# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1954_S72
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

72 Proceedings of the Forty-Third Convention,

It speaks of “duty to God,” “faithfulness to His Commandments,”
without any reference to the basic duty, repentance, or to faith,
without which it is impossible to please God. Scouting’s “neutral
position,” whereby “it leaves the question of the motivation for
‘doing their duty to God’ to the churches the boys are affiliated
with” (cf. Another Fraternal Endeavor, p. 85), is a false position,
conflicting with the Bible doctrines of original sin, conversion, and
sanctification. ‘The claim is made that Scouting, when it speaks
of “duty to God,” is merely applying natural knowledge of God’s
Law and promoting civic righteousness. But civic righteousness
and “duty to God,” as Scouting defines it, ought not and cannot
be made synonymous. Civic righteousness lies in the field of earthly
relationships. It is not fulfillment of God’s holy Law. And when
natural knowledge of the Law is applied, it ought to be applied
in the right, God-~intended way — as a mirror to arouse terrors
of conscience, as a curb to limit wickedness, as a guide in fostering
civic righteousness. When Scouting applies it, without any dis-
tinction between the regenerate and unregenerate, as a guide in
doing “duty to God” and keeping His Commandments, then the
satanic lie of self-righteousness is fostered.

“The twelfth Scout law is basically unionistic, since it obligates
every Scout to faithfulness in his religious duties without defining
these duties or the God whom he is to serve, cf. 2 John 9, 10; 2 Cor.
6:14-18.” (Syn. Conf. Proceedings, 1952, p. 147). The twelfth Scout
law reads: “A Scout is reverent. He is faithful in his religious
duties and respects the conviction of others in matters of custom
and religion,” and is interpreted to include prayer, love and service
to God (cf. Handbook for Boys, p. 39). Scouting insists on belief
in God, granting to all beliefs in all “Gods” equal value and
validity. It requires faithfulness in religious duties, implying that
any kind of worship and duty is good and God-pleasing. That
is the obvious intent of the twelfth law. That is the basic assump-
tion on which Scouting’s relationship to the various churches rests,
That is the idea that underlies all unionism. Scouting may leave
“to the parents of the boys and to his church everything that deals
with the application of these goals (i.e., of the twelfth law), their
motivation and carrying out” (Another Fraternal Endeavor, p. 86).
But when it obligates Scouts to faithfulness in religious duties,
whether true or false, and when it says, “Your own spiritual
leader, minister, priest, or rabbi will teach you how to know God
better” (Handbook for Boys, p.25), it is promoting the spirit of
unionism. Without too much of a struggle Scouting has eliminated
the rule obligating Scouts to attend grossly unionistie services,
But it has not yet eliminated the more subtle and, consequently,
the more dangerous unionistic idea inherent in its twelfth law.
This is another objectionable religious feature in the movement
that compels us to take a stand against Scoutism.

Hf. Is the Scout Oath or Promise an Oath Forbidden
by God’s Word?

A religious feature of Scouting that warrants individual treat-
ment is its mandatory oath or promise. The question: “Is the Scout
oath or promise an oath forbidden by God’s Word?” cannot be
answered by the movement itself. Scouting employs two designa-
tive terms, “oath” and “promise,” and is, in any event, incompetent