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There are various controversies and conflicts that involve theScouting movement. Scouting has sometimes become entangled in social controversies such as in nationalistresistance movements inIndia[citation needed]. Scouting was introduced toAfrica byBritish officials as an instrument ofcolonial authority[citation needed] but became a subversive challenge to the legitimacy ofBritish imperialism as Scouting fosteredsolidarity amongst AfricanScouts.[1] There are also controversies and challenges within the Scout Movement itself such as current efforts to turnScouts Canada into ademocratic organization (see alsoNon-aligned Scouting and Scout-like organisations).
Religion in Scouting and Guiding is an aspect of theScout method which has been practiced differently and given different interpretations over the years.[2] In contrast to theChristian-onlyBoys' Brigade which was started two decades earlier, Baden-Powell founded theScout movement as a youth organization (with boys as 'Scouts' and girls as 'Guides') which was independent of any singlefaith orreligion, yet still held thatspirituality and a belief in ahigher power were key to thedevelopment of young people.[citation needed]
Scouting organizations are free to interpret the method as laid down by the founder. As the modern world has become moresecular and as many societies have become more religiouslydiverse, this has caused misunderstandings and controversies in some of the national member organizations. There are Scouting associations in some countries, such as France and Denmark, that are segregated on the basis of religious belief.[citation needed]
In 1933 some Scout groups broke away from the national Boy Scout organizationDe Nederlandsche Padvinders (NPV, "Netherlands Pathfinders") to form thePadvinders Vereeniging Nederland (PVN, "Pathfinder Association of the Netherlands"), because difficulties concerning the "Scout Promise" arose. The problem was that boys who did not recognize a god still had to promise "To do my duty to God" and the groups were concerned that this could turn those boys into hypocrites. A Roman Catholic organization was founded in 1938, theKatholieke Verkenners (KV, "Catholic Scouts") because the Dutch Roman Catholic bishops decided that Catholic youth should not be under the control of an association whose governing board was not all Catholic. The NPV and the PVN almost reunited in 1940. All Dutch Scout and Guide organizations merged in 1973 intoScouting Nederland (SN).[citation needed]
The Dutch variant of the Scout Promise is one of the few in the world where the reference to God is optional as it has been granted an exception underWOSM guidelines. Since January 2014, The Scout Association allows scouts in the UK to make a promise either with or without reference to God.[3]
Scouting has been banned in certain nations and remains banned insome of them. Scouting was changed into a regime loyal Scoutlike organization or banned in nearly allcommunist countries,[citation needed] mostfascist countries,[citation needed] and some other countries withauthoritarian regimes such asAfghanistan under the Taliban,Malawi, andIran. Banning has caused Scouting to go underground in countries such ascommunist Poland,Francoist Spain, andsocialist Myanmar. TheUSSR banned Scouting in 1922, creating a separateYoung Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union, which gave birth to thePioneer Movement, still existing in some fashion inChina,Cuba,Laos,North Korea, andVietnam, Scouting inHungary was banned at the beginning of the second world war.[4]
Prior toWorld War II,Germany,Italy, andRomania disbanded Scouting. Instead, Germany created theHitler Youth organization; Mussolini had a fascist youth organization, theBalilla; and Romania under KingCarol II had theStrăjeria.[5]
Currently, there are no externally recognized Scouting organizations inCuba,North Korea,Laos,Vietnam andChina except for thespecial administrative regions ofHong Kong andMacau).
In 1914, the first Scout groups inCuba were founded. In the following years more local groups emerged, but they were not connected through a national association until 1927 when the Asociación de Scouts de Cuba (ASC) was founded. In the same year the association became a member of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). During its first years, Cuban Scouting followed mainly the model of theBoy Scouts of America.[citation needed]
Scouting existed in Cuba itself until the 1960s, when Cuban Scouting ceased operations after theCuban revolution of 1959. Cuban Scouts rendered service during those times, directing traffic, collecting rations, helping in hospitals and establishing first aid stations. In 1961, theWorld Scout Conference terminated the WOSM membership of ASC claiming that they had ceased to exist.[citation needed] Communist leaders replaced the association with theJosé Martí Pioneer Organization. There is a Cubans-in-exile Association.[citation needed]
Cuba is now one of only six of the world's independent countries that do not haveScouting. Cuba was also a former member of theWorld Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, with theAsociación de Guías de Cuba last mentioned in 1969.[citation needed]
In 1908, Baden-Powell's bookScouting for Boys came out inRussia by the order ofTsarNicholas II. In 1909, the first Russian Scout troop was organized and in 1914, asociety calledRussian Scout, was established. Scouting spread rapidly across Russia and intoSiberia.[citation needed]
After theOctober Revolution of 1917 and during theRussian Civil War from 1917 to 1921, most of theScoutmasters and many Scouts fought in the ranks of theWhite Army andinterventionists against theRed Army. SomeScouts took theBolsheviks' side, which would lead to the establishment of ideologically-altered Scoutlike organizations, such asЮК (Юные Коммунисты, oryoung communists; pronounced asyuk) and others.[citation needed]
Between 1918 and 1920, the second, third, and fourth All-Russian Congresses of the Russian Union of the Communist Youth decided to eradicate the Scout movement and create an organization of the communist type that would take youth under its umbrella. In 1922, the second All-Russian Komsomol Conference decided to createPioneer units all over the country; these units were united later that year as theYoung Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union.[citation needed]
TheSoviet Union (USSR), which included Russia, was established in 1922 and dissolved in 1991. In 1990, the Russian Congress of People's Deputies withBoris Yeltsin as its chairman declared Russia's sovereignty over its territory.[citation needed]
The Young Pioneer organization was broken up in 1990 and the same year theScout Movement began to reemerge when relaxation of government restrictions allowed youth organizations to be formed to fill the void left by the Pioneers, with various factions competing for recognition. Some former Pioneer leaders have formed Scout groups and there is some controversy as to their motivations in doing so (seeEurasian Scout Region controversies).[citation needed]
TheRussian Association of Scouts/Navigators is now a member of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). It is co-educational and has 13,920 members as of 2004.[citation needed]
German Scouting first started in 1909. In Germany, Scouting later became involved with theGerman Youth Movement, of which theWandervogel was a part. Scouting flourished until 1934–35, when nearly all associations were closed and their members had to join theHitler Youth. In 1940, duringWorld War II, the Nazis placedRobert Baden-Powell the founder of Scouting on their "Black Book", a list of people who were to be arrested in the event of aNazi invasion of Britain planned to begin that year but was cancelled.[6][7] This list was not publicly known until 1945, shortly after the Nazis were defeated.[7] Baden-Powell never knew about his inclusion on the list because he died in 1941.[8] InWest Germany andWest Berlin, Scouting was reestablished after 1945, but it was banned inEast Germany until 1990 in favor of theThälmann Pioneers and theFree German Youth (FDJ). Currently, Scouting is present in all parts of the unifiedFederal Republic of Germany and consists of about 150 different associations and federations with about 260,000 Scouts andGirl Guides.
Most national Scouting associations have created international Scouting organizations to set standards for and to coordinate activities amongst member associations. There are at least six international organizations that serve several hundred national associations around the world. The largest international Scouting organization is theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement, founded in 1920. Scouting associations have been excluded or expelled from international Scouting organizations for various reasons.[citation needed]
Iraq was one of the firstArab nations to embrace theScouting movement, launching its program in 1921, just two years after theLeague of Nations had created the country out of the oldOttoman Empire. Iraq was a member of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement from 1922 to 1940, and again from 1956 to 1999.[citation needed]
After theBaath Party took control in 1968 and especially afterSaddam Hussein seized power in 1979, youth groups were retooled to serve the state. One replacement program, Saddam Cubs, offered "summer camps" where 10- to 15-year-old boys had up to 14-hour days filled with hand-to-hand fighting drills.[9] In 1990, during the period when the Iraq Boy Scouts and Girl Guides Council was recognized by WOSM, there were 12,000 Scouts, however by 1999, Iraq had been expelled from the WOSM.[citation needed]
An Iraqi Scouts Initiative committee was formed by Americans in 2004 to formally re-establish a legal, recognized, and fully functioning Scouting program in Iraq. Since then, the movement has been taken over by Iraqis and is now run exclusively by them.[citation needed]
The Scout program is open to boys and girls of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and allows for local nuances to shape various regional program options. Iraqi Scouts are involved in community service such as helping police with traffic control, giving first aid, cultivating cotton, planting trees and helping during natural disasters. A National Iraqi Scouting Headquarters is envisioned forBaghdad and five national Scout camps are also planned.[citation needed]
Controversies have arisen from the exclusion of certain people, including atheists, agnostics, and/or LGBT people, from membership of some Scouting organisations; these are detailed below.
"Duty to God" is aprinciple of Scouting worldwide, though it is applied differently among countries.[10][11] TheBoy Scouts of America (BSA) takes a strong position, excludingatheists andagnostics,[12][13] whileGirl Scouts of the USA takes a more neutral position. TheUnited Kingdom Scout Association has published alternative promises for people of different or no religion, specifying "Atheists, Humanists and people of no specific religion", who make a promise to uphold Scouting values rather than a duty to God.Scouts Canada defines Duty to God broadly in terms of "adherence to spiritual principles" and does not require members to be part of an organized religion, but does require that they have some form of "personal spirituality".[14] In other countries, especially in Europe, some Scouting organizations may besecularist or religiously neutral (such asEclaireuses et Eclaireurs de France,Corpo Nazionale Giovani Esploratori ed Esploratrici Italiani and theBaden-Powell Service Association in the United States[15]).
In the United States, up until July 2015, "avowed homosexuals" were not allowed to be adult leaders; the national administration of theBoy Scouts of America, the country's only WOSM member, no longer believes that homosexual leaders prevent Scouting from reflecting traditionalfamily values.[16] TheGirl Scouts of the USA, by contrast, maintain a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Homosexual people are not restricted from membership or leadership positions inScouts Canada, the Baden-Powell Service Association in the United States,Scouts Australia.
PublicistJames Dale was expelled from his position as assistant Scoutmaster shortly aftercoming out.[17]
Lee Walzer argued that the BSA policy is unfair, and in July 2015, the organization changed partially as a result of his arguments. Although he does not challenge the BSA rights regarding "a prospective leader presents himself as a role model inconsistent with Boy Scouting's understanding of the Scout Oath and Law", he rejects the notion that being openly gay makes a man a bad role model for Boy Scouts.[18]
Most European associations do not restrict from membership or leadership positions people from the LGBT collective, includingThe Scout Association of theUnited Kingdom,Ring deutscher Pfadfinderverbände ofGermany (German Scout Federation), and theSwedish Guide and Scout Association.[19][20] Some associations completely embrace the LGBT collective as part of the true meaning of the Scout Movement and the 4th Scout Law (A Scout is Friendly and a Brother to Other Scouts), such as theFederación de Asociaciones de Scouts de España (ASDE) ofSpain (Federation of Spanish Scouts/Explorers)[21] andScouting Nederland.[22] The code of honor of Germany'sBund der Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder includes a commitment torespect friendships, homosexual just as heterosexual relationships.
TheBoy Scouts of America, the largestyouth organization in theUnited States, haspolicies which prohibitatheists andagnostics, and formerly had policies that prohibited known or "avowed homosexuals" from membership in its Scouting program. Before the policy change on homosexuality, both youths and adults have had their memberships revoked as a result. Before the policy change, the BSA contended that these policies were essential in its mission to instill in young people thevalues of the Scout Oath and Law.[12][23] Until recently the BSA also prohibited girls from participating in two of its programs (Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting). These policies are controversial and are considered by some to be discriminatory.[24][25]
The organization's legal right to have these policies has been upheld repeatedly by bothstate andfederal courts. In 2000, theSupreme Court of the United States, in itsBoy Scouts of America v. Dale decision, affirmed that as a private organization, the BSA can set its own membership standards. The policy disputes led to litigation over the terms under which the BSA can access governmental resources including public lands.[26]
On May 23, 2013, The Boy Scouts of America's national governing body voted to rescind the long-standing ban[27] on openly homosexual youth in the program. Effective January 1, 2014, "No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone."
In September 2013, a new group calledTrail Life USA was created with a rule of not admitting openly gay youth.[28][29][30] This new program is not affiliated by the Boy Scouts of America nor recognized as an official Scouting program. In September 2013, some Baptist congregations, as well as churches from otherChristian denominations, replaced their Boy Scouts of America Troops with those of the Trail Life USA program.[31]
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) has a membership of 155 National Scout Organizations with more than 28 million individuals.[32][33] Only one national Scouting organization per country is recognized by WOSM. In some countries the National Scout Organization is a federation composed of more than one Scout association. The groups represented by a federation are sometimes divided on the basis of religion (e.g., Denmark and France), ethnicity (e.g., Bosnia and Israel), or native language (e.g., Belgium).[34]
WOSM requires member National Scout Organizations to reference "duty to God" in their Scout Promises (seeWOSM Scout Promise requirements). This requirement causes difficulties for atheists and agnostics seeking Scouting membership.[citation needed]
There is some controversy because several members of theEurasian Scout Region's top hierarchy are formerPioneer leaders. The primary goal of the Pioneers, whose membership was nearly compulsory, was the indoctrination of youth intocommunism. To complicate matters, these organizations adopted many of the trappings of the Scout organizations they supplanted. Because of the negative experience with the communist youth organizations, Scouting in the Eurasian Region is having a slow rebirth. Proponents[who?] see the inheritance of Pioneer work and properties in a positive light. Opponents[who?] have seen the Eurasian Region as a tool that would allow former Pioneers to keep their influence over post Sovietyouth movements, and use their newfound connections outside the region for their own gain. Even the placement of the Regional headquarters at the historic Pioneer CampArtek at Yalta appears to many to point to this Pioneer dominance. Opponents also question the fact that authoritarian Belarus was a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, against WOSM's stated guidelines, while democratic neighbor Ukraine is not a WOSM member. In the years following its creation, the Eurasian Region was considered by some to have stagnated in its purpose: among other things, the official website was not updated between 2004 and February 2006.[citation needed]
Alternate solutions proposed at the time of theSoviet breakup, and still considered viable options by the critics[who?] of the Eurasian Region, would be to divide the Region into the previously existingEuropean,Asia-Pacific, orArab Scout Regions, along cultural lines and national preference, to provide Scouts fresh perspective. As the Baltic states-Estonia,Lithuania andLatvia-have joined the European Region, there is precedence for this solution. In addition, there is no corresponding Eurasian Region for theWorld Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the republics are divided geographically between WAGGGS'Europe Region andAsia Pacific Region. Besides their shared tsarist and Soviet past, the 12 members of the Eurasian Region have little in common. Some, like Armenia and Azerbaijan, have waged war on each other, some like Georgia and Ukraine, allow open opposition, while others, like Belarus and Turkmenistan, have turned to authoritarianism reminiscent of Soviet times. Further, as none of the republics have had their Scout movements returned for much more than a decade, it is viewed[by whom?] that they would benefit from the expertise of the neighboring Scout associations in those Regions.[citation needed]
Scouting organizations have been involved in other types of conflict and controversy both internally and externally.
Canada is the only country with more than one Scouting organization separately recognized by WOSM, Scouts Canada andAssociation des Scouts du Canada, which are divided by language.
Some members of Scouts Canada are upset with Scouts Canada's restructuring, including a loss of voting rights at the local level. In response,SCOUT eh! was founded in 2004, an organization consisting of "registered Scouts Canada members from across Canada dedicated to transforming Scouts Canada into a democratic association".[35]
In 1998, theBaden-Powell Scouts of Canada (B-PSAC) were established inCanada, rejecting the modernization of theScout method by WOSM and Scouts Canada.[36] Scouts Canada challenged the association and successfully argued that the word "Scout", in the context of a youth organization in Canada, is a trademark held by Scouts Canada. Part of the 1999 action also attempted, unsuccessfully, to deny the B-PSAC permission to use Baden-Powell's name.
Scouts Canada refuse to recognise B-PSAC members as Scouts, stating of Scout associations that "every country has only one, that's how Baden Powell set up scouting",[37] despite the fact that there are two WOSM recognised associations in Canada, and that Baden-Powell originally intended for Scouts Patrols to operate in a range of organisations.[38]
The B-PSAC no longer use the title Scout, and have reformed as the Baden-Powell Service Association Federation of Canada. Scouts Canada continue to monitor the B-PSA, and will not allow their members to share resources, equipment or personnel with them.[39]
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Before the start of Scouting there was criticism about a possible military goal of Scouting. It culminated in a schism whereSir Francis Vane andBatterseaScout District formed theBritish Boy Scouts in 1909, partly due to a suspicion of a too close involvement with military organizations.[40] Baden-Powell always strongly denied this.[41][40]
Despite the above, Baden-Powell announced in theHeadquarters Gazette in November 1914 that he was forming the Scout Defence Corps. Although he stated that this was non-militaristic, the Corps was intended to provide boys able to do "whatever was necessary" in the event of a German invasion, with Scouts being mostly trained as general infantry. Officers of the Scout Training Corps were encouraged to have links with officers in the regular army, and were urged to use theWar Office's 1914 'Infantry Training Manual' alongside Baden-Powell's 'Aids to Scouting'.[43] The standards for the award of the Red Feather were laid out in a publication Marksmanship for Boys, written by Baden-Powell. The booklet included instruction in marksmanship and military drill, and concluded with a statement about changes in uniform that would take place should the Corps be accepted by the War Office,[44] although this recognition was denied in March 1915.
The absence of many military aspects does not mean that Baden-Powell was anti-military. His efforts for peace became stronger in time, making him anti-war, but he disapproved of anti-militarism. He even did not see any harm in training in a military way.[45] One reason for not using military items can be seen from his reaction to the Boys Brigade. It was the intention of Baden-Powell to make an attractive boys game and he thought that the military was not attractive enough.[40] The second reason was that some parents would object military training, which would limit the reach of Scouting.[46] There was probably another reason. The centre of hisScout method was individuality (opposite to the group), making own decisions (opposite to following the commander), doing good turns, self-learning (opposite to instruction by drill)[46] and a game based on theatre and "make believe". These would never survive in a military scheme. Baden-Powell did use some parts of his profession which he found useful, like the uniform and some names, but these are always externals, rarely the essential fighting intention of military or specific military techniques.
