Taylor Marshall, Ph.D., a former Eagle Scout and convert to Catholicism, is starting a new scouting group based on Catholic principles for boys who are looking for an alternative to the Boy Scouts.
According to his blog, Dr. Marshall, the father of seven and a former Episcopal priest, loved being a scout and wants his sons to experience the same scouting traditions he knew and loved – something that can no longer happen because of the Scouts’ recent embrace of homosexuality.
“I am an Eagle Scout and I loved being a Boy Scout – all the way from Cub Scouts to Eagle. I want my sons to become Scouts and share that tradition with them…but I can no longer support the Boy Scouts, because of this,” Marshall says.
“I’ve been thinking and worrying about the Boy Scouts for months. I knew this decision was coming and I knew that the Boy Scouts would go the wrong way. I also knew in my heart that I would have to do something about it when it actually happened.”
He decided to start a new scouting organization for boys called The Scouts of Saint George. It is based upon the original inspiration for the boy scouts, a 1908 book by Robert Baden-Powell called Scouting for Boys which dealt with reconnaissance in the British Army. Baden-Powell developed an ideal for young men about being a “scout” which included mentorship, camping, woodworking, backpacking, sports and, most importantly, virtue and the art of being a man.
“Scouting spread to America and across the globe and it always possessed a religious element,” writes Marshall, who converted to Catholicism in 2006 and has appeared on EWTN’s The Journey Home with Marcus Grodi. “We are now at the moment when this integral feature has been denied.”
The actions of the Boy Scouts of America to allow openly homosexual scouts into the ranks has left many youth and their parents looking elsewhere for a morally upstanding program their boys can enjoy as they grow into manhood.
Taylor Marshall, Ph.D.
“So we need to create a new organization for the old tradition,” Marshall writes. “Here’s what I’m going to do about it, and I need all the brave souls that I can get. This will be an ‘Eagle Project’ of a lifetime!”
The new organization will be based on his seven-point “mini manifesto”:
1. The Scouts of Saint George must be Catholic and acknowledge every “jot and tittle” of the magisterium of the Church – and be in full communion with the Holy Father.
2. A personal relationship with Christ and the growth in manly virtue will be at the heart of the Scouts of Saint George.
3. The Scouts of Saint George will be like the Boy Scouts of America with hiking, fishing, camping, merit badges, and a highest rank (equivalent somehow to Eagle Scout). Same format and structure. The Scouts of Saint George won’t reinvent the wheel. Traditional scouting works. Why change it? We’re just going to preserve the tradition and import a Catholic identity.
4. The Scouts of Saint George must have protection from government interference, which means it must be grassroots. Otherwise, we are under government regulation and pressure in the years to come. We must avoid influence from lobbyists and governmental powers to compromise (as has happened with the BSA).
5. The Scouts of Saint George will be free and open-source. Like the original Baden-Powell, all you’ll need is the book, uniform, and badges. That’s it. The rest is grassroots. Fathers and sons organize and simply register or seek recognition from the other Scouts of Saint George.
6. The Scouts of Saint George is global. My goal is to get Pope Francis to approve it and recognize it.
7. Why Saint George? I have a devotion to him and he’s the exemplar for young men in the categories of courage and virginity? We need young men to slay the dragons of our era. Wouldn’t you agree?
“Okay, who’s in?” Marshall asks. “I need thousands of collaborators on this one. This will be a great project to get in on the ground floor.”
Click here to sign up and get involved with the Scouts of Saint George.
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