Tuesday, November 11, 2014

A scout's virtues: kindness

I suspect most people find this stuff boring and even if you've been sort of interested until now, the word "kind" will do you in. It's such a bland word.

By "kind" the 1911 Scout Handbook meant "kind to animals". In a sense, that is not surprising. Once you've covered off the other stuff—particularly "loyal", "trustworthy", "friendly", "courteous" and "cheerful"—there is no content we can give to "kind to people" without being redundant.

Kindness to animals is an important thing to teach the young, especially boys. But is there any reason to think deeply about this virtue beyond the age of 15? No, there isn't.

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