Boy Scouts of America changing name to more inclusive Scouting America after years of woes

The Boy Scouts of America is a Christian organization.

Although, as I was a scout myself that shit never came into play other than the occasional group prayer at big, national events. The individual stuff in our troop was agnostic af and my troop leader was Jewish.

BSA has everything to do with religion. It’s a part of their oath, and advancement requirements (duty to God).

The Scout Law - "A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and REVERANT."

Also the scout oath: "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;....."

In the US they never dropped the mandatory overtures to religiosity. In fact, there was a period in the 90s-early 2000s where one sizable religious group who had replaced their prior youth organization with the BSA got pretty involved at the national level to the detriment of the program as a whole. While it’s not really required in any real sense at the troop level, you do have to affirm a belief in some “higher power” as an adult volunteer. (I’m an Eagle Scout and now atheist)

In Sweden, the Svenska Scoutförbundet was an outgrowth from the original UK scouting movement, but I don’t know how big it was/is.

What? Sweden don't have scouts? My daughter was on a scout camp there last year and I believe there were swedish scouts also.

Regardless, in Denmark we have a few scout organizations. One of them KFUM (which would translate to the same as YMCA) which is the christian boy's scouting org, that also allows girls, and the similar one for girls that don't allow boys. Both of them has Christianity as a pretty foundational thing and most of the clubhouses are in or near churches and they have church services on camps and shit. Then there's DDS (dark blue uniforms) and they're not connected to any faith, but are still committed to the "spiritual development" of the scout. However this can be done in other ways than inflicting religion on children. In 1973 they merged the boy and girl scouts, so it's just one thing now. The yellow scouts branched from DDS in the 80's, with a mission to go back to more traditional scouting values. Not sure what that means, but they're a also non-religious and non-political organization.

Finally there's some Danish Baptist scouts but I don't know much about them other than they're likely a more religious variant of KFUM, attached to another christian flavor.

Because the US is never more than a couple of steps from a Christian fascist theocracy.

Same reason Alcoholics Anonymous requires you to put faith in a higher power.

Norwegian who was in "Speider'n". Nobody here cared about the religious parts of it.

The three core principles of scouting are:

• Duty to God (adherence to spiritual principles, loyalty to the religion that expresses them and acceptance of the duties resulting therefrom)
• Duty to others
• Duty to self

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". Source

So unfortunately removing religion from the scouting would remove one of the core principle of the movement, I don't think it would anytime soon.

Which is a shame because I really enjoyed my time scouting, I think it was a great balance of fun, education and learning responsibilities. But the religion aspect of it make me seriously reconsider to send my kids to do it or not.

Vi har eller har haft (jag är inte uppdaterad) PMU Scout, KFUM/KFUK-Scouter, NSF-scouter och Svenska Scoutförbundet på rak arm, så scouterna har ganska många förbund i Sverige dock

Because 'Merica!

if you dont want to DIY it the Satanic Temple, Discordianism, Secular Paganism and The Flying Spaghetti monster all "exist."

Where can I read lore?

What are the tenets of Cabra? How do you know its real? (I know its not but I love invented faiths)

Would they have accepted The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

Probably. Scouting America has been openly Deist for a long time and there is an official "Event" for Christians, Muslims, and Jews. So at least at the national level they don't seem to care what Deity you jam too as long as you have one.

Spiritual and meditated would fall into that some kind of belief thing for me. Saying I was spiritual in any facet would still be me lying to them, and I was just as stubborn then as I am now haha

But God won't disappear. Christ will return in glory to judge the living and the dead.

I know people who have been kicked out for being an atheist, they didn't really care to ask any of the questions you're suggesting at the time. All they asked was if he believed in any higher powers and he said no. I wouldn't say he was wrong, I don't think science is a "higher power".

In theory, maybe. Many troops have meetings at church facilities where the local church beliefs are treated as superior to others. The second troop I was in had meetings at a Methodist church and there was bullying from two scouts working on their service projects for Eagle toward a Roman Catholic kid, for "worshipping saints." Bringing it up to the Scoutmaster, who was the father of one of them, responded with the "don't be a snitch" lecture. Eagle is supposed to be the point where you're a pillar of your community, and both of those kids became Eagle scouts. "Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind," just 1/3 of the scout laws right out the window with no repercussions.

Lol care to elaborate

That might work in your country, but there isn't some non-religious version here that's popular. They also don't advertise as religious at all, just the nature aspects. Religion wasn't mentioned in the organization a single time until I was already in for... 6 or 7 years maybe?