Scouting controversy and conflict: Difference between revisions

Scouting has sometimes become entangled in social [[controversies]] such as the [[civil rights]] struggle in the [[American South]] and in nationalist [[resistance movements]] in India. Scouting was introduced to Africa by British officials as an instrument of [[colonial]] authority but became a subversive challenge to the legitimacy of the British Empire as Scouting fostered [[Solidarity (sociology)|solidarity]] amongst African [[Boy Scout|Scouts]].<ref name="britimperialism">{{cite web | last = Parsons | first = Timothy | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url = http://www.ohioswallow.com/bookinfo.php?book_id=0821415956 | title = Race, Resistance, and the Boy Scout Movement in British Colonial Africa | format = | work = | publisher = Ohio University Press and Swallow Press | accessdate = 2006-12-25}}</ref> There are also controversies and challenges within the Scout Movement itself such as current efforts to turn [[Scouts Canada]] into a [[democratic]] organization. This article discusses historical and contemporary Scouting controversies and difficulties, with examples from various countries.

In contrast to the Christian-only [[Boys' Brigade]] which was started two decades earlier, Baden-Powell founded the [[Scouting|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 [[god|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 [[materialistic]], and as many societies have become more religiously [[diversity|diverse]], this has caused misunderstandings and controversies in some of the national member organizations. There are Scouting associations in some countries, such as France and Denmark, that are segregated on the basis of religious belief.

Scouting has been banned in certain nations and remains banned in [[List of World Organization of the Scout Movement members#Countries with no Scouting organization|some of them]]. Scouting was banned in nearly all Communist countries, most [[Fascist]] countries, and some countries with [[totalitarian]] regimes such as Afghanistan under the Taliban, Malawi and Iran. Banning has caused Scouting to go underground in countries such as Poland, Franco's Spain, and Yugoslavia. The USSR banned Scouting in 1922, creating a separate [[Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union]], which gave birth to the [[Pioneer Movement]], still existing in some fashion in [[the People's Republic of China]], Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, and Tajikistan.  

Prior to World War II, Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, and Romania disbanded Scouting. Instead, Germany created the [[Hitler Youth|Hitler-Jugend]] (Hitler Youth) organization; Mussolini had a fascist youth organization, the [[Opera Nazionale Balilla|Balilla]]; and Romania under the [[Iron Guard]] had the Străjeria.

In [[1908]], Baden-Powell's book ''Scouting for Boys'' came out in Russia by the order of [[Tsar]] [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]]. In [[1909]], the first Russian Scout troop was organized and in [[1914]], a [[society]] called ''Russian Scout'', was established. Scouting spread rapidly across Russia and into Siberia.

After the [[October Revolution]] of [[1917]] and during the [[Russian Civil War]] from [[1917]] to [[1921]], most of the [[Scoutmaster]]s and many Scouts fought in the ranks of the [[White Army]] and [[interventionist]]s against the Red Army. Some [[Russian Association of Scouts/Navigators|Scouts]] took the [[Bolsheviks]]' side, which would lead to the establishment of ideologically-altered Scoutlike organizations, such as ''ЮК'' (''Юные Коммунисты'', or ''young communists''; pronounced as ''yuk'') and others.  

Between 1918 and 1920, the second, third, and fourth All-Russian Congresses of the Russian Union of the Communist Youth decided to eradicate the Scout movement and create an organization of the communist type that would take youth under its umbrella. In [[1922]], the second All-Russian Komsomol Conference decided to create [[Pioneer movement|Pioneer]] units all over the country; these units were united later that year as the [[Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union]].

Iraq was one of the first [[Arab]] nations to embrace the [[Scouting]] movement, launching its program in [[1921]], just two years after the League of Nations had created the country out of the old Ottoman Empire. Iraq was a member of the [[World Organization of the Scout Movement]] from 1922 to 1940, and again from 1956 to 1999.

After the [[Baath Party]] took control in [[1968]] and especially after [[Saddam Hussein]] seized power in [[1979]], youth groups were retooled to serve the state. One replacement program, Saddam's Cubs, offered "summer camps" where 10 to 15 year-old boys endured 14-hour days filled with hand-to-hand fighting drills. In 1990, during the period when the Iraq Boy Scouts and Girl Guides Council was recognized by WOSM, there were 12,000 Scouts, however by 1999, Iraq had been expelled from the WOSM.

In countries where [[Homosexuality laws of the world|homosexuality is legal]], there is usually at least one Scouting association that does not restrict homosexuals from membership or leadership positions. An exception is the United States where avowed homosexuals are not allowed to be adult leaders or youth members; the national administration of the BSA, the country's only WOSM member, believes that Scouting should reflect traditional [[family values]]. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/wosm.html|title=World Scouting Movement|work=BSA Discrimination|accessdate=2006-07-14}}</ref> Homosexuals are not restricted from membership or leadership positions in [[Scouts Canada]] and most European associations, including [[The Scout Association]] of the United Kingdom, [[Ring deutscher Pfadfinderverbände]] of Germany (German Scout Federation), and the [[Svenska Scoutrådet|Swedish Guide and Scout Association]].<ref>Scout UK Equal Opportunity Policy for [http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/eqopps/eo-sbe-y.htm young people] and for [http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/eqopps/eo-sbe-a.htm adults].</ref>

The [[Boy Scouts of America]] (BSA), the largest [[youth organization]] in the United States, has [[policies]] which prohibit or restrict certain people from membership and participation. Some of these membership policies are controversial and have resulted in the dismissal of Scouts and adult Scout leaders from the BSA or a Scouting unit for being an [[atheist]], [[agnostic]], or [[homosexuality|homosexual]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inclusivescouting.org:8000/bsa/cases/|work=Inclusive Scouting .NET|title=Case Studies|accessdate=2006-08-31}}</ref>  

Advocates of the Boy Scouts of America contend that these policies are essential in its mission "to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law".<ref name="core">{{cite web|url=http://www.bsalegal.org/core-values-286.asp|work=BSA Legal|title=Core Values|accessdate=2006-10-02}}</ref><ref name="duty">{{cite web| url=http://www.bsalegal.org/dutytogo-155.htm|work= BSA Legal Issues |title=Duty to God |accessdate=2006-10-22}}</ref> Others believe that some or all of these  policies are [[wrong]] and [[Discrimination|discriminatory]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://atheism.about.com/b/a/258300.htm|title=Boy Scouts & Public Funding: Defending Bigotry as a Public Good|accessdate=2006-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/|work=BSA Discrimination|title=Discrimination in the BSA|accessdate=2006-09-04}}</ref>  

The organization's right to set such policies has been upheld repeatedly by both [[state court|state]] and [[federal court]]s. Moreover, in 2000, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed that the Boy Scouts of America is a private organization which can set its own membership standards. In recent years, the policy disputes have led to [[litigation]] over the terms under which the BSA can access governmental resources including public lands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/16/state/n075532D70.DTL|work=|title=Supreme Court Won't Review Berkeley Sea Scouts' Case|accessdate=2006-10-17}}</ref><!-- If the previous link goes dead over time, consider using http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1720255/posts -->