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Concept
Religion in Scouting
Summary
Religion in Scouting and Guiding is an aspect of the Scout method that has been practiced differently and given different interpretations in different parts of the world over the years.
In contrast to the Christian-only Boys' Brigade, which started two decades earlier, Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scout movement as a youth organization (with boys as 'Scouts' and girls as 'Guides'), which was independent of any single faith or religion, yet still held that spirituality and a belief in a higher power were key to the development of young people.
Scouting organizations are free to interpret the method as laid down by the founder. As the modern world has become more secular and as many societies have become more religiously diverse, this has caused misunderstandings and controversies in some of the national member organizations.
When creating the Scouting method, Baden-Powell was adamant that there was a place for God within it.
In Scouting for Boys, Baden-Powell wrote specifically about Christianity:
We aim for the practice of Christianity in their everyday life and dealings, and not merely the profession of theology on Sundays...
Indeed, the Scout Promise as originally written by Baden-Powell states that Scout does their "duty to God".
However, the founder's position moved shortly after the Scout movement began to grow rapidly around the world, and his writings and speeches allowed for all religions. He did continue to emphasise that religion was a part of a Scout's life, without dictating a particular faith:
When asked where religion came into Scouting and Guiding, Baden-Powell replied, It does not come in at all. It is already there. It is a fundamental factor underlying Scouting and Guiding.
Though we hold no brief for any one form of belief over another, we see a way to helping all by carrying the same principle into practice as is now being employed in other branches of education...
Take a negative instance. A Mahommedan Guider comes to England and addresses a lot of Girl Guides on religion, in the course of which she quotes Mahomet as the one divine teacher.
Official source
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