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Reverence to God and reverence for one's neighbour and reverence for oneself as a servant of God, is the basis of every form of religion. The method of expression of reverence to God varies with every sect and denomination. What sect or de- nomination a boy belongs to depends, as a rule, on his parents' wishes. It is they who decide. It is our business to respect their wishes and to second their efforts to inculcate reverence, whatever form of religion the boy professes.
There may be many difficulties relating to the definition of the religious training in our Movement where so many different denominations exist, and the details of the expression of duty to God have, therefore, to be left largely in the hands of the local authority. But there is no difficulty at all in suggesting the line to take on the human side, since direct duty to one's neighbour is implied in almost every form of belief.
The following is the attitude of the Scout Movement as regards religion, approved by the heads of all the different denominations on our Council:
I am perfectly convinced that there are more ways than one by which reverence may be inculcated. The solution depends on the individual character and circum- stances of the boy, whether he is a "hooligan" or a "mother's darling." The training that may suit the one may not have much effect on the other. It is for the teacher, whether Scoutmaster or Chaplain, to select the right training.
Religion can only be "caught," not "taught." It is not a dressing donned from outside, put on for Sunday wear. It is a true part of a boy's character, a development of soul, and not a veneer that may peel off. It is a matter of personality, of inner conviction, not of instruction.
Speaking from a fairly wide personal experience, having had some thousands of young men through my hands, I have reached the conclusion that the actions of a very large proportion of our men are, at present, very little guided by religious conviction.
This may be attributed to a great extent to the fact that often instruction instead of education has been employed in the religious training of the boy.
The consequence has been that the best boys in the Bibleclass or Sunday School have grasped the idea, but in many cases they have, by perfection in the letter, missed the spirit of the teaching and have become zealots with a restricted outlook, while the majority have never really been enthused, and have, as soon as they have left the class or school, lapsed into indifference and irreligion, and there has been no hand to retain them at the critical time of their lives, i.e., sixteen to twenty-four.
It is not given to every man to be a good teacher of religion, and often the most earnest are the greatest failures - and without knowing it.
We have, fortunately, a number of exceptionally well-qualified men in this respect among our Scoutmasters, but there must also be a number who are doubtful as to their powers, and where a man feels this, he does well to get a Chaplain, or other experienced teacher, for his Troop.
On the practical side, however, the Scoutmaster can in every case do an immense amount towards helping the religious teacher, just as he can help the schoolmaster by inculcating in his boys, in camp and club, the practical application of what they have been learning in theory in the school.
In denominational Troops there is, as a rule, a Troop Chaplain, and the Scout- master should consult with him on all questions of religious instruction. For the purpose of its religious training, a service or class can be held, called a "Scouts' Own." This is a gathering of Scouts for the worship of God and to promote fuller realisation of the Scout Law and Promise, but supplementary to, and not in sub- stitution for, regular religious observances.
Many of our Troops, however, are interdenominational, having boys of different forms of belief in their ranks. Here the boys should be sent to their own clergy and pastors for denominational religious instruction.
Other Troops in slums and less-chance areas have lads of practically no religion of any kind, and their parents are little or no help to them. Naturally, these require different handling and methods of training from those boys in whom religion has been well grounded.
Here, again, Scouting comes very practically to the aid of the teacher, and has already given extraordinarily good results.
The way in which Scouting can help is through the following:
(a) Personal Example - There is no doubt whatever that in the boys' eyes it is what a man does that counts and not so much what he says. A Scoutmaster has, therefore, the greatest responsibility on his shoulders for doing the right thing from the right motives, and for letting it be seen that he does so, but without making a parade of it. Here the attitude of elder brother rather than of teacher tells with the greater force.
(b) Nature Study - There are sermons in the observation of Nature, say, in bird life, the formation of every feather identical with that of the same species 10,000 miles away, the migration, the nesting, the colouring of the egg, the growth of the young, the mothering, the feeding, the flying power-all done without the aid of man, but under the law of the Creator; these are the best of sermons for boys.
The flowers in their orders, and plants of every kind, their buds and bark, the animals and their habits and species; then the stars in the heavens, with their appointed places and ordered moves in space, give to every one the first conception of Infinity and of the vast scheme of his Creator where man is of so small account. All these have a fascination for boys, which appeals in an absorbing degree to their inquisitiveness and powers of observation, and leads them directly to recognise the hand of God in this world of wonders, if only some one introduces them to it.
The wonder to me of all wonders is how some teachers have neglected this easy and unfailing means of education and have struggled to impose Biblical instruction as the first step towards getting a restless, full-spirited boy to think of higher things.
(c) Good Turns - With a little encouragement on the part of the Scoutmaster the practice of daily Good Turns soon becomes a sort of fashion with boys, and it is the very best step towards making a Christian in fact, and not merely in theory. The boy has a natural instinct for good if he only sees a practical way to exercise it, and this Good Turn business meets it and develops it, and in developing it brings out the spirit of Christian charity towards his neighbour.
This expression of his will to good, is more effective, more natural to the boy, and more in accordance with the Scout method than his passive acceptance of instructive precepts.
(d) Retention of the Older Boy - So soon as the ordinary boy begins to get a scholastic knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic, he is sent out into the world, as fit and equipped for making his career as a good working citizen. After leaving school, excellent technical schools are generally open to the boy, as well as continuation classes, if he likes to go to them, or if his parents insist on his attending after his day's work is over. The best boys go, and get a good final polish.
But what about the average and the bad? They are allowed to slide away-just at the one period of their life when they most of all need continuation and completion of what they have been learning, just at the time of their physical, mental and moral change into what they are going to be for the rest of their lives.
This is where the Scout Movement can do so much for the lad, and it is for this important work that we are doing all we can to organise the Senior Scouts in order to retain the boy, to keep in touch with him, and to inspire him with the best ideals at this, his crossroads for good or evil.
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