What is Digg?200 Comments
- cle2105, on 11/24/2008, -29/+106The Boy Scouts of America do the same thing: instill patriotism. Many of them go on to serve in the military or work for the government. This doesn't seem different.
- cle2105, on 11/24/2008, -5/+56I'm an Eagle Scout too (no kidding), and now I work for the Dept. of Defense. They may not have an "agenda" per se, but they certainly make an effort to instill patriotism. Citizen of the US merit badge? Flag ceremonies? Encampments at Valley Forge and Gettysburg? It's subtle, I know, but it's there.
- dilpil1, on 11/24/2008, -18/+66To be fair, Christians use similar recruiting tactics, as do all proselytizing religions.
- algaeturd, on 11/24/2008, -8/+49Have you ever seen the documentary about the religious right recruiting kids into camps and scaring them into doing their bidding? It's ***** creepy as all get out.
"Jesus Camp.' Check it out sometime if you want to be creeped out by the religious right more than you already are. - shitforbrains, on 11/25/2008, -7/+34I am an eagle scout too. The boy scouts is cool, but it has just a couple of issues, besides for the whole militaristic thing going on.
The Boy Scouts of America is a Christian Organization and will kick you out if you are an infidel or gay. There's certainly nothing wrong with being Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient (unless it's to the military-industrial complex), cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean but being reverent should be a personal choice. In my boy scout manual from the 60's I also remember that clean meant clean in mind and body. I remember thinking that what was in my mind was none of their business and I was only 11 at the time. Until they get rid of their rules concerning atheists and gay people, the BSA shouldn't get any more money from the government. I'm tired of subsidizing their hate speech. - glasnostic, on 11/24/2008, -15/+40imagine what our Boy Scouts would be learning if there was a vastly superior military power bent on expansion on our doorstep.
- TheCake, on 11/25/2008, -5/+28I missed the part where the boy scouts teach that "Jews are...cruel, corrupt, cowardly and deceitful, and they are called the killers of prophets" (from the chapter "Facts About Jews" from the Mahdi Scout's handbook, by Hezbollah).
Your moral equivalence comes up short. - beingdevious, on 11/25/2008, -5/+27i completely agree, after 14 years in the BSA, i never once felt as if i was forced to join a military or work for the government. we were taught life skills and how to treat others with respect. regardless of country, race, or religion.
- thetruthis, on 11/25/2008, -3/+24As an eagle scout myself I want to ask, what does this have to do with boy scouts? I realize the idea of boy scouts sounds kinda gay, but it was actually pretty cool for me. I got to hang out with my friends and go camping, and do cool stuff. Do I have to mention I voted for Obama to get some credibility here?
- AboveandBeyond, on 11/24/2008, -16/+33posted by israeligirl? rofl
she/he must be one of them, read here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle ... - shoover, on 11/24/2008, -4/+20I thought you had a bit of a point till fell off the right end of the spectrum with your 'moonbat' and 'pro-terrorist' comments. Try and read their comments without your red-filtered glasses and you might see they have a point - a point that can't possibly be discussed when raging lunatics like you enter the conversation.
- inactive, on 11/25/2008, -2/+17Speaking as a fellow eagle scout, it's not THAT subtle. :P
- Harabeck, on 11/25/2008, -2/+16Boy scouts do not kick people out for being non-Christian, in fact Im pretty sure there are special pins for religious education, and everything official I read advocated tolerance in that area.
- bcorder, on 11/25/2008, -2/+16Long time Boy Scout here. Learned lots of valuable life lessons and skills. I agree with one of the earlier comments about good organization, but I too think it kicks out some of the kids who need it the most. As far as youth organizations go there are far worse ones. And isn't the point of all youth organizations, including sports teams to teach kids life lessons, instill a moral base, and promote a sense of community?
- Harabeck, on 11/25/2008, -0/+14Seriously, Boy Scouts for me was a way to get to go camping, kayaking, and caving where I wouldnt have been able to otherwise. Like any large organization it's not completely homogeneous, there are nut jobs, but there also really cool people.
- HookmasterCH47, on 11/25/2008, -0/+14I'm an Eagle Scout and I served in the Army for 8 years. They teach you to camp outside, and shoot guns, and survive, etc... It was fun. Then I got to Basic Training and it was like Boy Scout Camp with machine guns. I don't know, maybe I have real issues.
- galeninjapan, on 11/24/2008, -28/+40That's *****. I am an eagle scout and went to many camps growing up and worked at 2. Other than saying the pledge of allegiance there is not "patriotic agenda."
- MWeather, on 11/25/2008, -3/+15You're lucky. Some troop councils, especially rural ones,are downright scary. I got out of the scouts after moving to the country.
- joghee, on 11/25/2008, -5/+16interesting. can you please bring this one up by posting as a new article on digg.
- sigmaman2, on 11/25/2008, -6/+16"On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the Scout Law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."
That's the oath I remember taking for membership in the Boy Scouts. Can someone explain how that is NOT part of an agenda? - Kinsbane, on 11/25/2008, -2/+12As an FYI, the BSA has a don't ask, don't tell policy. I was never asked my sexual orientation or how deep my religiousness went, and I was never required to tell anyone, nor was I ever given hate speech. It's probably different in other states, but in California, the troops and packs are very diversified and unique. I had Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists in my troop. My cub scout pack was mostly Jewish, and the pack was centered at a Jewish temple. No one ever said to those kids, "Hey, you're not a Christian. Get out."
The only requirements for becoming a Boy Scout is to be 10 years old or have graduated the 5th grade.
Alas, however, because of the LDS Church's huge involvement in the BSA and their recent shenanigans trying to force their beliefs down peoples' throats, I will not be sending my kids to the BSA. - MWeather, on 11/25/2008, -7/+17Just ask an openly atheist scout about how tolerant they are.
- Hoogs, on 11/25/2008, -1/+10To be fair, "reverent" doesn't necessarily mean being a Christian. It means having respect for a higher authority, whether it be God, country, or even your parents. You don't need to be religious to be a Boy Scout, just respectful. I'm also an Eagle Scout, for what it's worth. It's nice to see other Eagles here on Digg :)
- CoolSilver, on 11/25/2008, -1/+10I am an Eagle Scout as well. I went to camp and worked at the local camp.
As much as Scouting had it's origins in military. Scouting in America holds the values, honor and traditions such as flag ceremonies for raising and lowering a flag. Which how many people stop and hold their hand over their heart when a flag is raised or lowered, even if it is in front of an office building or city all?
Scouting separates these things. They instill leadership values by democratic means. Voting as patrols and planing in committees. I think there is a clear differences in how things are done. It's not forced into kids as a way of life. As a way to live and die. Scouting provides skills and the ability to be an individual. Options in what things they may learn along with the core values most if not all people should have. Such as basic respect and knowledge of government to survival skills. - Harabeck, on 11/25/2008, -2/+11You guys are reading way too much into this. Im an Eagle Scout, and yes, there is a patriotic ring to the oaths and ceremonies. But guess what? All the scouts are half asleep during them anyway. Most of them are only there to go out into the woods and be pyros with pocket knives.
- Benno, on 11/25/2008, -0/+8To all the people comparing this to scouts or religion:
You can simultaneously be against two things. It's also possible to disagree with the actions of the Israeli government and Hezbollah. This is shocking news to many people I'm sure. - bannonto, on 11/25/2008, -7/+15I went to my little bro's Eagle scout ceremony last year, and it was scary how much patriotism they jammed into the ceremony. I am by no means anti-American, but to have these ideals jammed down the throats of 16 year olds is not right.
- NtrmDscrptr, on 11/25/2008, -12/+20It's worse than that. Check this link out:
http://giyus.org/
Israeligirl is one of digg's longest-running propaganda trolls.
She's a part of giyus.org. GIYUS stands for "Give Israel Your United Support", and publishes this "Megaphone" software, which Israelis use to spam American social news sites to further their pro-Israel agenda.
To Israeligirl and all other giyus.org members: Stay the ***** out of our politics, and clean up your state's appalling human rights record, and eliminate your racist fascist apartheid policies.
Always bury Israeligirl.
Always. - shoover, on 11/24/2008, -1/+9Not every day we see such true talent... Your momma must be so proud.
- gn0stik, on 11/25/2008, -2/+9to be fair, BSA isn't a Christian Organization, anymore than our founding fathers were all Christian. It does however encourage some form of faith.
- nonstop87, on 11/25/2008, -4/+11http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=jesus+camp#
But to be fair this doesn't represent Christians as a whole. - rjhomuth, on 11/25/2008, -6/+13I earned the Infidel Striking Merit Badge my first year. I was so proud.
- maus56, on 11/25/2008, -0/+6Evidently god also forbids some people from learning how to spell...
- mikeoncampus, on 11/25/2008, -1/+7i think American patriotism is a lil bit different than Islamic extremist patriotism
- dave11980, on 11/25/2008, -5/+11MY GOD IN HEAVEN, THEY SAY THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE? Whats next? Singing the national anthem at ball games. We have got to stamp out this rampant patriotism.
Whats wrong about a little patriotism? Why does that have to be part of some 'agenda'? Really guys, get a life. This isn't skull and bones stuff here.
And I'm an Eagle Scout too. - derekrg, on 11/25/2008, -0/+6There are many great people that were in Boy Scouts and became Eagles and, Yes, the Boys Scouts of America has some flaws but it has done much more good
Notable Eagle Scouts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Eagle_Scouts_ ...
And don't forget Kevin Rose is an Eagle Scout lol - Arkavus, on 11/24/2008, -2/+8That has to be the most stupid video I have ever seen. The only thing worse are the comments...
- GregFD3S, on 11/25/2008, -20/+25***** religion.
- CoolSilver, on 11/25/2008, -1/+6I was always tolerant of others. I knew a few that was wiccan in scouting. I knew a couple into Voodoo and practiced it.
- CoolSilver, on 11/25/2008, -0/+5That is priceless. :)
- RedHeadedFreak, on 11/25/2008, -0/+5The God Hates Fags crowd is a single church, even a lot of your very fundamentalist Christians hate them because they slander soldiers at funerals... Islamic terrorists comprise a much larger majority of their respective religion, i.e. Hezbollah is a much larger group than the Westboro Baptist Church and far more influential.
And for full disclosure, I'm not even a Christian, nor religious. I think they're all a little crazy, but if you can't tell the difference between a Hezbollah Scout group and an American group simply founded by Christians (but accepting of others), then you are just brain damaged honestly.
And yes, Christians would rather see you not be gay. You can believe them or you can choose not to. But the fact is, they can't force you to not be gay, and 99% probably wouldn't even if they could. - bagboyrebel, on 11/25/2008, -3/+8@CoolSilver
Having pride in your country isn't what people are complaining about, it's the propaganda-like way it's done. - snoogit, on 11/25/2008, -2/+7BSA's been a Church dominated group for almost a decade now. Hell you could call it the BSofLDS and it'd fit.
- thegrantman, on 11/25/2008, -2/+7That's funny.
Hezbollah has an article warning its children of recruiting practices by the Boy Scouts. - talkingDigital, on 11/25/2008, -6/+10Fewer Boy Scouts just might be the problem here. Just the fact that someone would think that Hezbollah teaching kids to hate from an early age is anything comparable to teaching boys that being a man is about service and duty to country (different from militant domination).
The beliefs of the Boy Scouts of America are what keeps America from becoming another Hezbollah. - inactive, on 11/25/2008, -1/+5What is JimmySpaza right about? Seriously?
- freebird09, on 11/25/2008, -0/+4I agree. As a fellow eagle scout, varsity athlete, and gaming nutjob, I notice that a lot of people either presume scouting is lame, for kids qho don't have friends, for nonathletic people, or some combination. However, scouting gave me a chance to travel down the Allagash river and hike through the mountains of New Mexico all in good company.
Is it paramilitary? Yes. Religiously biased? Actually not really. There are numerous amounts of religious medals in scouting that can be earned for any faith....from Christian to Islamic to Buddhist. - opticwind, on 11/25/2008, -0/+4Yeah, I recall being a Boy scout.
A) There was no loyalty, it sucked. For EVERYONE.
B) They taught us the butterfly knot but I don't recall the "blow self up and kill innocent people" day. Must've slipped my mind. - joshmoney, on 11/25/2008, -1/+5You know I was just waiting for someone to say something about Jesus Camp and as weird and extreme as it might seem, its still quite different. I know, I was raised in a very conservative Christian home and attended a few very similar camps as a kid, and yes I've seen the movie. I'm now an atheistic leaning agnostic but even when I was being brought up and attended those camps I never encountered one person who ever suggested violence as a solution or that we were more superior than other groups of people like Jews etc. Even though we pretended to be "soldiers" in Gods army it was always made very clear that it was metaphorical and the term "spiritual warfare" was ALWAYS used in reference to prayer. Please understand that I'm not defending or endorsing the "Jesus Camps" but instead I'm making a point that one of the reasons their methods were so effective was because they taught us to use legal methods to bring about change instead of violence. I could win legal arguments in elementary and middle school with my "secular" friends because I actually new what the law was and who had voted for it. This remains one of the main differences between the Christian right and groups like Hezbollah, and until people realize this they will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.
- tendonut, on 11/25/2008, -0/+4My brother made Eagle about 3 years ago and just today he was sworn into the fire department, along with the other guy he made eagle with as well.
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