Hello, ben. You are, of course, correct that the USSSP provides materials for all religions. The interesting thing to me is that they seem to be, at the same time, testing the extent and enforcability of the BSA's copyrights and trademarks. Go to the official BSA website and you see the same type of materials available. What you will NOT see there is any mention of the USSSP.

I'm no copyright expert, but I'm sure BSA is well aware of the contents of the USSSP website -- and I assume if BSA felt USSSP's use of BSA materials was actionable, they (BSA) would've sued by now. Not sure what your comment has to do with the original question.

The only thing I noticed that seems somewhat paradoxical is that, according to caf's link, two of the requirements for a particular badge are:

'1. Understanding the nature of God; Jesus and the Holy Spirit', and '6: Understanding Biblical doctrines.'

Since Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have enormously different beliefs concerning Christ's nature, and since within Christianity, indeed even within Protestantism, there are many different beliefs concerning Biblical doctrines, one wonders what this has to do with scouting. One can just picture an Episcopalian and a Baptist slugging it out at a jamboree over some Biblical doctrine, each attempting to protect his 'Joyful Servant' badge from the heathen.

This is a strawman argument. How much do you know about the Religious Emblems Program? It is not a BSA program; it is an independent program available to youth in Girl Scouts, 4H, Campfire, etc. So it is totally independent of Scouting, and in fact the faith-specific requirements are written by each of the various denominations, so it should not be surprising that the requirements for one faith will differ from the requirements for another, nor is it surprising that such differences are not an issue for BSA.

The point is that "A Scout is reverent" and a Scout has a "duty to God". Earning the religious emblem of his faith is one way a Scout can honor his "duty to God". Scouting does not provide religious instruction; rather BSA expects that instruction to come from the boy's family, minister and church.

Many years ago, the Girl Scouts made clear their policy that girl scouting was for all girls, regardless of their religion or lack of religion, and regardless of sexual orientation. In my opinion the BSA would do well to follow suit and concentrate on scouting.

Boy Scouts earn three times as many religious awards as Girl Scouts do. GSUSA has de-emphasized belief in God to the point that girls are no longer required to recite that part of the Girl Scout promise. Such political-correctness is hardly a model for the Boy Scouts to follow.

It WAS a great organization, but the (relatively) recent policy of religious EMPHASIS (rather than tolerance) has cost it millions of dollars in public funding and, quite frankly, given it a reputation as a haven for bigots, religious and otherwise. The ironic thing is that Lord Baden-Powell conceived the Boy Scouts as a universal alternative to similar but sectarian organizations.

Boy Scouts is still a great organization. You might be surprised to learn how important BP felt that faith was to a Scout; see:

Scouting and Spiritual Development

and

Baden-Powell's position on God and Religion in Scouting

Fred Goodwin

Alamo Area Council