haha
be mindful the word God in Scouts promise has the same connotation
as the word God in the American pledge
having origins in a country with majority being Christian Anglican,
people thought it has a singular meaning, ie, Christian God
but both Baden Powell or the American Founding Fathers never
intended it that way
in US pledge, God represents morality or moral values
while breaking away from the English monarchy and the Anglican
system, and using reason as the main principle in governing the
newly independent country, the Founding Fathers never wanted the
citizens to become a group of people weighing everything by pro and
cons. there should be moral values to guide the heart of the
people, hence the word God in the pledge
but of course, extreme political correctness takes place and people
now debating it like no tomorrow
same goes for the word God in Scouts Promise
one of my Venture leaders explained it well, and he is a staunch
Buddhist
he said the movement believes people should have a religion,
whether its Islam, Christianity or Buddhism, because such religions
are believed to be good and provide moral guidance to people
Buddhist countries such as Thailand, and Muslim countries such as
Indonesia and Malaysia have very strong Scouts movements, like i
said, Scouting movement is all embracing in this aspect
there are explainations of the term God on websites, whether on the
American pledge or the Scouts Promise in Scouts websites
i have seen them in passing actually
