Scouts granted right to dob-dob for Allah (Great Britain)

Times of London ^ | 6/12/05 | Colin Gray and Camillo Fracassini

[wagglebee]

FOR Scouts, it has been as much a part of their movement as jamborees, woggles and the three-fingered salute. Now, after a century, the Scout Association has ditched its traditional pledge of loyalty “to God and to the Queen” in favour of a series of multicultural options.

Muslim Scouts can opt to swear to Allah, while atheists can drop God altogether and budding republicans can pledge themselves to the state rather than the monarch.

The pledge is taken by all Scouts on joining the movement, which was established in 1907. The new variations are intended to reflect the growing diversity of Britain.

They represent a rejection of the “muscular Christianity” and love of monarchy espoused by Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of scouting.

The changes have horrified some prominent former Scouts. Stephen Pound, the Labour MP and chairman of the all-party parliamentary Scout group, called the changes “profoundly retrograde, uncalled for and potentially extremely divisive”.

The current pledge, based on that written by Baden-Powell, states: “On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and to the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Scout law.”

Under new guidelines issued to Scout leaders, Muslim Scouts — as well as Beavers and Cubs, the groups to which younger boys belong — can pledge their duty to Allah and Hindu Scouts to their Dharma. Atheists can promise to live life in “good moral standing”.

In addition, children who are not British but live here can promise to do their duty to “the country in which I am now living” instead of promising allegiance to the Queen.

For republican recruits, there is the option of pledging “duty to the state and the laws of the state”. Members whose beliefs are not covered by any of the published alternatives can use other forms of wording agreed between their parents and the leader of their Scout group.

“Scouting is available to all faiths and, therefore, must take account of the different religious obligations of its members,” the new guidelines state.

“To meet these circumstances, there are different forms of the Beaver Scout, Cub Scout and Scout promise that can be made, allowing for the individual’s obligations while upholding the essential spirit of the promise.

“The phrase ‘to love God’ and ‘duty to God’ implies belief in a supreme being and the acceptance of divine guidance and therefore the word ‘God’ can be replaced by ‘Allah’, ‘my Dharma’ or others as appropriate to suit the faith or religion of the individual concerned.”

It is hoped the shift in policy will help to rid the association of its reputation for being mainly white, middle-class and Christian. The Girl Guides changed their pledge from “God” to “my God” more than a decade ago.

Baden-Powell was inspired to found the Scouts after being impressed with the initiative shown by boys during the siege of the South African town of Mafeking in 1899-1900 during the Boer war. His first experimental camp was held on Brownsea Island off Poole in Dorset in 1907.

“There is a vast reserve of loyal patriotism and Christian spirit lying dormant in our nation today,” he wrote in his handbook, Scouting for Boys, published in 1908.

“Here in this joyous brotherhood there is vast opportunity open to all in a happy work that shows results under your hands and a work that is worthwhile because it gives every man his chance of service for his fellow men and for God.”

Since then, however, scouting has developed into a worldwide movement covering most major religions. Out of 28m Scouts worldwide, a third are Muslim. There are also 2m Buddhist Scouts, 1m Hindus and 350,000 Sikhs.

In Britain, 1% of the 400,000 Scouts are Muslim and in the past year 10 new troops have opened where most of the members are Muslim. These are in Cardiff, Luton and Manchester. The British Scout Association also has Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist and Rastafarian members.

“It’s great that the meaning of the Scout promise is acceptable to all faiths involved with scouting. As a Muslim, I can take my promise side-by-side with Christians, Sikhs and others,” said Amir Cheema, leader of the predominantly Muslim 1st Bristol Scout Group.

“The Scout Association’s activities fit perfectly to the community and family-orientated aspects of Islam. I particularly enjoy the interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim Scouts.”

Narinder Singh Birdi, joint group Scout leader at 13th Southall (Sikh) Group in London, added: “I love scouting because it is so diverse and welcoming to all. It is flexible to fit everybody’s needs and I find it sits hand in hand with Sikhism.

“The most important part of my faith is the Sikh uniform, scouting works in the same way. I wear my turban and my Scout scarf with pride. This shows the world that I live my life as a Sikh and as a Scout.”

Abandoning the traditional pledge is the latest in a long line of changes instituted by the association to modernise its image and appeal to a generation of children distracted by pop music, computer games and the internet.

While the movement — whose former members include Sir David Attenborough, David Beckham and Tony Benn — is booming globally, the number of members in the UK has fallen from more than 650,000 in the 1980s.

A spokesman for the Scout Association said: “Young people of Scout age are trying to establish their own sense of personal identity and this includes developing their own beliefs and attitudes and a new and personal relationship with their God.

“The whole point is that the young people understand and believe what they are saying and, so long as there is a strong element of morality and duty and they agree to live their life in a good, progressive way, then the wording itself is open to discussion.”

Pound, however, said: “Scouting is the biggest international youth organisation and what we are now doing is removing one of the central tenets of internationalism, uniformity and common ethos that we all had.

“The point about the promise is that you do your duty to God and the Queen. The minute you start to change that, you create divisions within scouting because there is no single, all-encompassing ethos.”

[Selous]

"However, the main problem with that argument (which a lot of Europeans make) is this:"

Oh, I wasn't advancing my comment as an argument. Merely observing the political realities.

"Very few in the US are actually in favor allowing illegal aliens into our country"

I suspect you are right. However, the evidence doesn't seem to support the rhetoric. Don't get me wrong, though. It's not That I disagree with your question:-

"....why do you keep allowing the jihadists into your country?"

Nor do I take exception to it. It's just that I cannot proffer any simple, sensible answer. You're asking a question which those of us in this country who recognise the folly, and who are robustly anti-Islam, have been posing for years. Simplistically, it boils down to the fact that we are a nation which has lost its way. ( How could I explain to you, for example, why a country chooses to re-elect a government, as we did recently [and which got less than 37% of the popular vote], fully in the knowledge that that government is commited to handing over our sovereignty to a bunch of unelected foreigners in Brussels?!!!) We are a society which has allowed itself to become so so deeply imbued with a socialist/humanist ethos that it virtually guarantees the ascendency of Islam as the dominant political force within the next couple of decades. And I predict that all of western Europe will fall similarly.

So, yeah, I wish I had an answer that made any kind of sense.

[Fresh Wind]