"A Scout is Reverent"

Date: October 10, 2009

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Introduction:

"A Scout is reverent. A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others.

"Wonders all around us remind us of our faith in God. We find it in the tiny secrets of creation and in the great mysteries of the universe. It exists in the kindness of people and in the teachings of our families and religious leaders. We show our reverence by living our lives according to the ideals of our beliefs.

"Throughout your life you will encounter people expressing their reverence in many different ways. The Constitution of the United States guarantees each of us the freedom to believe and worship as we wish without government interference. It is your duty to respect and defend others' rights to their religious beliefs even when they differ from your own."

The Boy Scout Handbook, 11th edition (1998), Chapter 3, "Tenderfoot Scout," page 54.

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Lord R.S.S. Baden-Powell:

"Reverence to God and reverence for one’s neighbor and reverence for oneself as a servant of God, is the basis for every form of religion. The method of expression of reverence to God varies with every sect and denomination. What sect or denomination a boy belongs to depends, as a rule on his parents’ wishes. It is they who decide. It is our business to respect their wishes and to second their efforts to inculcate reverence, what ever form of religion the boy professes."

"The scout, in his promise, undertakes to do his duty to his king and country only in the second place; his first duty is to God. It is with this idea before us and reckoning that God is the one Father of us all, that we scouts count ourselves a brotherhood despite the differences among us of country, creed, or class. We realize that in addition to the interest of our particular country, there is a higher mission before us — namely, the promotion of the kingdom of God; that is, the rule of peace and goodwill on earth. In the Scouts, each form of religion is respected and its active practice encouraged, and through the spread of brotherhood in all countries, we have the opportunity of developing the spirit of mutual goodwill and understanding.

"There is no religious side of the movement. The whole of it is based on religion that is, on the realization and service to God.

"Let us, therefore, in training our Scouts, keep the higher aims in the forefront, not let themselves get too absorbed in the steps. Don't let the technical outweigh the moral, Field efficiency, backwoodsmanship, camping, hiking, good turns, jamboree, and comradeship are, by all means not the end. The end is character with a purpose.

"And that purpose, that the next generation may be sane in a insane world, and develop the higher realization of service, active service of love, and duty to God and neighbor.

"Our objective in the scout movement is to give such help as we can in bringing about God's kingdom on earth by inoculating among the youth the spirit and the daily practice in their lives of selfish goodwill and cooperation."

The Scouts' Own Service is "...a gathering the Scouts for the worship of God and to promote fuller realization of the Scout Law and Promise, but supplementary to, and not in substitution for, regular religious observances."

"For an open Troop, or for Troops in camp, I think the Scouts' Own should be open to all denominations, and carried on in such manner as to offend none. There should not be any special form, but it should abound in the right spirit, and should be conducted not from any ecclesiastical point of view, but from that of the boy. Everything likely to make an artificial atmosphere should be avoided. We do not want a kind of imposed Church Parade, but a voluntary uplifting of their hearts by the boys in thanksgiving for the joys of life, and a desire on their part to seek inspiration and strength for greater love and service for others.

"A Scouts' Own should have as big an effect on the boys as any service in Church, if in conducting the Scouts' Own we remember that boys are not grown men, and if we go by the pace of the youngest and most uneducated of those present. Boredom is not reverence, nor will it breed religion.

"To interest the boys, the Scouts' Own must be a cheery and varied function. Short hymns (three verses are as a rule quite enough-never more than four); understandable prayers; a good address from a man who really understands boys (a homely 'talk' rather than an address), which grips the boys, and in which they may laugh or applaud as the spirit moves them, so that they take a real interest in what is said. If a man cannot make his point to keen boys in ten minutes he ought to be shot! If he has not got them keen, it would be better not to hold a Scouts' Own at all."
 

Updated 10/10/2009