A Scout is... Trustworthy

"A scout is trustworthy. A scout tells the truth. He is honest, and he keeps his promises. People can depend on him." This is taken directly from the Boy Scout Handbook. I actually like the original version, from Robert Baden-Powell better. "A scout's honour is to be trusted. If a scout says 'On my honour it is so,' that means it is so, just as if he had taken a most solemn oath. Similarly, if a scout officer says to a scout, 'I trust you on your honor to do this,' the scout is bound to carry out the order to the very best of his ability, and to let nothing interfere with his doing so. If a scout were to break his honour by telling a lie, or by not carrying out an order exactly when trusted to do so, he would cease to be a scout, and must hand over his scout badge and never be allowed to wear it again."

What I really like about that original version is the way that it links trustworthiness with honor. Honor is a concept that we really don't think about anymore, but that doesn't make it any less important. As I see it, your honor is tied up with who you are. You could look at it as the image that you portray to the world, but I like to think of it as your image in the eyes of God. Another way of looking at it is the way people feel about you in a pinch, and this is where we get back to the concept of trustworthiness. In order for people to be able to count on you in a pinch, they have to be able to trust you. Ultimately, that comes down to your character.

Young people today seem awfully concerned about being "disrespected." The problem with this is that they think that respect is one of their inalienable rights. But that is not the case. Respect is the result of honor. Honor comes from trustworthiness. Trustworthiness is earned. This is a key component of scouting, and it starts from an early age. The Cub Scout motto, "Do your best," is chock full of trustworthiness. In order to be trustworthy, people need to know that they can count on you to give it your all at all times. Do you best - no one can ever expect any more than that. Scouts are taught, from an early age, that if they focus on being trustworthy and doing their absolute best at all times, they will, ultimately, earn respect.

I want to briefly go back to the religious element of trustworthiness and honor. In the conclusion of the Declaration of Independence, the signatories pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. These guys really got the concept of honor. Their lives and their fortunes were pretty important, but the only thing that they considered to be sacred was their honor. Your trustworthiness, your honor, your character is what defines you. There are few institutions left in this country that teaches young men the concept of honor as being a compact between you and everyone in society (not just your teammates) and between you and God.