[15250] in APO-L
Scout Oath and Law discussion
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Thomas W. Strong Jr.)
Tue Nov 5 10:51:12 1996
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 10:49:36 -0500
Reply-To: "Thomas W. Strong Jr." <strong@DEMENTIA.ORG>
From: "Thomas W. Strong Jr." <strong@DEMENTIA.ORG>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
We seem to have wandered just a bit off of the topic under consideration,
namely the amendment to the purpose of the fraternity.
Let's see what was actually proposed in the motion under discussion
here - the proposal itself says:
Amend by deleting "Alpha Phi Omega" and inserting "the Scout Oath and Law"
Amend by deleting the entire last sentence, beginning with "The rich
heritage..."
The current Purpose reads:
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 Friendship, and
provide Service to humanity; and to further the freedom that is our
national, educational, and intellectual heritage. The rich heritage of
Alpha Phi Omega is derived from the fellowship of the principles of
the Boy Scouts of America as embodied in its Scout Oath and Law.
If it is re-worded according to the proposal, it reads:
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
Friendship, and provide Service to humanity; and to further the
freedom that is our national, educational, and intellectual heritage.
Under the proposed version, the phrase "Boy Scouts of America" no
longer appears. Instead, we are left with a reference to "The Scout
Oath and Law", which can mean different things to different people.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no single Scout Oath or Scout
Law. Each country generally has their own variant, and even withinin
the BSA, there is one version for Boy Scouts and another for Cub
Scouts. I don't have the scout law as interpreted in other countries
handy (it's on the web, but I don't recall where), but in general,
they say about the same thing as the one we are familiar with. ("A
Scout is Trustworthy..." and "On my honor...") The net effect of
adopting the proposed change would be to restore a reference to the
principles upon which we were founded, but at the same time generalize
the reference to include not just the BSA, but Scouting in general.
(On top of that, it seems to smooth out the wording a bit, too.)
Whichever way the decision goes, it's still a considerable change from
"The Purpose of this fraternity shall be to assemble college men in
the fellowship of the principles of the Boy Scouts of America as
embodied in the Scout Oath and law...", which is (roughly) how it read
not too long ago...
Tom Strong
Sectional Chairman, Section 62
Assistant District Commissioner, Greater Pittsburgh Council, BSA
