I don’t know how many folks here have actually had any experience with a boy/cub scout troop, and it’s been a while so maybe it’s a different organization now, but I was in an old old group and I don’t remember anything pushing Christianity or militarization or any of the worrying things you guys are so worked up about. Maybe I’m wrong, but this feels like an opinion fed by extreme examples and the internet, rather than in person experience.
We went to meetings, ran around with friends, did an activity as a group, and then went home. Sometimes we built stuff, sometimes we volunteered, sometimes we built floats for parades and were in them, we went on weekend hikes, and there was an awesome summer camp not that far from my city. The biggest event of the year was the pinewood derby.
That’s it. I don’t remember anything dealing with God beyond what you’d see in school, my group met in my elementary school and there was no church affiliated with anything. My family didn’t go to church and I honestly have no idea the religion of anyone else involved.
As far as it being the Hitler Youth, that’s just not reality. I guess I learned to shoot a bow, and first aid, but that’s a long shot from the ROTC.
As far as making a man, I don’t know if that can be defined. It did give me a more interesting childhood, taught me that part of my obligation to the world is helping others, and made me more comfortable in a wider variety of situations. Those are things I’d like to pass on to my kids.
That also sounds a lot like the goals of the girl scouts, and two groups shared resources where I went. A lot of the leaders were involved in both, so I can’t imagine the goals suddenly changed when one meeting ended and the next began.