Still not something that I’d be entirely happy with.
It’s nice to have a scoutmaster who has your back, who will make silly excuses for you, but I’d rather not need to hide my beliefs / my world view behind such silly excuses.
I fully approve. Keep up the good work!
As I mentioned above, the Austrian scouts do also have an explicit reference to God in their “default text” for the Promise also includes a reference to God, it has “always” (well, as long as I remember) been OK for scouts to modify the wording.
Still, when I was born, 85% of Austrians were members of the Catholic Church, so there was a strong Catholic influence even though we were officially independent of religion. Some individual scout handbooks contained statements saying that a belief in God was necessary, but no such statement or policy was officially on the books.
The percentage of unbelievers in society rose, and so did the percentage of unbelievers among scouts and scouters. In typically Austrian fashion, we grumbled a bit, the religious hardliners grumbled a bit, but for the most part we just avoided the subject and got along fine.
Over time, a new consensus developed, and in October 2015, our national organisation published a position paper that, as far as I can tell, everyone is happy with. Below is a translation of that position paper, in the hopes that it will inspire some American scoutmasters who come across it:
From https://www.ppoe.at/leiter/ausbildung/fachwissen/doc/Spiritualität.htm, translation by Google with heavy corrections and partial rewrites by me (machine translation is still far from replacing human translators):
Position Paper “Duty to God”, Addendum to the statutes of the Scouts of Austria (PPÖ, Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs)
Spirituality
The scout movement is based on the three basic principles “Duty to God”, “Duty to Others” and “Duty to Self” formulated by Baden Powell. They are linked to each other and are mutually dependent on each other. Our effort to realize and live the three principles makes us scouts. Therefore, based on a common understanding, the PPÖ want to provide spaces and tools to enable children, youths and adults to experience “Duty to God”.
“Duty to God” at WOSM and WAGGGS
WOSM describes “Duty to God” as “Adherence to spiritual principles, loyalty to the religion that expresses them and acceptance of the duties resulting therefrom”. [1]
WAGGGS describes “Duty to God” as “The essence of Duty to God is the acknowledgement of the necessity for a search for a faith in God, in a Supreme Being, and the acknowledgment of a force higher than man of the highest Spiritual Principles” . [2]
WOSM categorizes the development of children and adolescents in five dimensions: “Duty to Self” affects the emotional, intellectual and physical dimension. “Duty to Others” refers to the social dimension and “Duty to God” to the spiritual dimension.
“Duty to God” in the understanding of the PPÖ
For the PPÖ, the spiritual dimension is part of the holistic education and development of an individual. It is a fixed component of our pedagogical work. There is a personal responsibility for spiritual development.
As PPÖ, we are, on the basis of our values, open for all religions and world views. Their diversity is an enrichment and is recognized and valued by the PPÖ.
The basic questions of man
Every human is unique and has his or her own form of searching for meaning. We are all connected by the need to consciously ask the questions about where, where and why, and to actively seek answers, regardless of whether these answers are found in a religion, represent an individual spirituality, or lead to the realization that there is no such thing as “the meaning”.
Children & Youth
The PPÖ promote holistic development in all its aspects. This means that we are not only constantly developing physically, socially, intellectually and emotionally, but also spiritually.
From the wide range of possible choices, children and adolescents should autonomously, critically and self-confidently choose the one that is appropriate for their life.
Scout leaders
They are a model, inspiration and rubbing surface* and offer children and young people the best possible environment for their spiritual development, independent of their own spirituality.
Scout leaders should be aware of their own spiritual development and engage in spiritual reflection. Within the scope of their possibilities, they address the questions and needs of children and young people. They do not try to convince children and young people of their own ideas, nor do they need to hide them.
[1] Fundamental Principles. The basic ideas underlying the Scout Movement , WOSM, 1992.
[2] “Exploring Spirituality - Resource Material for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts” , WAGGGS, 2000.
Translating is hard. Especially the fuzzy concepts here do not have one-to-one equivalents between German and English.
* rubbing surface: literal translation of Reibefläche. I’m not sure if that metaphor exists in English. The intended meaning is that young people will test authority with their ideas, and being a target for that rebellion is part of the job description of the scoutmaster.
