When the news broke today that the Boy Scouts of America went "woke" by changing their name from Boy Scouts of America to Scouting America, opinions were quickly inked and aired - including perspectives from many people I respect and admire in church and Christendom circles.
Their resounding opinion was something like: "... a sad measure of society in this day and age."
As the parent of a recently enlisted Scout - that is - a 'girl' Boy Scout- I've had some thoughts and would like to preface all that follows with "We just got here."
I realize there may be more ramifications than a mere name change to simplify things.
I understand where the mind goes; the fear of eroded foundations and slippery slopes.
As my not-even-Tenderfoot-yet 'girl' Boy Scout put it: " If this would have happened a few years ago, before we got involved, we may have been saying the same things."
She speaks true.
But oh, the power of involvement to hasten understanding. The freedom found by leaning in - not towards Liberalism, but good, old fashioned L-I-B-E-R-T-Y.
May I share our experience as a new Scouting family?
Most everyone knows I am a single mom. Some even know my daughter barely stops short of auctioning me off in order to find a stepdad to do "dad stuff" with her - like skateboarding and fishing.
So far, no stepdad, no skateboarding and no fishing - still, she longs for those experiences and that connection.
She's 13 and prides herself on being ambitious.
She's also quite sentimental - whether she admits it or not.
And resourceful, too. She's never let the lack of something stop her pursuit of a goal (ask me about the Moana oar sometime - or horses, or, well, lots of things.)
This year, Spring Community Day for her cyber school was hosted at a nature center. We didn't realize until we arrived that the location also serves as a Scouting headquarters, complete with Scout store.
We looked with interest at all the old scouting relics in the lobby and, by the time we reached the store, inspiration had settled over my twiggy little ambitious one.
The first thing we saw as we walked in was a display of party goods to celebrate Eagle Ceremonies. I reminded Rye that her Papa is an Eagle... and somewhere along the line, the store attendant (and Scout Master) reminded her that, ever since 2018, girls can try Scouting, too.
She announced her goal to get Eagle before we returned home - it was, she said "you know, because of Papa"
Don't get me wrong - she is all about girl bosses and equal rights and such.
Heaven help us, she's a Swiftie.
But when she decided to embark on this journey, it was to follow in the footsteps of her Papa.
Can we please just let her have that?
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We were as green as her olive uniform skirt when it came to getting started, but we found a very welcoming community in our Troop and have been enjoying getting to know them at our regular weekly meeting as well as special events.
We learned that girls and boys have their own separate troops and handbooks (while younger cub scouts are integrated into co-ed packs)
We learned that girl troops have girl leaders and boy troops have boy leaders.
We learned that boys and girls don't share tents or compromise privacy for others.
We learned that there are lots of rules in place to keep kids safe - not unlike in schools and churches.
Volunteers must complete safety and mandated reporting courses. And now, having completed courses for both Scouting and Substitute Teacher, I can share without hesitation that Scouts have a more thorough and intentional syllabus.
We learned that Scouts (male and female) still aim to be:
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent
Scouts pledge to operate by a code of honor, moral uprightness, physical stewardship, mental sharpness and a duty to God and country; to be a help to all people at all times.
(Remind me to tell about the time I was accidentally teaching all of my classes to become Boy Scouts without realizing it )
When we attended our first field event (geocaching around town ) we were warmly welcomed and received - there was no gatekeeping or hidden agendas. No cliques. Just a group of girls going geocaching - and - identifying trees, checking bird boxes and rescuing stranded Cicadas).
Not unlike a youth group, perhaps- but possibly more friendly.
Riley came home from Troop meeting last night describing the vivid pink her patrol (Paw Patrol) is painting their patrol box. She showed me a list of 10 camping necessities we needed to get for her including a pocket knife.
And when she let Papa know she was going to be needing a pocket knife, he gave her the one from his pocket right there on the spot.
He showed her how to open it carefully and demonstrated all the fun features like a toothpick and scissors. I teased her a little about taking the man's knife but she explained as we drove home that she had really hoped he meant she could keep it because it belonged to him
(See? Sentimental)
This morning, she came into my room bearing a peeled and quartered apple on a paper plate: "It works! I’ve got to tell Papa it works! "
She wouldn't hear of me not eating some of the apple in celebration of the apple being cut…& peeled! As I chewed, she informed me the knife had also cut paper, some little wood decor in her room and "other stuff."
She spent most of today looking for opportunities to help others with her new tool, even the corkscrew...
At the gas station: "Mom, I was going to say we should get one of those bottles of wine instead of water, so I could, you know, open it. Maybe there will be a chance to use this corkscrew in a church or something, you know- for communion wine?"
Probably not at our church, but she might get lucky now that we're hanging out with 'woke folk' ;)
A Scout By Any Other Name
As we've shared her new adventure with others, one of the trickiest things really has been the name:
"We've got a girl... I mean boy... well, girl boy scout meeting tonight."
There is a distinction between being a Girl Scout and a Boy Scout. Namely, and according to Riley, the advantage of being in Boy Scouts is that one can earn rank, and become an Eagle, and do cool stuff... like Papa.
And thankfully, Papa never made rank in the Girl Scouts.
Though he did help Riley make cookies once upon a time ...
Some of the articles I read today pointed out the need for BSA to rebrand, refocus and recover from abuse scandals and financial lows. Again, this is not entirely unlike a church or any organization containing more than two people.
Life is messy and just because one troop failed does not mean the entire organization represents the same moral lapses. But it does seem fair to point out that the lapses occurred long before the girls showed up.
My 'girl' Boy Scout and I talked about the name change on our way to youth group tonight, about how some may liken the change to other current news items involving transgenderism. But, it's really more like when girls asked for the opportunity to join Augusta National. The private club had the right to tell women no, but they met and voted and decided the time had come to invite women in.
We also did a little math, my "girl" Boy Scout and I.
Boy Scouts of America was founded 114 years ago - in February of 1910.
That's a whole decade before women were allowed to vote.
So - things have changed a little since then... and change can be scary, but change isn't implicitly bad or evil.
We can, with the courage of a Scout, forage ahead with cheerfulness.
For whatever other reasons the change has been made or for whatever other changes may occur in time, this particular name change will truly simplify terminology for the families of active scouts.
Not unlike a woman, taking her husband's last name.
It will still be the same entity it has been all along, now with more concise vocabulary.
Mightn't it encourage more girls to 'go for Eagle' ?
It mightn't.
But, will that really be so bad?
As for my 'girl' Boy Scout and I, we vote no - it’s not a bad club to encourage at all. We really don't think so.
Not at face value, anyway - which is all we have to go on at this point.
If a slope grows too slippery, we have the power of choice.
Meanwhile, it is wrong to call what is good evil and vice versa. And what we have been experiencing in Scouting America has been reverently good.
If you haven't recently, I invite you to lean in a little closer.
Pick up a Scouting handbook for either gender (or read a virtual version here ) and see if you don't think we could all use a little more 'Scout's honor' in our lives.
