Scouts consider oath for atheists.

[Bella Fortuna]

There is a sort of interrogation of your character for eagle scout. Girls do not have that.

My kid was eagle, passed him of as Unitarian.

Mine's going to go for Eagle. He's an atheist, of atheist parents. No way I'm going to ask him to pretend to be something he's not, though I could imagine his father doing so.

[Tero]

They sort of rely on "professionals" to judge their moral character. Most kids have a letter from a minister. But read the fine print and talk to troop scout master. You wont be the first atheists.

Our Unitarian dude never asked god questions, its irrelevant as Unitarians have no dogma.

[MrJonno]

"duty to the country in which I am now living"

Is this what patriotism and the nation-state has been reduced to? Requiring the loyalty of a tourist?

Fine by me the only duty I'm expect of any British citizen has is to obey the law (which includes a lot of things like pay taxes , jury service etc). Thats the social contract I pay towards the state , the state grants me benefits (including 'rights' which are not free)
Not even sure what 'loyalty' means. Patriotism is just code for fascism and bigotry

Pretty sure if you don't live in the UK and you are a British citizen just about your only requirement is not to try and kill your fellow citizens (you do not need to pay any British taxes if you don't live in the country)

[Svartalf]

Atheist scouts? what's next, gay ones?

[MrJonno]

Atheist scouts? what's next, gay ones?

From their website

The Scout Association has an equal opportunities policy, and welcomes members regardless of their sexual orientation or gender

As long as you pretend to believe in sky fairies of course

[Svartalf]

Nice to know they encourage the morons and the insane (you have to be either or both to be gay and believe in the chretin god that regards you as an abommination)

[MrJonno]

Nice to know they encourage the morons and the insane (you have to be either or both to be gay and believe in the chretin god that regards you as an abommination)

Well the English bible is a translation of a translation of a translation of fictional story with a few semi-historical facts in, you can pretty much interpret it any way you want

[Tero]

Scout Law: A Scout is:
Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful,
Friendly, Courteous, Kind,
Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty,
Brave, Clean, Reverent

Not sure what you have to revere.

Then there is the oath
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scout_Promise
Finland still has god!

Freethinkers in 2008 complained to no response..just a post of the law
http://vapaa-ajattelijat.fi/lausunnot/partio

Read thru about 20 pages in Finnish moms' discussion.Lutheran church provides most of the facilities to meet so they demand mention of god and the occasional prayer or song at christmas. Or the scout leaders think they must keep the church happy

[Svartalf]

Nice to know they encourage the morons and the insane (you have to be either or both to be gay and believe in the chretin god that regards you as an abommination)

Well the English bible is a translation of a translation of a translation of fictional story with a few semi-historical facts in, you can pretty much interpret it any way you want

Even translations made from the originals, or as close as we can get (and there's no reason to believe that the NT was not copied from Greek originals), they can still get skewed as all hell, like the JWs did.

[rasetsu]

There is a sort of interrogation of your character for eagle scout. Girls do not have that.

My kid was eagle, passed him of as Unitarian.

Mine's going to go for Eagle. He's an atheist, of atheist parents. No way I'm going to ask him to pretend to be something he's not, though I could imagine his father doing so.

How come we never hear his side of the story?

[Tero]

He's the hex, we don't talk about it.

[Pappa]

They should introduce an oath for nihilist kids.

[Audley Strange]

Hmm my boy scouts group, in the 70's was different. We'd have to give up a pint of blood once a month for the "Black mother of the woods" to feast on and occasionally one of us would have to submit our bodies as vessels for one of the Elder powers to manifest on this plane.

Still at least we never had Jehovah cultists trying to fuck us.

[Tero]

They actually have some Wiccan scouts outfit. And raibow scouts. I suppose they make hand bags and do manicures.

[Coito ergo sum]

Oaths aren't necessarily religious, so depending on the wording, they may very well be secular. Scout oaths are not though.

Oaths are generally not my cup of tea.

I find them generally to be sort of mob-mentality, said mainly out of a desire not to be seen as outside of the group. Rarely are the said with the conviction that they supposedly represent.