Howard,
I have been in the hospital for the last few days. When I returned I read your post here. I was shocked!
Lord Baden-Powell (B-P) is credited as the founder of Scouting. He was NEVER a Mason. Another person credited with beginning another aspect of the Boy Scouts is Daniel Carter Beard who was a Mason. Among the other founders were James E. West, Ernest T. Seton, and William D. Boyce.
TMK, Freemasonry's ONLY relationship with the Boy Scouts was with Daniel Carter Beard (of course, other Masons have probably served as Scout Masters, et. al.). In the late 1800's he founded a male youth program called the "Society of the Sons of Daniel Boone." By 1905, the program had become "The Boy Pioneers." The man who would create the first "Boy Scouts," and be known as its founder, was B-P of Great Britain. Lord B-P, who was [color:red]
not a Mason, but read of Beard's youth program (not Masonic Program) and, [color:red]
based on his own military experience (not Masonic training), developed what is known as the "Boy Scouts." In 1910, the Boy Scout program came to America when Beard merged his organization into the "Boy Scouts of America" and became its first National Commissioner.
Just because Judas was Jesus' treasurer does not mean that Jesus was a reprobate (as I am sure you affirm) and just because Scouts has some ties to men who were involved in Scouts does not mean scouting originated from Masons--it did not. Did not Christ run a good Treasury while on earth, though it was run by a reprobate? I guess since I was an Eagle Scout, Order of the Arrow, et. al. I am a little biased here. Also, just because I was a member does not mean I agreed with everything they did--I was only a kid attempting to get into a Military Academy and thus a Boy Scout.
PS: Girl Scouts was founded in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, by Juliette Gordon Low, who was [color:red]
not a Mason.
Boy ScoutsGirl Scouts
