Friday, February 20, 2015

BSA Cub Scout Enrollment Declines 8.5% in 2014

I've never heard of an inclusive Klan registry. But I have heard of an inclusive BSA registry (link below). It is curious that not a single current unit, charter organization, district, nor council is listed in the inclusive BSA registry.

When I've asked BSA volunteers who claim their unit or council is inclusive, but who are not listed in the registry, I've gotten various unsatisfying answers as to why their unit is special and cannot be listed.

So here we remain, it is 2015, no BSA units are certifiably inclusive, and none (that I know of) are working towards certification.

Meantime, nation-wide cub numbers declined 8.5% from 1,416,000 to 1,295,000 (source unavailable for attribution, change in membership 2013-2014), this during a year when the leadership emphasized a focus on cub scout membership.

Can one be ethical and moral and still be a member of BSA? I think one can, but it does require some hard work, which begins with an honest assessment quickly followed by action. Scouting isn't so much about "being" -- these marketing slogans ("be a cub(tm)" and "be a scout(tm)") get in the way of "doing," which is more to the point of scouting. Doing non-discrimination is significantly different from "hoping" and/or "waiting" for it.

The Civil Rights movements of the past taught us many things. The most important being that it doesn't happen by wishing; it requires hard work and pressure tactics. Nice doesn't get it done. It requires dreams supported by actions.

Here is the link I promised: http://www.scoutpride.org/InclusiveUnits.html