When I was a young lad, I was very proud of being a Boy Scout, as my father had been. (And his father had been an adult leader.) When reciting the Scout Oath, it never occurred to me that the last two words would ever be interpreted to exclude me, but it seemed pretty clear to me that it would have excluded this. Try to square the behavior described with the following:
Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
Scout Law
A Scout is:
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent
Despite some bad behavior on the part of Scout leaders, I still support the Boy Scouts and believe that they do a world of good for youngsters.
But, Tom…mightn’t some aspects of the second line of the Scout Oath exclude you?
Ross L.
You obviously belong to the wrong team. I have a better one for you:
First of all, you need to find yourself a Russian ancestor, preferably White descent. That kind of club does not like the Reds very much. Now, it is all a matter of interpretation: Art. 1 is already a problem since we are not sure which “patrie” is meant here. And then, since we are in France, the God issue is not what it is in other countries, you see. Plus “gai” in Art. 11 could even be misspelled…(“i” instead of “y”), it could even be “la morale”.. who knows? So, you see, cheer up, there is hope!
http://www.scouts-russes.org/francais/index.html
N.
I was a Scout, too, and totally agree with your sentiments.