And Now It Begins: Catholic Groups Rise Up to Replace the Boy Scouts

Seasons of Grace ^ | May 24, 2013 | Kathy Schiffer

[darrellmaurina]

Thank you, Little Jeremiah, for pinging me to this thread, and thank you, Albion Wilde, for pinging me to some other Scouting-related items.

10 posted on 6/8/2013 10:11:19 PM by Theo: “As long as they promote virtue and Christ more than Rome, I’m all in favor of this movement. But if it’s all about 'home to Rome,' then meh ...”

I understand your point. I'm an evangelical Protestant. And as an Italian, I have specific and personal reasons to have problems with Rome.

However, let's be honest... one of the major problems with Boy Scouts, right back to Baden-Powell himself, was the undefined doctrinal character of Scouting's commitment to God. True, you couldn't be an atheist and a Scout, but it was perfectly fine to be a Unitarian or a member of a mainline liberal denomination — and that got the foot of liberalism in the door.

I see no way, in the modern American context, to have an organization survive which is committed to teaching moral principles to young people without that organization having a strong doctrinal foundation. Morality is nice, but without doctrine behind it, the question will always be “whose morality?”

That probably means the Roman Catholics have to organize their own Scouting groups, much as the Southern Baptists have their Royal Ambassadors, the Assemblies of God have their Royal Rangers, and the Calvinist Cadet Corps exist in my own circles.

Sometimes people can get along a lot better in separate organizations than trying to work together in a single non-doctrinal organization,

[lewislynn]

Good priests + Good scouts = Doubleplusgood, lewislynn.

So like the church we'll just sweep all those child molestations under the rug...Or make them scout masters. Got it.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I said "good" priests, not Judas priests, lewislynn.

Try to make distinctions. Thank you.

[DannyTN]

"Just curious why would parents feel comfortable with Catholic Priests teaming up with boys from the boy-scouts?"

Your implying that all Catholic Priests are child molesters and this Baptist thinks that is a terrible slander.

Catholics are already the 4th largest sponsor of scouting troops. I don't know who works with the scouts. It's probably not priests, but lay people or a combination of priests and lay people. So Catholic parents are apparently already comfortable with Catholic sponsored scouting. They're just not comfortable with letting openly gay members go camping with their kids.

[DannyTN]

See post 44. That slander comment applies to you too.