Scouting, Volume 1, Number 23, April 15, 1914 Page: 5
126 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
16
Masters. They receive no pay, but they must be carefully selected, and
stimulated by helpful publications and field work.
No expensive equipment is required. All that is needed is the out-
of-doors, a group of boys and a competent leader.
Non-Military
As an organization the Scout Movement is not military in
thought, form or spirit, although it does instil in boys the military vir-
tues such as honor, loyalty, obedience and patriotism. The uniform,
the patrol, the troop, and the drill are not for military tactics; they
are for the unity, the harmony and the rhythm of spirit that boys learn
in Scouting. It is in the wearing of the uniform and doing of things
together as Scouts that they absorb the force and truth of the Scout
law which states: "A Scout is a friend of all, and a brother to every
other Scout."
Religious Policy
Scouting presents greater opportunities for the development of the
boy religiously than does any other movement instituted solely for the
boys. Its aim to develop the boy physically, mentally and morally is
being realized very widely.
The Movement has been developed on such broad lines as to em-
brace all classes, all creeds, and at the same time, to allow the greatest
possible independence to individual organizations, officers and boys.
The Boy Scouts of America maintain that no boy can grow into
the best kind of citizenship without recognizing his obligation to God.
The recognition of God as the ruling and leading power in the universe,
and the grateful acknowledgment of His favors and blessings is neces-
sary to the best type of citizenship and is a wholesome thing in the
education of the growing boy. ]\To matter what the boy may be—
Catholic, or Protestant, or Jew—this fundamental need of good citizen-
ship should be kept before him.
The Boy Scouts of America, as an organized body, therefore, recog-
nizes the religious element in the training of a boy, but it is absolutely
non-sectarian in its attitude toward that religious training. Its policy is
that the religious organization or institution with which the Boy Scout
is connected shall give definite attention to his religious life. If he be
a Roman Catholic Boy Scout, the Church of which he is a member is
the best channel for his training. If he be a Hebrew boy, then the
Synagogue will train him in the faith of his fathers. If he be a Protes-
tant, no matter to what denomination of Protestantism he may belong,
the Church of which he is an adherent or a member should be the
proper organization to give him an education in the things that pertain
to his allegiance to God.
In thus making available to boys of all classes a common meeting
ground where they may play and compete and learn to know that the
"other fellow" is not so much different from themselves, the Scout Move-
ment is performing a distinctive and important patriotic service.
And again, the observance of the Scout Law, the tremendous col-
lective volume of "daily good turns" and the creation of better feeling
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 1, Number 23, April 15, 1914, periodical, April 15, 1914; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282674/m1/9/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.