Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Spirit of the law? Letter of the Law?

I'm a Den leader. What that means is i've joined a top-down hierarchichal organization with my son which comes heavily loaded with religious issues.
It's Boy Scouts. They are so cute with their blue shirts and Neckerchiefs. My oldest daughter was in girl scouts starting at Daisies. Why should my sons be deprived of participation in such a noble organization simply because a few things give me the heebie jeebies?

My problem? Well, while Boy Scouts claims to be "inclusive" of people of "all faiths", they apparently are blatantly exclusive, to those of no faith. They have religious commendations from every major religion, And are in the process of developing one for Wiccans. That's right. Wiccans are welcomed into Boy Scouts with open arms. But Agnostics? Athiests? It's Don't Ask Don't Tell! I once considerd myself Wiccan. And I really have no problem explaining to my children about God, and the different beliefs in God.
I can even tolerate the usual non-denominational vague prayer. We had plenty of those in Girl Scouts (at least at campouts, never in our troop) , and at family holidays.
My problem? Letter of the law. The Boy Scouts of America states that religious belief is a "requirement" for membership. I have a tendancy to take that literally.
Thankfully I had the wisdom to marry a man who is all about the "spirit of the law". He points out to me that it is obviously the intention of Cub Scouts to be inclusive, and they likely could give a flying rats arse whether we are Athiest or Bahai for that matter.
So I guess the only question is, would it be really wrong to tell my kids that "God is what some people call "The Force"?
I guess I ought to have put our religious affiliation down on our information sheet after all. . .
Jedi.

No comments: