{"id":3476,"date":"2015-02-10T16:36:17","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T23:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/?p=3476"},"modified":"2015-02-10T16:51:11","modified_gmt":"2015-02-10T23:51:11","slug":"from-the-desk-of-scott-c-kuperman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/from-the-desk-of-scott-c-kuperman\/","title":{"rendered":"From the desk of Scott C. Kuperman"},"content":{"rendered":"

By way of introduction regarding our guest post today, I ought to recount some blog history. I have recounted this history\u00a0in-depth previously here<\/a>, but newbies may want a more streamlined explanation for why this is relevant.<\/p>\n

In the early days of this blog – September 16, 2007, to be precise – I wrote\u00a0a post titled The Order of the Arrow.<\/a>\u00a0In it, I recounted my unpleasant introduction to the Boy Scouts of America’s goofy secret society which I don’t much like, as you’ll discover if you read the post.<\/p>\n

I never expected\u00a0to mention the Order of the Arrow again. I certainly had no desire to become the online locus for all things Order of the Arrow, nor was it my intent to lead some kind of crusade against it, despite my lingering distaste therefore. \u00a0However,\u00a0in a\u00a0Google-fueled irony, my site ranks high in searches where people are trying to find out the secrets of the Order of the Arrow “ordeal,” i.e. the\u00a0O of A initiation ceremony. Consequently, this blog still gets a steady stream\u00a0of daily visitors to my various O of A-themed pages, even six-plus years after the first one was written.<\/p>\n

This occasionally makes for some colorful\u00a0comments, the latest\u00a0of which I received today from our new friend Scott C. Kuperman, who, unlike me, does “not hide behind anonymity.” I offer you Scott C.’s full diatribe unedited and intact, but I must confess that, as of this writing, I haven’t actually read the good Mr. Kuperman’s\u00a0full remarks. I started skimming\u00a0after he assured me\u00a0that “no one can be you but you,” and I checked out soon after. I did like the cryptic paragraph about “Lord of the Flies” and decaffeinated polygamists reading inscriptions on rocks, though. You don’t read\u00a0stuff like\u00a0that every day.<\/p>\n

There was a time when I found O of A defenders to be charming in a Dudley-Do-Wright-Gone-Sour sort of way, but now they just bore me. However, this one seems more literate than most. I still enjoy passing the better ones along because I’m of the opinion that highlighting the\u00a0humorless scolding\u00a0I receive on the subject helps to reinforce\u00a0the original point I made six years ago, which is that the Order of the Arrow is, you know, kinda dippy.<\/p>\n

So, without further ado, I’ll let Scott C. Kuperman\u00a0take it from here. He gets the last word.<\/p>\n

__________<\/p>\n

Greetings, \u201cstallioncornell\u201d. I do not hide behind anonymity.<\/p>\n

An obvious, but pertinent statement: \u201cNo one but you, can be you.\u201d None of us can or should comment on your personal experiences since your perceptions equal your reality. Neither I, nor anyone else besides you can understand your experiences as you have.<\/p>\n

Having first explained that fact, it is important to explain another: I don\u2019t believe the year or \u2018era\u2019 in which you experienced your ordeal has anything to do with your hazing experience. Hazing has never been permitted by the Order (or the BSA for that matter). Both the written and unwritten codes expressly forbade and currently forbid it. To this end, how you now hold the entire Order accountable for the actions of a few miscreants is equally abominable to your experience.<\/p>\n

Whether you experienced your ordeal under the heavy hands of Budweiser-fueled, Silent Generational sadists, and Lord Of The Flies driven Scouts; or loin cloth wearing, no caffeine, weird rock transcription worshiping polygamists, and brain washed, Children Of The Corn driven Scouts, should make no difference. Hazing is as wrong as *stereotyping*. And what is right is right even if no one is doing it. And what is wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.<\/p>\n

I first experienced my honor into Brotherhood in 1991 at the age of 16. I experienced my Ordeal at 14. I endured events as you have similarly described by action, but I took away nothing but positive feelings. After I was told not to look, I\u2019m sure I peeked. I\u2019m sure I got a quick, but gentle slap on the back of the head. I learned not to peek and instead to hold my honor as I had originally promised not to peek. I took part in ceremonies designed to unify and solidify bonds of fellowship\u2026<\/p>\n

I had a day of eating similar foods (minus the gum drop). I encountered days of similar work. However, my take away to this day is still a feeling of alignment with those who walked the path before me, of understanding the value of service to others. My \u201cslave labor\u201d afforded thousands of campers the ability to experience a great summer week instead of a crappy, bug infested week without campfires or fun activities. No one \u201chazed\u201d me. If I had felt hazed for one instant I would have reported those who hazed me in conflagration with the values espoused by the Order. If it became an even larger issue, I would have quit.<\/p>\n

It is exactly what you describe in your original post that offers controversy. Your story tries to indicate that you were \u201chazed mercilessly\u201d. While the term hazing can have different meanings to different people, your description of hazing, to me at least, makes you seem like an intolerant, immature, whining infant. You accepted your Troop\u2019s nomination into the Order. You had to have known what the Order was about long before you conducted your ordeal. For someone so tied to the proper use of vocabulary and grammar, what part of \u2018ordeal\u2019 do you feel was misrepresented? Why not just quit if Scouting wasn\u2019t your bag?<\/p>\n

It is a good thing you do not remember anything about the Order to further denigrate it, and yourself (by proxy having taken the oaths,) any further. The \u201csecrets\u201d of the Order exist to elate future Ordeals and Brothers who desire a path of self discovery through trials. This is why such secrets are now completely open to parents who wish to be assuaged that their sons are not joining a cult. The Order\u2019s \u201csecrets\u201d do not exist to create a secret society to be falsely feared, let alone by small minded individuals with an apparent childish vendetta against a group with values and methods he cannot understand.<\/p>\n

It is true: No matter where you go in America, you can find small minded people in positions of power over others. Whether you\u2019re looking at Paris Island or Salt Lake City; the \u201cCity of Brotherly love\u201d or the state of multiple matrimony\u2026 Unfortunately, the internet provides those with even false gripes to have a limited amount of power. Your blog exemplifies this. You now feel that you have the power to ruin for others what you felt was ruined for you.<\/p>\n

Your problem isn\u2019t with the Order of the Arrow, sir. The problem you have is with yourself. Once you realize this, you will be able to see that your fellow Scouts didn\u2019t haze you \u2013 instead, as a youth you allowed yourself to take part of an honor that simply wasn\u2019t meant for you.<\/p>\n

Your experience wasn\u2019t tragic. However, what is tragic is your current need to denigrate the Order.<\/p>\n

__________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Byway of introduction regarding our guest post today, I ought to recount some blog history. I have recounted this history\u00a0in-depth previously here<\/a>, but newbies may want a more streamlined explanation for why this is relevant.In the early days of this blog - September 16, 2007, to be precise - I wrote\u00a0a post ... Read more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3476"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3484,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3476\/revisions\/3484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}