Cub Scouts Coexist
Contents
▸ The Problem
▸ The Plan
▸ Four Civic Approaches
▸ Summary
▸ Nondiscrimination

The Problem
Illiteracy about Religion
Illiteracy the Law
Rise of Religious-Based Bullying
Muslim families are experiencing disproportionally high hostilities in public schools. In 2017, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding reported that “more than two in five (42%) Muslims with children in K-12 school report bullying of their children because of their faith… A teacher or other school official is reported to have been [the aggressor] in one in four bullying incidents involving Muslims.”
The Plan
To address the widespread problem of illiteracy about religion and the law, The Foundation for Religious Literacy and 1791 Delegates is delighted to partner with BSA-GNYC in creating the first Cub Scouts Coexist program.
This civics-education program will be designed and advised by religious literacy specialists from The Foundation for Religious Literacy. They will design curricula and training programs that will empower the leaders of BSA-GNYC to teach age-appropriate religious-literacy programs for Cub Scouts ages 5–10. In doing so, they will cultivate the civic competencies of religious literacy and religious liberty.
Four Civic Approaches
Apply Consensus Statements
Apply the 3Rs of Religious Liberty
Apply the Four Premises of Religious Literacy
Apply the 3Bs of Religious Identity Formation
We will draw from a consensus statement endorsed by twenty-one national education, civil liberties and religious groups disseminated by the U.S. Department of Education in 2000 to every public school in the country. We have amended this consensus statement by replacing the term “the school” with “Cub Scouts,” as follows:
▸ The Cub Scout’s approach to religion is academic, not devotional;
▸ The Cub Scouts strive for student awareness of religions, but does not press for student acceptance of any religion;
▸ The Cub Scouts sponsor the study about religion, not the practice of religion;
▸ The Cub Scouts may expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may not impose any particular view;
▸ The Cub Scouts educates about all religions, it does not promote or denigrate any religion;
▸ The Cub Scouts informs the students about religious beliefs, it does not seek to conform students to any particular belief.
We will also emphasize “The 3Rs of Religious Liberty” as articulated in the Williamsburg Charter, which was signed by 100 national leaders on June 22, 1988, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Virginia’s call for a Bill of Rights. The 3Rs illustrate that everyone has rights and that everyone has the responsibility to respectfully protect the rights of others.
▸ Rights: Religious freedom, liberty of conscience, is a precious, fundamental, and inalienable right for people of all religions and none.
▸ Responsibility: Central to the notion of the common good, and of greater importance each day because of the increase of pluralism, is the recognition that religious freedom is a universal right joined to a universal duty to respect that right for others. Rights are best guarded and responsibilities best exercised when each person and group guards for all others those rights they wish guarded for themselves.
▸ Respect: Conflict and debate are vital to democracy. Yet if controversies about religion and public life are to reflect the highest wisdom of the First Amendment and advance the best interests of the disputants and the nation, then how we debate, and not only what we debate, is critical.
Professor Diane L. Moore, advisor to the Foundation for Religious Literacy, and director of the Harvard Religious Literacy Project, articulates four basic assertions about religions and the study of religion. These help us counter problematic misperceptions about the academic study of religions while creating a useful method for inquiry.
▸ First, there is a difference between the devotional study of religion to encourage religious commitment and the nonsectarian study that seeks to understand religion without promoting or discouraging adherence to it. This premise affirms the credibility of particular religious assertions without equating them with absolute truths about the traditions themselves.
▸ Second, religions are internally diverse and not uniform as is commonly represented. Scholars recognize that religious communities are living entities that function in different social/political contexts.
▸ Third, religions evolve and change through time and are not static or fixed. Religious expressions and beliefs must be studied in social and historical context as they are constantly interpreted and reinterpreted by adherents.
▸ Fourth, religious influences are embedded in cultures and not separable from other forms of human expression.
The Cub Scouts Coexist program recognizes that individuals and communities construct their religious identities in complex ways. Special advisor to the Foundation, Benjamin P. Marcus, notes that studying “religious identity development” requires recognition of the historical, political, geographic, and economic factors that shape the beliefs people hold, the behaviors they exhibit, and their membership within multiple intersecting communities.
Put simply, beliefs, behaviors, and the experiences of belonging to communities—including but not restricted to only religious communities—shape and are shaped by one another.
▸ Beliefs and values include theological, doctrinal, scriptural, and ethical evaluative claims about daily life as much as those about a transcendent reality or experiences of the divine.
▸ Behaviors include practices associated with rites, rituals, and life both inside and outside of strictly religious settings.
▸ Experiences of belonging include membership in religious communities and other social communities with intersecting racial, national, ethnic, familial, gender, class, and other identities.
Summary
In summary, we apply four civic approaches in designing and implementing the inaugural Cub Scouts Coexist program.
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First, we will draw upon national consensus statements to promote the academic study about religion, not the practice of religion.
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Second, we will apply the 3Rs of Religious Literacy to teach Cub Scouts that everyone has rights and that everyone has the responsibility to respectfully protect the rights of others.
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Non-Discrimination Statement
The Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America exists to help all children in the five boroughs of New York City. As the most diverse youth organization in the most diverse community in the country, we are committed to this work and we oppose any form of unlawful discrimination. All of our members repeatedly pledge to respect all people and defend the rights of others. Prejudice, intolerance and unlawful discrimination in any form are unacceptable within the ranks of the Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America.“The Greater New York Councils commends the national organization of the Boy Scouts of America on its decision to accept members based on gender identity (National BSA Statement). GNYC has a long-standing policy of non-discrimination. We are pleased to affirm that if a child identifies as a boy, that child is welcome in the Boy Scouts. GNYC provides programs and services for some 45,000 boys and girls in New York City. The mission of our organization is to help all children in the city’s five boroughs in an environment free of prejudice, intolerance or discrimination.” ~ January 31, 2017On July 27, 2015, the National Boy Scouts of America Executive Board affirmed a resolution unanimously adopted by the Boy Scouts of America Executive Committee that removes the national restriction on openly gay leaders and employees. This change allows Scouting’s members and parents to select local units that best meet the needs of their families. The board and staff of the New York City Boy Scouts are pleased that openly gay youth and adults can participate in Scouting’s meaningful leadership development programs across the country as well as in New York City, a policy that is now aligned with our longstanding inclusive standards. By focusing on the goals that unite us, we are able to accomplish incredible things for young people and the communities we serve.