray to God, you love God and you serve
         Him. Secondly, in your everyday actions, you help other peo-
         ple, because they are made by God to God's own likeness.

         "The 'unalienable rights' in our historic Declaration of In-
         dependence, come from God. All your life you will be associ-
         ating with people of other beliefs and customs.   It is your
         duty to respect these people  for their beliefs and customs,
         and to live your own."  - (c) BSA, 1948


Relevant to the issue of admitting atheists (or those who refuse to say the
Oath's "Duty to God" provision) to Boy Scouts is the  philosophy espoused by
the Founder of Scouting, Sir Robert Baden-Powell, O.B.E., in official scouting
literature written by him during the time he was Chief Scout of the World
(1910-1941).

While it is true that no one has deified Baden-Powell, nor even beatified him
(at least by church canon, although his works have richly earned him the
sobriquet "the sainted B-P" and he does have a memorial plaque in London's
Westminster Abbey), he, as the creator of scouting, composed the Boy Scout Oath
at issue. It is thus highly instructive to see what HE said about a scout's
Duty to God and why HE included it in the Oath HE wrote and used, since HE,
after all, invented Scouting in the 1st place!

Baden-Powell's book  *ROVERING TO SUCCESS*,  a 1930 handbook for British Rover
Scouts, is an excellent source for understanding the goals and philosophies of
scouting espoused by the founder of the movement himself, for two principle
reasons: It was written in 1930, after B-P had seen scouting grow and mature
into a world-wide association over a twenty-year span, hence he had the benefit
of many years experience and reflection; secondly, "Rovers" is the branch of
scouting (in many countries other than the U.S.) for boys over age 18 to mid-
twenties. As such, it's on a more mature level for a serious view of B-P's
scouting philosophy.

"Rovering to Success" begins by recounting, in the colorful writing style that
captured boys' imaginations in the pre-MTV era, the time he paddled a birch-
bark canoe across a lake in upper Canada. He develops this parable saying: "The
whole thing--the early voyage through the easy running stream, and then coming
out on the broad lake, the arising of difficulties, the succession of waves and
rocks only avoided by careful piloting, the triumph of overcoming the dangers,
the successful sliding into a sheltered landing place, the happy campfire and
the sleep of tired men at night--is just what a man goes through in life." This
he calls the Voyage of Life.

In paddling one's canoe on the "...adventurous voyage from the stream of child-
hood, along the river of adolescence, out across the ocean of manhood", he
warns of the dire need to avoid foundering on certain "Rocks", i.e., dangerous
hazards/ deleterious influences, in the lives of Scouts which, unless avoided,
interfere with the scout's goal of achieving happiness in life..."the only true
success". These "Rocks" are then expounded upon by B-P in the chapters
that follow:

        Chapter Title                  Topics discussed
        -------------                  ----------------
    (1)  "HORSES"               Gambling, lack of thrift, indolence, etc.
    (2)  "WINE"                 Alcohol abuse, gluttony, foul language, etc.
    (3)  "WOMEN"                Venereal diseases, irresponsible sexual conduct
    (4)  "CUCKOOS & HUMBUGS"    Demagoguery, snobbery, jingoism, etc.
    (5)  "IRRELIGION"           Atheism and irreligion*

             *(quoting from introduction to this chapter):
     "The dark side of this rock is the danger of atheism and irreligion. Its
      bright side is its realization of God and Service to Brother Men. To this
      the study of Nature is a direct help."

              (Then follows B-P's own chapter outline):
               "Irreligion:
                    atheism is being pressed on young men;
                    irreligion is prevalent;
                    religion is essential to happiness.

                Nature lore:
                    Safeguards against atheism;
                    God's work in Nature gives the lie to atheists;
                    Nature knowledge is a step to realizing God."


B-P goes on to say, "There are a good many men who have no religion, who
don't believe in God; they are known as atheists...If you are really out
to make your way to success--i.e., happiness--you must not only avoid
being sucked in by irreligious humbugs, you must have a religious basis to
your life. Religion very briefly stated means: recognizing who and what is
God; secondly, making the best of the life that He has given one and doing
what He wants of us." The rest of the chapter on "Irreligion" is devoted to
various measures to help scouts "avoid atheism", to use B-P's repeated phrase,
such as experiencing the grandeur of Nature as a (again quoting) "step towards
realizing God", to which he adds, "I advocate the understanding of Nature as
a step, in certain cases, towards gaining religion."

The 274-page book goes on to discuss, with several examples and quotations, how
first-hand experience of Nature's wonders can help one understand God.

For example, he quotes Abraham Lincoln:
      "I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon
       earth and be an atheist, but I do not see how he can look up
       into the heavens by night and say there is no God."

as well as the Koran:
      "Seest thou not that all in the heavens and all on the earth
       serveth God; the sun, the moon, the stars, and the mountains
       and the trees and the beasts and many men"

 Commenting on the inspiration he drew from the outdoors,  he wrote:   "I
 love the homely beauty of the English countryside as I do the vast open-
 ness and freedom of the rolling veld in South Africa. I love the rushing
 waters and the nodding forests of Canada;   but I have been more awed by
 the depths  and  heights of the  Himalayas  and by the grandeur of those
 eternal snows lifting their peaked heads high above the world, never de-
 filed by the foot of man, but reaching of all things worldly the nearest
 to the Heavens." He mused that perhaps the reason so many of the world's
 peoples at such high elevations are Buddhists is  "the mountains  almost
 talk you into it.  In the quiet of the night you listen to their voices;
 you are drawn into the brooding immensity all round you. In warm cities,
 where men huddle together, one must have something to cling to--- a per-
 sonal Saviour, a lantern in a sure and kindly hand, comforting voices in
 the dark. But here ...there is a mystic purpose in Nature...".

It makes demonstrably clear the fact that B-P was strongly opposed to atheism
and would turn over in his grave at the thought of atheists as scout leaders or
permitting Scouts to omit "Duty to God" from their Scout Oath.

While it may be argued that these ideas are outdated, or that scouting in the
1990's should change with the times to maintain its relevance, there is ample
historical evidence that Scouting's founder regarded atheism as something to be
avoided, as foreign to the ideals of scouting:  individual happiness, fulfill-
ment, and service to fellow man through doing one's duty to God. This has been
scouting's core belief and its founding purpose since the beginning of the
movement.

Viewed in this light, the current insistence of the Boy Scouts of America that
its members adhere to the Scout Oath's "On my honor I will do my best to do my
duty to God and my Country..." is merely remaining true to scouting's basic
founding spirit.

Why should a scout pledge his Duty to God?  In the words of Baden-Powell:
   "Religion is essential to happiness. This is not a mere matter of going
    to church, knowing Bible history, or understanding theology.  Religion
    ...means recognising who and what is God, secondly, making the best of
    the life that He has given one and doing what He wants of us.  This is
    mainly doing something for other people."

All that scouting seeks to impart to our young people...striving to do one's
best and to do a good turn daily... flow naturally and logically from this
founding purpose of scouting, to equip boys as they embark on their Voyage
of Life.

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