Survivors of the bonfire being tapped into the Order of the Druids
Posted on 05/11/2006 8:04:29 AM PDT by fgoodwin
Scout's admission of being Wiccan leads to turmoil
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006605090308 http://tinyurl.com/klgp8
Article published May 9, 2006 By Melanie Crownover Special to The Town Talk
ANACOCO -- The camp is going well so far. Boy Scouts have gathered from around the area in khaki button-ups and red scarves, eager to earn their God and Country badge.
The leader in a room of about 20 Scouts decides to break the ice by showing how religiously diverse the gathering is.
By a showing of hands, he asks who belongs to the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, continuing on until two boys are left who have not raised their hands.
One of the brothers is called out to tell the group what church he attends. He replies, "I'm Wiccan."
Little did 12-year-old Cody Brown realize how much that answer would affect his life.
During the past six weeks, Cody and his 15-year-old brother, Justin, have waited with their parents to see how the controversy sparked by Cody's answer would play out.
Within 48 hours of Cody's confession, the troop committee of Holly Grove United Methodist Church in Anacoco was meeting to discuss the implications.
The church sponsors the boys' chapter, Troop 71. Pastor Doug Lewellyn was out of town at the time of the meeting.
"The number one scout law is to do your duty to God and your country," Troop 71 Scout Master Gene Doherty said. "They met to discuss whether or not the boys could live up to that because of their religion."
The conclusion was that they could not.
Doherty called Army Cpt. Todd Buchheim, the boys' father and a former Eagle Scout stationed at Fort Polk, to inform him that the boys no longer were welcome in the troop. The Buchheims said Doherty told them that if Cody had lied about his faith, the boys could have remained with no problem.
"I was trying to give them a head's up so that they wouldn't come to the next meeting and not be prepared for what was going on," Doherty said. "They've been so supportive of our troop, and they're good people."
Two days later, Doherty said, the committee held another meeting with the church's pastor and decided to contact the district United Methodist Church committee and the National Council of the Boy Scouts before anything official was done.
Doherty, however, had already acted upon the original orders and kicked the boys out of the troop.
"The boys had been in that troop for over a year, and it wasn't exactly a secret," said Aileen Buchheim, the boys' mother. The boys became a part of the troop when the family lived in Anacoco, but wanted to continue on after they moved to Fort Polk in August 2005.
"No child should have to be told in 2006 that they can't take part in a group because of their religion," Aileen Buchheim said.
The district church committee in Lake Charles agreed and overturned Holly Grove's decision to oust the boys from the troop on religious grounds.
"Our church's motto is to open our hearts, minds and doors to everyone because we all have to come to an understanding of God on our own -- these boys should be no different," District Superintendent Doug Ezell said. "We are just a sponsor for the troop, so if the Boy Scouts do not have a problem with them being there, we don't."
According to the Boy Scouts, it's up to the sponsors to make that choice.
"Boy Scouts own the program but does not control the unit," said Legare Clement, executive director of the Boy Scouts for southwestern Louisiana. "We partner with community organizations and churches as sponsors to present the program, which is actually a youth outreach for them.
"They approve leaders by our standards, but they have a right to choose members," Clement said.
Although there are no troops or packs sponsored by Wiccan circles, the national office informed Clement that any boy who believes there is a God -- not just the Christian God -- can live up to the creed.
"They said that we believe in more than one God, but that depends on the branch of Wicca, just like any other religion," Aileen Buchheim said. "We believe in one goddess and god with different names and aspects depending on the time of the year."
Not everyone embraced the church's decision, including some parents of troop members who, officials said, feared that their children would be preached to by the two boys.
The irony is that the original troop was founded on parallel circumstances.
Doherty said Troop 71 began as a half-Baptist/half-Pentecostal troop led by a Jewish man.
Although the children had no problems with one another, the parents wanted the troop separated because of religious beliefs, Doherty said. When Doherty needed a charter for his Cub Scout troop, the troop leader transferred the charter and ferried his children to Anacoco from Pitkin for years to avoid the split.
"I've seen what difference of belief can do to a troop even if we aren't here to do doctrine," Doherty said. "It's not right or fair, but it's there. The world just isn't ready for diversity when it comes to their kids. People fear what they don't understand."
After almost a month of noncommittal answers on the boys' status, Aileen Buchheim said she received an apologetic call from Lewellyn to invite the boys to the next meeting, which occurred April 25.
Lewellyn attended the scout meeting to talk to the parents and Scouts about why they all were welcome and how doctrine was not a Boy Scout topic.
Numbers were sparse, and two mothers allegedly came back to pick their boys up 10 minutes after Capt. Buchheim brought in his sons.
"This (the controversy) has weakened the group," Doherty said. "I will probably lose some parent support and some good boys over this no matter how it turns out."
This past week, he officially lost two.
Cody and Justin decided not to remain with Troop 71 after the ordeal.
"This was devastating," Aileen Buchheim said. "My husband puts on a uniform to fight for ours and other nations' rights every day, and yet this happens in our own backyard. We just wanted to make sure it was straightened out so no one has to go through this again."
In the meantime, Aileen Buchheim has filed paperwork to charter a local chapter of Spiral Scouts, a Wiccan-based scouting organization that accepts members of any background, belief or gender between the ages of 3 and 18.
About 15 children are already on the sign-up list if the charter is approved, she said.
Apparently she could also have applied successfully to the Boy Scouts to have a Wiccan circle sponsor a troop.
"Pastor Doug Lewellyn"
Wasn't he the bailiff on The People's Court?
And what exactly makes you say such a hateful thing?
The two boys should still be allowed in the local Boy Scouts.
When I was in Air Force BMT, my Wingman was a Wiccan. He's not a bad person because of it. I'm Catholic and am proud of it. I thought that some of the Wiccan beliefs were silly or unusual and we talked about them, but he wasn't trying to convert me.
Regardless of his religion being radically different from mine, he was my Wingman, and we were there for each other. We helped each other when times were hard (and boy were they). Wiccan isn't for me, but I'm not going to treat one any differently than than a Jew or Protestan.
The only reason for asking what religion the boys were should have been to inform them of the Religious Awards available for Boy Scouts. He could have simply informed them that the awards are available and left literature out for them or their parents to peruse. That way no one would have been singled out for any reason. Poor judgement on the part of the leader, but if the boys who are Wiccan had never said anything about it, the leader probably thought he had his typical Christian boys in the group.
Let's be careful here. The scoutmaster's alleged request to the Wiccan scout to "lie about his faith" is a statement made in a lawsuit by somebody who wasn't there: the parent of the Wiccan scout. That parent WAS NOT THERE and has an obvious bias. Let's not condemn someone as a liar based on hearsay.
Especially if the group they joined holds religious beliefs contrary to theirs... What do they teach in school these days?
Now imagine a Christian being kicked out of an Islamic scout troop.
Biased or not, it's not hearsay - the boy's parents are quoting Doherty directly - what he said to them. Not what they heard somebody else say he said.
And where do you get the bit about the lawsuit, anyway?
Tell the Catholics that they have to accept Satanists. Tell the Baptists that they have to accept homosexual Episcopalians. Tell the LPGA that they have to accept Tiger Woods!
Sorry, but "inclusion" doesn't mean abandonment of common sense.
Survivors of the bonfire being tapped into the Order of the Druids
"Let's be careful here. The scoutmaster's alleged request to the Wiccan scout to "lie about his faith" is a statement made in a lawsuit by somebody who wasn't there: the parent of the Wiccan scout. That parent WAS NOT THERE and has an obvious bias. Let's not condemn someone as a liar based on hearsay."
True. It was 'alleged' to have been said, which means nothing until proven. OK - I agree.
I heard an interview this morning with the father. He is Christian, his wife is Wiccan (don't call it a 'made up religion' folks, it's been around longer than 'Christianity', just now in a lighter form).
Eitherway, the Boy Scouts are not a "Christian" organization and shouldn't involve religion in their meetings, especially if it means kicking them out! Morals, yes. Religion, no.
I don't get it - Capt. Buckheim says that Doherty kicked his kids out - you apparently believe that.
Capt. Buckheim also says that in the SAME PHONE call, the SAME Mr. Doherty said that they could have lied to save their position - and that's "alleged" and unproven?
What's the diff?
Christians are not supposed to be "unequally yoked" (2 Corinth 6:14) with non-Christians but it does seem to happen a lot these days.
(don't call it a 'made up religion' folks, it's been around longer than 'Christianity', just now in a lighter form).
The Romans had it right - they considered the practitioners of the Celtic religion to be the vilest of all human beings, primarily because of their practice of human sacrifice. While the Romans were not shy about shedding human blood, even for entertainment, nevertheless human sacrifice to appease gods was looked upon by them as the lowest act one human being could perform upon another. The modern "lighter form" is lipstick on a pig.
Eitherway, the Boy Scouts are not a "Christian" organization
Agreed, and the Scouts do not claim to be a Christian organization.
and shouldn't involve religion in their meetings, especially if it means kicking them out! Morals, yes. Religion, no.
I agree the believe in God ought not be overemphasized, but neither should the Scouts back off from their "God and Country" Scout law when challenged by atheists and occultists.
It is perfectly appropriate for the Scouts to exclude occultic practitioners. Yes, that means having to make distinctions, and the distinctions may be hard to make in some cases, and the distinctions may anger some people. It is the price of having principles.
They were working on God and Country. That does involve discussion and introspection on your own personal religion.
That aside, maybe the leaders should have acted differently and maybe the parents should be aware of what God and Country entails and how it would be presented. The books are out there and it is no secret.
Everyone involved was knee-jerking all over the place. But the end result may be for the best. If Mom can't fully support the Troop anymore then she did the right thing by starting her own group. Her kids learned a valuable lesson of empowerment. In America we don't have to stay in a situation we dislike. We can make our own niche. What a great country!
It is a made up religion. It could be 10,000 years old. It is still made up!
>>>(don't call it a 'made up religion' folks, it's been around longer than 'Christianity', just now in a lighter form)
It is a made up religion. It could be 10,000 years old. It is still made up!>>>
As is any other religion by that logic.
I would like to see Doherty confirm the statement.
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