BSA GSA / Scouting Alternatives

[Bootstrap]

The old Boy Scouts was something I could take neighbors to. I wish I could bring some of the refugee boys to Boy Scouts. The old kind I grew up with. Not what they have now.

I sure miss Scout Pioneering. We used to build an observation tower inside the local mall every year with nothing but saplings and lashing. I still like lashing things together ...

[Haystack]

Some of my best childhood memories were when I was a Boy Scout through a Mormon Church. This was 10+ years ago, it's sad to see the direction that they're going in now.

[temporal1]

Page 1 / 2018

The Mormon church announced this week they were severing all ties, following BSA's recent name change to "Scout Me In". I'm trying to find the article, but I read yesterday that because the Mormon church had the largest church-sponsored BSA membership numbers, the BSA lost around 425,000 members.

I doubt BSA is going to last much longer; I was involved till the 2013 openly gay Scouts decision, and saw the affect it had on our very conservative Christian homeschooler-based group. BSA has suffered huge loses with every change they've made since then.

A lot has happened.

April 2019 / Name change, open to girls.

“Boy Scouts Are Just Scouts Now, and That’s Making Girl Scouts Mad”
“The 100-year-old organizations are prepared to take their battle over self-identity to court.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features ... scouts-mad

February 2020 / Bankruptcy (still using BSA name??) -

“Boy Scouts files Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of thousands of child abuse allegations”
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/ ... 301187001/

Nov 2019 / Assets:

“Boy Scouts mortgage vast Philmont ranch in New Mexico as collateral“
https://www.sltrib.com/news/nation-worl ... gage-vast/

2013 Philmont Promo / 2 min.
https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/mult ... montpromo/

Meanwhile ..
AHG / American Heritage Girls, and Trail Life USA (boys) seem to be doing very well.

Evidently, Trail Life USA has grown a lot in this last year, as BSA attempted to change their name and invite girl members.

BSA has a LOT of lib corporate support*, or they have, i don’t know how gov is involved with BSA/GSA, but, i sure notice these are THE ONLY 2 scouting groups featured in mainstream news, esp when it comes to GS cookie sales.

*lib corporations unapologetically promote lib social engineering experiments and politics.
in the U.S., and world wide.

Personally, while BSA and GSA have had good histories, nothing lasts forever.

(i would prefer) they be allowed to die natural deaths, other scouting options are available.
corporations+gov can fund that which is failing, i wish they would do less of this and respect deaths of unwanted “institutions.”

As far as i can tell, “they” don’t care what i prefer,
it appears they plan to use bankruptcy to regroup and grow, they sure have assets and political backing to accomplish it - NO MATTER WHAT PARENTS WANT.

The BSA sex abuse scandals seem to be treated as an inconvenient hiccup in their corporate business plan. i notice no remorse, aside from remorse for “some” financial inconvenience.

Since 2013, BSA admin has not been about what scouts and parents want, but about lib political agenda.

.. i feel really badly walking past young scouts selling popcorn at grocery store entry doors.
i want to encourage them! honestly, parents seem to be in denial of corporate leadership+politics. they feel detached from it, only wanting their boys to enjoy scouting. it’s sad. it’s a lot like people voting for abortion, telling themselves they are not.

[temporal1]

Max posted in another thread:
http://forum.mennonet.com/viewtopic.php ... 052#p81052

[temporal1]

Feb 18, 2019 / Quote found in comments:

NBC / “Boy Scouts of America, hobbled by multiple sex-abuse lawsuits, files for bankruptcy protection”
“The venerable nonprofit is following the lead of the scandal-wracked Roman Catholic Church.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bo ... dDUZ7mhVds

E D Sandwall wrote:
Survivor’s rights have just been trampled by the BSA filing bankruptcy and avoiding responsible accountability. All those NY victims from within the BSA whose rights were finally established by NY’s CVA are officially wiped away. So are the rights of any of those affected by CSA at hands of a BSA perp in any other state in which an SOL bill containing a look back window has been instituted (or will be). If anyone wants to understand how egregious this is, and how civil rights defying this is, reach out. Very experienced with how the chapter 11 reorganization court treats survivors.
AND how it allows for the protection of perpetrators and assets, be it on an individual or institutional level.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/us/b ... abuse.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/us/b ... abuse.html)

[temporal1]

2025:

BSA GSA / Scouting Alternatives

PragerU / Girling the Boy Scouts | 5 Minute Videos | PragerU / 6min

Description:
Men—and the boys who aspire to become men—are in a sorry state. If only there were an organization to encourage boys to strive for goodness, self-mastery, and excellence! Of course, such an institution already exists—or at least it did. What happened to it?

Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute has the answer.

^^Bad BSA decisions evident in 2013-2014 .. downhill from there.

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2021 / Wayne and Betty in Maine shared a number of their family’s scouting experiences:

Our son Steven, works at the Maine Maritime Academy, his alma mater. He is responsible for the IT needs on the academy's 500 ft. training ship "State of Maine", or TSSOM for short. The waterfront there is a wonderful place - tugboats, power boats, sailboats, rowboats and Bowdoin - the Artic exploring vessel that is the mainstay of the Academy's Small Vessel program. When our family was involved in Sea Scouts (the lesser known nautical branch of Boy Scouts),
we were invited to a 5 day and 4 night sail from Castine to Boothbay Harbor, with that last day culminating in the Windjammer parade. Wayne and I chaperoned our "Ship" (troop) of about 8 teens, and we all participated in learning the ropes of sailing Bowdoin, including sharing the night watches and scrubbing the decks: Soles and Bowls. You can guess what the bowls were.

The Captain of the Bowdoin was a young man named Eric. He ran a well-run ship, and would joined right in with our teens' songs as they polished the brass or start his own. We were privileged to sail on some Autumn day trips, that ended with the scouts helping to unload Bowdoin and take her gear and furnishings to a storage warehouse. Some of her canvas sails weighed hundreds of pounds, and we had a dragon-style line of 20 or so folks hefting them on shoulders and walking them to storage. Eric gave us one of our best sayings that has proven useful again and again: "What's the reward for hard work? More work!"

Steve just happened to run into Eric at a local convenience store yesterday morning. Steve was there to grab a sandwich before driving to the hospital to see Wayne. Eric gave him a handful of carefully knotted crosses to send to our family members. This is from a Facebook post in response to Wayne's prayer requests, including the breathing problems:

"You give life, You are love
You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore
Every heart that is broken
And great are You, Lord
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise
We pour out our praise
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise to You only
You give life, You are love
You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore (You restore)
Every heart that is broken
Great are You, Lord
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise
We pour out our praise
It's Your breath in our lungs
Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing
Great are You, Lord" Great Are You Lord

by All Sons & Daughters
· Reply · 15h
Eric Jergenson to Betty Chesley: " It was playing when I read Wayne Chesley's post."

In a later email from Eric:

"Teri and I make those crosses and give them out to friends, at church, and where ever. When I made the first ones I worked the best I could to close the hole in the middle of the cross. As rope worker it was a matter of pride. I actually didn't hand any out because I wanted to FIX the hole before I gave them away. Then I realized that the hole wasn't a hole. It is a lens. It was a reminder to me to view the world through the lens of the cross. As you and Wayne well know the situations of this world are bleak and hopeless. But through the lens of cross there is hope. It was a God moment that I ran into your son on his way home. I had just filled my pocket with the the survival crosses in the morning "just in case". We are praying for you and hold you all close. Please know I am here for Steven anytime. God bless you and the testimony that your family is living. We serve an amazing God who as already won the war and is present in our daily battles. That original, bloody cross was full of holes when Jesus was taken down as a sacrifice. And since that glorious day the light has shone through those holes and bright Light to the darkness."


I am so thankful for brothers and sisters who listen to promptings and pto still small voices.. May God be praised.

[Ken]

I think you will find that most Anabaptists are skeptical of scouting due to its adjacency to military values. I know my parents were opposed on principle to me joining the cub scouts back in the early 70s and were relieved when I didn't keep it up.

But I would agree 100% that the Boy Scouts has no business trying to recruit girls. It reeks of desperation

[JohnH]

particular when girl guides/girl scouts exist, what's next, having boys in the girl scouts?

[Neto]

When I was going into 7th grade the MB congregation changed the age for entering the youth group, and started Boys' Brigade for boys, and a separate ministry for girls. They upped the age for the MBY (Mennonite Brethren Youth) each following year through my Freshman year in HS. It IS patterned after a military model, but that was toned down in our congregation. We met in an old barn near the church house, and learned basic camping skills, went on primitive camping trips, etc.

(There were also the regular summer youth camps, for all ages starting at around 5th or 6th grade, but those camps involved going to an existing camp ground that had basic cabins with separate shower-bathroom buildings - no running water in the cabins, only electric lights. These camps went for 1 or 2 weeks - I don't remember now anymore - and involved Bible studies in the mornings, and group singing and teaching sessions in the evening. These camp grounds also had a "mess hall" where all meals were prepared, usually by volunteers who came from the MB congregations in the MB conference.)

Other alternatives might be created by starting with programs like Awana or Navigators, then adding the level of 'scouting' and camping skills you want to incorporate.

[Bootstrap]

I think you will find that most Anabaptists are skeptical of scouting due to its adjacency to military values. I know my parents were opposed on principle to me joining the cub scouts back in the early 70s and were relieved when I didn't keep it up.

But I would agree 100% that the Boy Scouts has no business trying to recruit girls. It reeks of desperation

When I was in Boy Scouts, it was really uncomfortable to just stand there when they said the Pledge of Allegiance. But most of it really was more outdoor skills than anything else. Winter camping at 0 degrees with a couple of feet of snow on the ground. Hiking into local gorges carrying insanely heavy packs with axes and dutch ovens and WWII tents.

We lashed together a fire observation tower outside. Then we went to the closest mall and did the same right in the middle of the mall, with everyone looking on. I have very fond memories of this time.