Help Pick The NPCA Calendar Cover!

We're close to finishing up our new National Parks Conservation Association 16-month calendar. But the important matter of which stirring photo of America's national parks will appear on the calendar's cover hasn't been decided. All of the photos are beautiful.
Help Pick Our Calendar Cover!
Voting ends April 24, 2010.. So go vote for your fave!

Button/Blinkie Exchange

I finally have button for the blog! Please feel free to snag one for your site. When you've done that, send me an email and I'll put your button or blinkie on my site. It's that easy!

Luv, Hugs & Blessed Be!

This Made Me Laugh



Why Am I Doing This?

People have contacted me asking me why I am doing this. They've said things like, "Wouldn't it just be easier to quit Boy Scouts?" or "Why can't you just ignore it?".
I guess the answer can be summed up like this:
     I signed my son up for Cub Scouts because I grew up in Girl Scouts and LOVED it. We went horseback riding, camping and fishing. We did art projects and visited Nursing Homes and did Meals On Wheels for the elderly. THAT was why, when my son approached me about joining Cub Scouts I immediately said "Absolutely!". I totally agree with thier philosophy of giving back to the community. I think we could all take a page from that book.
     When I spoke with the Division leader he specifically said "Everyone is welcome". He didn't say "Everyone EXCEPT Pagans, Wiccans, Druids or Atheists".
    The BSA may have been started as a Christian Organization, however the policy HAS changed when it comes to acceptance of other religions. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Islamic, Moravian & Meher Baba are all included in the religious emblem program. There are religions that are included that I have never even knew existed! (for example: National Association of Anglican and Traditional Catholic Scouters)
     It may have started as a Christian Organization, but it obviously is not limited to Christianity. Acceptance of these religions happened because someone wanted them to change...and they DID! The same could be true for Pagans & Wiccans. It's past our turn for equality.
     Like I've said: I'm not hoping for "special" rights, I'm asking for equal rights.
I hope this clears things up a bit.
Thank you for your continued support!
)0(Blessed Be)0(

"Phase One" Is A Work In Progress

Good Evening to All! Well, the "movement" to raise awareness for the lack of equality of Pagans/Wiccans in the BSA has officially started! Expect a Facebook page soon, because that's what I'm working on now. I will be posting it as soon as it is up and running, so be sure to check back here from time to time.
I have been working on writing up a Mission Statement and I'm looking for a couple of team members to help spread the word. So, if you're reading this and you are interested in helping PLEASE contact me. (You can do so by clicking on the Facebook button to the right of the page OR by emailing me:  HERE )
I know that change will not happen over night but I am prepared to stand up to the BSA! Thank you all for reading my blog and to those of you who are bravely standing with me against the BSA! There is a special place in my heart for all of you!

Luv, Hugs & Blessed Be
Jai

Not Gonna Get Me Down

My plan to change the world has met with some resistance. LOL But, that's OK, it's not going to get me down. I'm committed to the cause. I keep telling myself that it's going to get better. A good friend of mine told me that it's going to be the hardest in the beginning because this fight is going to raise the hackles of more than just a few people. I'm OK with that. You know why? Because as he said those words to me I just happened to look on my FB page and I saw a post that had a picture of the rainbow flag that had the caption of "Click "like" & "share" if you support Gay Marriage!". I thought to myself, "You know, at one time the thought of anyone supporting gay marriage was an atrocious thought. There was a time when gays and lesbians would never have held hands in public, adopted babies together and raised children in loving families."
I know the road to LEGAL gay & lesbian marriages is a long one and one that I support 100%, and I am, in NO WAY, saying that their fight is over...but I'm saying that through raising awareness about gays and lesbians acceptance has improved and laws are CHANGING!! (This is a WONDERFUL thing!)
My point is this: I simply want to raise awareness of the lack of equality when it comes to Pagan and Wiccan members of the BSA. Through awareness things CAN change. I will fight this fight until my knuckles bleed. I'm only asking for a few people to stand with me.
)0(Blessed Be)0(

Not Special Rights, But EQUAL Rights!

    (This will be a fairly long post, so please bear with me!)

 My son (he's 9 and in 3rd grade) joined Cub Scouts last August. I've been bugging him to join since he was in first grade and I guess I finally wore him down. (OK, I'll be honest and say that he actually joined because a scout leader came into his classroom and talked about racing pinewood derby cars and shooting BB guns. This, of course won him over...duh, right?) So due to his enthusiasm and the lack of parental involvement within the group I signed up as a den parent. I was ready to rock and my son was so excited.
     As some of you may know, when you join Cub Scouts you have to buy a handbook that lists a ton of achievements. When you complete these achievements you receive awards or insignias that you can pin and/or iron onto your uniform. My son was so enthusiastic that he worked through the first 8 or 9 goals in record time. He got to stand in front of the group of parents and peers and receive his rewards for a job well done.
    All was going well until two weeks ago when I spoke to the Scout Leader about the religious achievement emblem.
  My son had completed his steps of religious requirements and in my excitement I searched for the website that contains pictures of the religious emblems that are available. We couldn't wait to see our religious pin. What would it look like? Would it be a pentacle or perhaps the Triple Moon Goddess? I searched the page once, twice....four times and didn't see any symbol for our religion. Surely I must have missed it! So, I searched one more time, just to be positive that Pagans were not represented. My mind reeled...how could this have happened? Was this for real? Surely we can't be the first Pagans to join the Cub Scouts. Right?
I decided against going off and being mean and hateful and decided to go to the Scout Leader and make him aware (nicely and politely) that our religious symbol was not represented. I mean, surely this must be some sort of mistake....or an oversight. I had faith that the Scout Leader would have some idea of what to do about this.
So, I walked up to him and said "Dylan has completed the necessary steps for the religious emblem, however I noticed that our religion, Paganism, isn't represented."
To which he replied: "Really? Well can't you just pick a different one?"
.........uhm...pick another what? Another religion perhaps...or the symbol.
Either way...hell no!
Why should my son have to pick a different symbol? This is 2012, why is this still an issue? If I had been Christian and told him there were no crosses to represent my Christianity would he have told me to pick the star of David and just pretend it's a cross?
Needless to say when I got home I was FUMING. I went back to the website with religious emblems and I wrote an email to the owner of the site. They responded the very next day with the following email:

"First, our apologies for not responding to you earlier, even if it was to acknowledge that we have received your email and that an answer would be coming soon. We're all volunteers here at the U.S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. (USSSP) -- NOT BSA employees or professionals. We do the massive work we do basically on our "free time" (I'm taking an early coffee break from my work here in order to respond to your posting) and sometimes emails kinda get "stuck" for a day or so.

Second, as I stated -- we here at the USSSP are NOT officially "anything" but a support, cheerleading and "kick in the seat of the pants" organization to the BSA. We are not funded, supported nor endorsed by the BSA (they would love to see us "go out of business" eventually but they've also agreed that without us, they would still be in the 80s as far as technology awareness and usage of the Internet is concerned). Our goal when we started almost 20 years ago and remains today is to "pull, push and prod" the BSA into usage of electronic mediums and electronic methods to bring their programs and program support to parents like yourself and indirectly to youth like your son. It has been a long process -- and we still have a long way to go in several areas. The information I present here is based upon the BSA's historical and current policies. As one of my daughters would say, "we're just the messengers -- just sayin' ".
My personal congrats to Dylan for his personal accomphishment. There's a LOT of Pagan and Wiccan youth in our programs -- I don't have any accounting of numbers, but it's a fair representation. Here's what the BSA's Religious Relationships people have been saying (Religious Relationships have been "rolled up" into the BSA's Program Group two years ago, with the director of Religious Relationships along with two other Relationships (Labor and ScoutReach) directors reassigned to more "broader roles" in the Program Group).
The religious emblem program is NOT a BSA program. Each religious group can develop a medal, medallion or patch which they make available to youth and/or adults to earn or receive. You cannot purchase them from the BSA Supply Group. The BSA doesn't have any say in the design or development of the award(s). They DO however, have say on the *wearing* of the various religious emblems on their official uniforms.
The Wiccan "Hart and Crescent" and a Cub Scout award (which I cannot recall the name right off) are valid awards which Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts may earn -- just like any other faiths' awards. However, the BSA doesn't recognize the Wiccan/Pagan faith as a "national partner", and that's where the issue with promotion and awareness comes into play. For a set of reasons -- some valid, many not so valid -- the BSA has refused to approve Wiccan leaders as "national partner organizations" to the BSA. Most of the "mainline religious organizations" are BSA partner organizations -- and as a block, they have made recommendations over the years (the last time I'm aware of it was in 2005 before the National Jamboree that year) not to approve the Wiccan national partner organization application.
Religious politics aside, the BSA DID do something back in 2003 which I've stated on my personal website and which should be a comfort to Wiccans and Pagans whom are a part of the BSA. Until that time, the wearing of the religious emblems on the BSA's various field uniforms was not allowed; in 2003, the BSA's National Executive Board permitted "all faith's religious emblems to be worn formally with any of the official uniforms; and at times which the emblem is not appropriate for wear, to be represented by the appropriate youth and/or adult religious emblem square knot patch without additional devices or pins denoting specific religious rites or observances."
In other words, the "Hart and Crescent" youth religious emblem could indeed be worn during Scout Sunday and during Blue and Gold banquets and Courts of Honor; and otherwise the small purple and silver (grey) square knot emblem is worn on the uniform to signify that the Scout or Scouter has earned or received *his or her faith's religious emblem* without something else saying "I've earned the .... " award from a particular religion.
We at the USSSP have been providing religious emblem information as part of our site in line with what the BSA has also provided on their official sites. We have done so for consistancy -- not because we agree or do not agree with their stance. When people come to our site to seek information (as you have done), we do provide the official information as well as the unofficial but "makes sense" responses because we want you and others to be fully aware of our unofficial but supportive nature to you and other families."

The BSA does not recognise Paganism or Wicca as a religion. Say WHAT? Yet, they don't mind taking my Pagan money to pay the $30 fee for the yearly membership. Also, note that the writer of the above email states that I can find and/or make an emblem of our religion and present it to my son....PRIVATELY. One has to wonder if by "privately" he means "behind closed doors in shame".  Why should my son have to accept an award in private while all the other boys in his den get to stand up in front of all of the parents and his peers and proudly receive their pins? This is just plain WRONG! And *I*, as a parent refuse to let this happen to anyone else's son.
Which brings me to why I am writing this blog:
It's time for ALL of us to stand up for the equal treatment of ALL religions who are not considered "mainstream".  I don't know about you, but I refuse to sit down and take this. Who's with me?!

Thank You for your time & Blessed Be,
Jai