Why the OA Ordeal Is Changing: The Ideology Behind It

Why is the OA Ordeal changing? The proposed elimination of the Ordeal as we know it reflects a broader ideological shift. The BSA prioritizes modern educational frameworks over traditional Scouting methods. Classroom methods over outdoor challenge, comfort over character, instruction over experience. Understanding this ideology reveals why they are being proposed and why they are inferior.

The ceremony proposals don’t exist in isolation. They reflect the same ideological framework that has driven dramatic changes throughout the BSA in recent years. Since the early 70’s, the BSA has increasingly moved indoors and sped up the advancement process.

The BSA’s Ideological Transformation

  • Classroom education over experiences: Many outdoor requirements have been removed or have indoor alternatives
  • Merit badges over Scout skills: Advancement to First Class is no longer the core of troop programs
  • Safety culture over challenge: Prioritizing emotional comfort over character-building difficulty
  • Therapeutic language over traditional values: Replacing “Clean” and “Reverent” with “authentic self” and “emotional wellness”.

For details, see: TheRiseAndFallOfScouting.org

The Result: This ideological shift has coincided with catastrophic membership collapse. Granted, there were other important factors. But most who were involved in Scouting but refuse to return talk of program changes, not the lawsuits.

  • BSA membership has dropped from over 4 million to under 1 million.
  • The OA, percentage-wise, has retained its numbers better than the troops. Could this be because our program, unlike the rest of the BSA, still retains its challenging core? The OA Ordeal has the same four tests that were developed in 1916-1917, over 100 years ago.

Why this matters to the OA: The same ideology that drove BSA-wide changes is now being applied to OA ceremonies and the Ordeal. These changes align with the increasingly indoor character of Scouting, sped-up advancement program, and a preference for discussion over experience.

Core Elements of the Ideology

1. Cultural Appropriation

The elimination of Native American words from OA ceremonies flows directly from this ideological principle: Using elements from another culture, even without bad intent, constitutes appropriation and exploitation.

The Problem: This treats culture as property that can only be “used” by those born into it. It’s fundamentally divisive, treating humanity as separate groups rather than as a universal brotherhood. It turns appreciation into offense and shared heritage into theft.

2. Therapeutic Culture

Modern educational ideology prioritizes emotional safety, comfort, and self-affirmation over challenge and growth through difficulty.

The Problem: The challenge is removed.

  • Short silence periods rather than throughout the Ordeal
  • Elimination of meaningful physical challenges
  • Replacement of mysterious rituals with explanatory narratives
  • Focus on feelings rather than learning by experience

3. Classroom Methods

The ideology assumes modern educational and business principles produce better outcomes than Scouting’s outdoor methods.

The Problem: Classrooms teach obedience and dependence, not leadership and self-reliance. For details, see: Classroom Fallacy

4. Avoid Challenge

  • Easier to manage.
  • A Scout may not want the challenge.
  • More friendly
  • Safety and comfort

The Problem: The challenge in the OA is its largest selling point. It is what attracts Scouts to join and members to stay in Scouting. Removing the challenge of the Ordeal will hollow out the core of the Order.

5. Increase Membership

Fun games, instead of the Ordeal, will encourage new members to attend meetings and events.

The Problem: The purpose of the OA is to return the elected Scouts to their troops as better leaders. Not to take them away to a competing set of meetings and events. Scoutmasters will stop holding OA elections. Also, these games replace the traditional challenge.

Why This Matters

Understanding the ideological framework behind these changes is essential for several reasons:

1. It explains the pattern: These aren’t isolated adjustments—they’re part of a comprehensive reimagining of what the OA should be. Which is analogous to what Scouting should be.

2. It reveals the trajectory: If these changes are implemented, they won’t be the last. The ideology driving them won’t be satisfied with partial transformation. For example, lodge, chapter, and Scout camp names will change.

3. It clarifies the stakes: This isn’t about whether we use a Lenape word or an English one. It’s about whether the OA will continue to embody its founding principles or will be reshaped to serve contemporary educational ideology.

4. It helps us respond effectively: Opposing specific changes without understanding the underlying ideology means fighting symptoms while the disease spreads.

The Fundamental Question

The Order of the Arrow was built on certain principles:

  • Universal brotherhood transcending differences
  • Character development through genuine challenge
  • Respect for tradition and heritage
  • Mystery and gradual revelation of deeper meanings
  • Service over self

The ideology driving these proposed changes holds different principles:

  • Defining people by their differences rather than their shared values
  • Emotional safety and comfort as the highest values
  • “Progress” and “relevance” over tradition
  • Explicit explanation and therapeutic language
  • Self-affirmation and “authenticity” over duty

These two frameworks are incompatible and irreconcilable.

The proposed ceremony changes aren’t neutral improvements. They represent one framework replacing the other. They represent a fundamental transformation of what the Order of the Arrow is, what it’s for, and how it works.

The question every Arrowman must answer: Which framework do we want to guide our Order?

The ideology driving these changes has already transformed the BSA, correlating with catastrophic membership collapse. Do we want the same ideology to complete its transformation of the Order of the Arrow? Or do we believe the traditional principles that built this organization for over a century deserve to be preserved?

For documentation of the proposed induction changes, visit Commentary on the Proposal

For evidence of BSA’s broader policy failures, visit https://theriseandfallofscouting.org