SCOUT ACTIVITIES

In this chapter we will briefly trace what is the content of the life of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

The leading areas of activity are determined by the goal of Scouting as an educational movement and are formulated quite clearly in the Constitution: the physical, spiritual, social, intellectual development of the personal potential of each scout.

Spiritual development

First of all, one of the basic principles of the Scout Movement is Duty to God.

It is possible that for many of you this most important moment of human life is not entirely clear, but if you decide to become a Scout, you must take a clear and precise position here. Religious education in Scouting is of great importance. This is the biggest responsibility that lies with the leader of the scout group. Each leader in Scouting must realize the importance of religious politics, understand it correctly, and then help other children, their pupils, in this. It should be borne in mind that Scouting is not inherently a religious organization in the usual sense of the word. All Scout groups are open to believers as well as those who do not currently practice any religion. However, there is one vital limitation to this openness. For an atheist who denies the existence of God, it is clear that he cannot sincerely, honestly, make the Scout Promise, which necessarily includes Duty to God. Thus, an atheist cannot be a Scout. But anyone who believes in God as a supreme being, even if not strictly like you or me, if his heart is open to perception and he sincerely seeks the truth, strives for it, does not vehemently reject God, accepts the Scout Promise and the Fa becomes a scout.

It should be noted that the language of the Scout Pledge is not always suitable for a particular religion, and the Pledge-maker may use words appropriate to his own religion. In such situations, the behavior of the leader is characterized by exceptional correctness. Of course, the Scout Promise is not an end in itself, nevertheless, in our conditions it is aimed at the spiritual, moral development of children and youth, and the one who pronounces it speaks of his desire for such development.

The religious policy of the Scout Associations is that each Scout strives to:

• to make every effort to progress in understanding and keeping the Promise, in order to do everything in his power in fulfilling the Duty to God and his country;

• belong to some religion;

• perform daily the rites and practices of the religion he professes.

It is the duty of all Scouts in this process to encourage each member to follow his own religion and not the one of the majority. The Scout organization is not a missionary society, and no one imposed on the Scouts the obligation to propagate any religion. In practice, this process is usually carried out as follows. As a rule, all events related to spiritual education include prayers at the beginning and at the end of a meeting or meetings of a squad, detachment, or patrol. Where group members represent different religions, attendance at such religious events is not mandatory for everyone: those who do not participate in the rite of the scouting organization must fulfill their religious duties elsewhere. It is unacceptable that while one is in worship, the others would run into the kitchen and be the first to receive their portions of food.

The spiritual development of scouts is undoubtedly more voluminous and suggests that through self-discipline, self-consciousness, scouts perceive high moral standards, value orientations, understand the world around them, help create a humane society, learn to believe and find beliefs in the modern world.

Spiritual perfection in Scouting is achieved under the following conditions:

a) the development of self-awareness, which means:

• learn to know yourself truly and deeply,

• learn the desire to know yourself,

• always find time for introspection:

b) right relationships with other people, which means:

• always put others first,

• learn from others everything positive,

• share with others,

• work together with others,

• learn to love others,

• learn humanity,

• respect others;

c) the right relationship with the outside world, which means:

• love the world around you,

• learn to see and feel the world around,

• constantly take care of the world around you,

• be interested in all the events that take place in our world,

• see truth and justice,

• see goodness and beauty,

• value achievement, curiosity and the ability to be surprised,

• learn to enjoy music, painting and poetry.

A spiritually developed person should:

• know the answer to the questions: “Why?”, “Why yes?”, “Why not?”;

• know what this or that phenomenon means;

• be able to discover higher values;

• be able to find ways of self-improvement.