You think being a christian makes a person wholesome? as opposed to what? being an atheist or a jew? Are catholic priests wholesome? clearly being religious didnt make a dent on their ethical values.
Sorry but the scouts and their quazi-religious status is something that has irked me for a long time. They actively refuse to let people become leaders for being atheists or not following a religion they like. Bigots, in otherwords.
I dont know where you get this from - yes they dont like athiests thats because they like people to have a faith but the good thing is you could put jedi as long as you believed in something. I used to put gnostic on my forms and didn't attend church parades. it did make teaching the my faith badge interesting.
rm's as a much a tv creation as bg or les stroud. I got a msg today asking for survival instructors for a discovery survival show which is supposedly taking the middle path and doing survival as its meant to be which will upset a lot you again no doubt - so he's not the first and wont be the last.
peter duncan didn't do a great deal but he was known by parents, bg is known by the kids and will interact with them far more than any previous chief scout. I love the fact that he has kids on the waiting list even though its because they are too young to join.
he wont suit a lot of you because you dont watch his programs properly which is your choice I guess as most of the complainers dont understand survival properly also complaining that eastenders isnt very bushy orientated when albert square has a park in it. but when kids ask me about why you do this or that you get the chance to explain how they would do it if they were in such a situation. its no worse than that chris ryan program where he was hunted everywhere as he nearly died on a couple of occasions as well.
theres more tales of americans remembering the escapades of man vs wild and using them for self rescue than there is rm bushcraft ones so something in the format does work. when they havent been trained with a scenario they can copy people remember what they have seen and try to emulate it. Come the zombie invasion americans will go to the shopping mall and brits will find a big country house. rm failed in his opportunity to lay out a plan for people to follow properly choosing reenacted anecdotes instead so allthough its showy there is a purpose to it. bg will be 41 by the time he gives up the scout role and will have hung his spurs up and moved onto the gentler art of bearcraft I reckon which is good as you can still call it bcuk. with rm obviously winding down to pre retirement or a slot on countryfile you need to find the next guy to carry the adventure torch on to the younger generation whatever he believes in
Although I am sticking up for him again I too would prefer he use a gentler style but then it would never carry through a full program unless you were a devotee of the subject.