It 's a sad state of affairs. It's also a shame that Son1 felt he had to return his badge. The work he did to earn it isn't lessened by the current shifts.He can always be proud of what he did,even if he doesn't agree with what they are, now. Once and Eagle, Always an Eagle!
Personally, I think the offer to the Scouts is a neat one, but it should be directed at the Boy Scout level, not the Cubbies. From the start, Cubs have always been female led (remember Den Mothers?) That was mainly because Dad's were out working and Moms had charge of the youngsters of either gender.
On an interesting note, the original Scouts - created back in England by Lord Baden-Powell, were open to both genders and was known simply as "Scouting." Gender differentiation started when Juliette Lowe brought the concept back to the US and started the Girl Scout movement.
Personally, as a die-hard Scout working both sides of the program, I honestly believe that each gender needs their own program. It's part of who we are as humans. And again - in my own humble (or not) opinion, BSA missed a golden opportunity. They already HAD a viable coed program in Venturing. To me, it would have been ideal - and much less disruptive - to expand THAT program into the younger ages. Venturing already allowed Scouts to pursue their Eagle, so that portion would have been opened to the girls and younger boys. All of the other opportunities and safeguards available to both boys and girls would simply have opened up to a broader age range.
That's my two-cents on the issue ... but who listens to the volunteers who form the backbone of this age-old institutions? Certainly not those in "authority," that's for sure!
I actually might know a few people who could hook me up!
But I know some guys who do forge work, blacksmithing, glassworking, etc. So I'm reaching out to those people to ask if they have a crate lying around or some broken ones or something that they'd like to barter for some meat or veggies. I'm about to have an insane amount of freshly canned tomatoes and a LOT of butternut squashes coming in, plus a litter of bunnies growing out and several cockerels I just put in the freezer. So I have Things to Offer.
