Baden-Powell -- familiarly known as BP: was a career military man when he wrote "Aids to Scouting" as a teaching guide for military scouts. Such subjects as signaling, survival and tracking [1] greatly appealed to turn-of-the-century English youth and the book became something of a cult classic.

Seeing the book's popularity rise and recognizing that a manual written for Britain's killing machine might perhaps be retooled for children, Baden-Powell took a diverse group of 22 boys on an eight-day camp-out on a harbor island in the south of England.

His re-written text, Scouting For Boys found resonance for both boys and girls [2] who soon formed troops of their own thereby spawning a movement.

Now it is said that the primary goal of Baden-Powel's selection of a diverse set of youth had two goals. One was to provide a large cross section that he could test out his theories about youth-based scouting. The second reason given was that BP wanted to provide the youth with an experience outside that of what they commonly would get within the rigid social structure of the day.

While Lord Baden-Powell valued diversity, not so with the modern Boy Scouts of America. Sadly, while at the same time extolling "timeless values" BSA has actually lost the core value of diversity established by BP nearly 100 years ago.

If you are straight and Judeo-Christian, come on in, others need not apply in the modern American movement.

It is interesting to note that Lord Baden-Powell himself, way back in 1907 recognized that not everyone might share his religious beliefs and created an alternate pledge for Scouts so as not to endanger their beliefs:

On my honour, I promise that I will do my best,
To render service to my country;
To help other people,
And to keep the Scout Law. [3]

BP laid out his Scout Law in Young Knight Of The Empire:

1. A Scout's Honour is to be Trusted.
2. A Scout is Loyal.
3. A Scout is Useful to Others.
4. A Scout is a Friend to all.
5. A Scout is Courteous.
6. A Scout is a Friend to Animals.
7. A Scout Obeys Orders.
8. A Scout Smiles and Whistles when in Trouble.
9. A Scout is Thrifty.
10. A Scout is Clean in Thought, Word, and Deed.

One will notice that between these two binding codes nowhere does it require faith in a One True God: neither BRAVE or REVERENT exist in this Law as they do in the current American Law.

On homosexuality there is still only the weakest link that homosexuality is considered unclean and an affront to God -- thereby violating both CLEAN and REVERENT -- by the modern American movement. Such judgment has little to do with the teaching of values, especially when one considers what some believe BP's stance might have been.

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