IN the Scout and Guide Movements we merely lay before the boys and girls the simplest\u00a0fundamental ethics of religion, and then get them to put these into practice. So simple and\u00a0fundamental are these that to the superficial critic Scouting appears to be “without religion.”\u00a0Yet the student and the user of Scouting know otherwise.<\/p>\n
I have said we adhere to simple and fundamental ethics; this is partly because these can\u00a0be the more readily digested by the children (and digestion is essential if food is to do any\u00a0good), and partly because being at the base of all denominational forms these ethics offend\u00a0none of the various beliefs with whose members we have to deal.<\/p>\n
We put them as Christ taught them in their two simple forms:<\/p>\n
Love thy God with all thy heart;<\/em> But it is not enough for children to learn texts merely in the abstract and to repeat them\u00a0parrot-like on occasion; that would soon pall and would have little effect on their character\u00a0or their life.<\/p>\n So we put the two commandments into active form.<\/p>\n Love for God.<\/em> — For inducing a better realisation and love for God we do it to a great\u00a0extent through investigation of His works. This, it must be remembered, is a step and not a\u00a0substitute; and the story of David Livingstone tells how valuable a step it can be in laying the\u00a0right foundation in a young mind.<\/p>\n Nature craft, or the study of Nature in her numerous forms, and the appreciation of all\u00a0her wonders and beauties, appeals to almost every child. The camp or the outdoor hike\u00a0brings girls and boys into dose touch with the plants, the animals, the birds, the rocks, and\u00a0their other comrades as God’s great family.<\/p>\n The mystery of the sea and the heavens, and the fascination of the colouring of the scene,\u00a0and the modelling of the scenery can all be brought within their ken where formerly they\u00a0were blind. The door of the young soul is thus opened for the understanding teacher.<\/p>\n Even where the out-of-doors observation is difficult, there are new wonders to be\u00a0investigated in every inch of our own anatomy, the knowledge of which (again at the hands\u00a0of an understanding teacher) can be of infinite value to both in showing the Creator’s\u00a0marvellous work, in developing a deeper reverence for this body that has been lent to us, and\u00a0in showing how it should be cared for and developed and reproduced as a part of the\u00a0performance of one’s duty to God.<\/p>\n Love for Neighbour.<\/em> — In promoting the second commandment, love for one’s neighbour, we urge our Scouts and Guides to express this in active form by doing, even in an\u00a0elementary way, good service for others.<\/p>\n The daily good turn, without desire for reward, which grows by progressive stages till it\u00a0becomes a habit of conduct, goes on till it involves sacrifices in time or money or pleasures,\u00a0even to the extent of involving danger to the life of the performer.<\/p>\n We teach the boy that a gift is not his till he has expressed his gratitude for it. His attitude\u00a0to God is, therefore, thankfulness for benefits received; and his method for expressing this is\u00a0through service, in behalf of God, to his fellow-men.<\/p>\n This repression of self and development of that love, which means God within, brings a\u00a0total change of heart to the individual and with it the glow of true Heaven. It makes a\u00a0different being of him. The question becomes for him not what can I get, but what can I give\u00a0in life.<\/p>\n No matter what may be the ultimate form of religion that he takes up, the lad will have\u00a0grasped for himself its fundamentals, and knowing these through practising them he becomes\u00a0a true Christian with a widened outlook of kindliness and sympathy for his brother men.<\/p>\n Otherwise, we know too well that there are dangers in ignoring the psychological side\u00a0and overstressing the theological and spiritual with children.<\/p>\n We may gain the few but we may lose the many. We may bore them while under our\u00a0hand so that the moment they are free they abjure religion altogether. We may be\u00a0manufacturing prigs and humbugs; we may be promoting superstition rather than faith.<\/p>\n But on the foundation prepared as I have described, the subsequent building of religion in\u00a0its approved form is comparatively easy; indeed, it follows almost automatically where well\u00a0directed.<\/p>\n When we have a leaven of citizens of that mark in our nation, bringing the Christian\u00a0practice into their daily occupation, there will be less of the narrow class and sectional\u00a0differences and more of the wide-hearted kindly brotherhood, so that even national\u00a0patriotism will not be the highest point of a man’s aim, but active goodwill for, and cooperation\u00a0with, his fellow-men about the world as being all children of the one Father.<\/p>\n From this should ensue the reign of peace upon earth.<\/p>\n July, 1924<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" IN the Scout and Guide Movements we merely lay before the boys and girls the simplest\u00a0fundamental ethics of religion, and then get them to put these into practice. So simple and\u00a0fundamental are these that to the superficial critic Scouting appears … Continue reading
\nAnd the second is like unto it?
\nLove thy neighbour as thyself.<\/em>
\nOn these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.<\/p>\n