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A Scout is reverent. A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others.
Scouting’s founders recognized spirituality as an central element of the movement. As scouting expanded throughout the world so did the way Scouting defined duty to God. Scouting would fail in its mission if it was limited to the adherents of a certain brand of religious thought. If a world brotherhood is to survive it must be based on a mutual respect for differing concepts of God.
Reverence in America has deep roots as does the concepts of political and religious freedom. A continuous, lively and often strident debate of these freedoms has been a part of our national conversation since its founding. Mutual respect for differences is one point on which almost all of us accept though we will argue as to what and who is due what degree of respect.
Tibetan Buddhist master Atisha tells us that, “All dharma (teaching, thinking, belief) agrees at one point.”. I take this to understand that there is a thread of common humanity that inspires reverence, that brings forward the best and highest in us. When we take the hand of a fellow Scout we transcend the constructs culture, background, and religion to something much deeper and broader; that elemental, indefinable common point where we stand as brothers.
