[15196] in APO-L
Scout Oath & Law
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jason \"Oscar\" Marmon)
Thu Oct 31 23:16:59 1996
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 22:58:27 -0500
Reply-To: "Jason \"Oscar\" Marmon" <st92agbs@DUNX1.OCS.DREXEL.EDU>
From: "Jason \"Oscar\" Marmon" <st92agbs@DUNX1.OCS.DREXEL.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
I would first to thank Brother Schroeder for bringing this issue to light.
To give everyone some background information, I am the brother from Drexel
who proposed the legislation that sought to return the Scout and Law to its
deserved level of importance to this Fraternity. I have had about as much
APO experience as one could get after only pledged in Fall of 1992. I
served on the Chapter Operations Committee at the past Nationals which was
an experience that I will never forget.
Brother Schroeder stated:
"A Brother from Drexel has proposed certain bylaws amendments and
resolutions pertaining to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) that would
reverse actions taken by the 1994 National Convention in Dallas."
This is not true. The fact is that the proposed legislation seeks
to correct an oversight that I and many others believe was made. I for the
most part understand the necessity to differentiate APO from the Boy Scouts
of America. This was accomplished by our National restructuring and other
administrative changes along with the removal of "In the Fellowship of the
Principles of the Boy Scouts of America." The further removal of the Scout
Oath and Scout Law was an unnecessary step that our proposal hopes to
correct.
Many organizations share the same principles, even to the point of
including them in their purpose. They do this while remaining purely
independent from each other. A great example of is organize churches in
the Christian and Jewish faiths. Both of which use at least parts of the
same text, and thus the same principles in which to base their faith. If
one were to follow the argument used to explain the necessity of the
removal of the Scout Oath and Law from our Purpose, it could be concluded
that Christian Churches should remove the Old Testament from the Bible so
not to confuse their independents from the Jewish community.
The Current Purpose: The Purpose of this Fraternity shall be to assemble
college students in a National Service Fraternity in the Fellowship of the
Principles of Alpha Phi Omega; to develop Leadership, to promote
=46riendship, and provide Service to Humanity; and to further the Freedom
that is out National, Educational, Intellectual Heritage. The rich
heritage of Alpha Phi Omega is derived from the Fellowship of the
Principles of the Boy Scouts of American as embodied in its Scout Oath and
Law.
Proposed Purpose: The Purpose of this Fraternity shall be to assemble
college students in a National Service Fraternity in the Fellowship of the
Principles of the Scout Oath and Law; to develop Leadership, to promote
=46riendship, and provide Service to Humanity; and to further the Freedom
that is out National, Educational, Intellectual Heritage.
1993 Purpose Schroeder: The Purpose of this Fraternity shall be to
assemble college students in a National Service Fraternity in the
=46ellowship of the Principles of the Boy Scouts of America as embodied in
its Scout Oath and Law; to develop Leadership, to promote Friendship, and
provide Service to Humanity; and to further the Freedom that is out
National, Educational, Intellectual Heritage.
There is more to this issue than I will be able to post here. Much
of which can be found in the Rational to our proposal.
I would like to quote our founder: =B3Through these experiences I
found that the Scout Oath and Law were what I had been seeking - a standard
of manhood that would withstand the test of time and a code of ideals
created and accepted by some of the greatest leaders the world has ever
know.=B2 This has not changed. I hope everyone will vote to correct the
Purpose and return the Scout Oath and Law back to where it belongs at the
foundation of this Fraternity.
Brother Schroeder said: "I will be happy to meet with my Brother and
friend, the proposer of these changes, in Phoenix and to [I *know* this is
a mistake! :)] answer any questions subscribers to this list may have."
This was not a mistake, and I am also looking forward to talking to
Brother Schroeder again. This proposal was a well thought out and
supported suggestion to the Fraternity. And I would be more than happy to
answer any of questions subscribers to this list may have.
Oscar (Jason Marmon)
Brother Zeta Theta
Drexel University
