"Our objective in the scouting movement is to give such help as we can in bringing about God's kingdom on earth by inoculating among the youth the spirit and the daily practice in their lives of unselfish goodwill and cooperation." - Lord Robert Baden-Powell

A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others.

Each level of Scouting (Cub, Boy, Venturing) has an oath the Scout must take.  The first part of each of these oaths is the promise to do one's Duty to God.  This demonstrates the importance of religious duty to Scouting.

One way that Scouts can show their Duty to God is to earn the religious emblem of their faith and to wear the emblem on their uniform.  The awards are earned through work with the individual religious unit and the requirements for each are set by the church and not by BSA. Once earned, the award is generally presented by the church or religious group but may also be recognized by the Scout unit at an event such as a Court of Honor or Troop meeting or Pack meeting.  A Scout that has earned the award more than once at different youth levels of scouting may also wear pins that indicate how the knot was earned. Only a single youth knot may be worn.

I, (name), promise to do my best

To do my duty to God and my country,

To help other people, and

To obey the Law of the Pack

On my honor I will do my best

To do my duty to God and my country

and to obey the Scout Law;

To help other people at all times;

To keep myself physically strong,

mentally awake, and morally straight

As a Venturer,

I promise to do my duty to God and help strengthen America,

to help others, and to seek truth, fairness, and adventure in our world.