Opinion: Why I Will No Longer Support Girl Scouts Comments
It's time for Catholics to carefully and prayerfully consider whether Girl Scouts still fits in the framework of authentically living our faith in the world. Continue Reading
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I am a Catholic Girl Scout leader and it saddens me to know that Catholics and other Christian religions are not trying to change things from the inside...I live in a very conservative town and GS is very important my girls and to me......I think just quiting GS is the wrong thing to do....if we all quite these women do whatever they want to this great organization...If i stay a leader I have the right to voice my opinion, vote on our organizational leaders and change things from the inside out.....I am a very strong Catholic, but I also realize that in order to change things we must get involved but bocoting the sale of GS cookies or pulling our girls out is the wrong answer.....I plan to teach my girls to change things in right way.....voting and standing up for our beliefs.
Where are the Catholic Priests, where are the Bishops? Is this the next Catholic scandal of encouraging our Catholic girls to join an organization that goes directly against our church's teachings? We need true leadership here. We need the truth. We need Archdiocese who are willing to take a stand and separate themselves from the Girl Scouts across the board to make them change their agenda. The truth is that they are going directly after the girls ages 12-14 providing links provided in the back of Journey's for girls to visit (link below).
They are honoring the founder of the Black Feminist Organization and promoting the NOW endorsed children’s book The Paper Bag Princess in the Brownie Handbook !
Links to www.mediamatters.org as the touchstone for truth in media and a two page spread honoring Carol Jenkins, president of Women’s Media Center are included in the Junior Handbook (grades 4-5). Partners of WMC( the agency according to the book the girls are told to visit online at www.womensmediacenter.org) are:
Abortion Access Project, Access, Equality NOW, Alter Net, Feminist Majority foundation, Feministing. Com, FP, Media Matters for America, MS. Magazine, National Organization for Women, NCRW, Physicians for Reprodutive Choice and health, Planned Parenthood, NARAL-ProChoice America, National Women’s Law Center, Information and analysis for Reproductive Health, Sisterhood Global Institute, The White House project (long time partner of GSUSA) WIMN, Women’s Campaign Forum, Free Press, the Media Consortium.
Girl Scouts are in our parish and moms are closing their eyes to this complete garbage that their girls are fed while they are well into the program at grade 4. They purposely wait because they know that the girls have developed deep friendships and they are afraid of leaving for fear of losing their friends.
The Catholic people need their church to act, we need support.
On the partners page of WMC, all of these partnering agencies’ logos are featured for quick links to their sites for 12-14 year old girls to access.
I am also attaching the horrific play that is promoted in that same Junior handbook entitled Simply Maria – an American Dream by Josefina Lopez. As you can see the Journeys curriculum targets the Catholic church, childbirth and motherhood all in time to profit from those very people for their annual cookie sale.
and it's not about baking cookies, threaded throughout Girl Scouts are links to abortion providers
I agree with Lucky that this article spouts of intolerance. I am a Military Wife, A Mother, A Past Girl Scout Leader and I take offense. Maybe this is the way Girl Scouting is in your neighborhood, but how would you actually know if you do not actively participate? Just reading the program (Journeys) online with a biased attitude makes you read it negatively. I remember when the Journeys program came out not everyone was enthused for it, but each person interprets the same sentence differently. Is it wrong to empower our young girls? Is it wrong to teach them to protect the environment and accept others for who they are not by race or religion to not be biased or prejudiced? The core values and principles are still there for Girl Scouts since the beginning. You wish there to be more religion in Girl Scouts? Step up and be a Leader, show your Leadership and Faith to Girl Scouts they will be welcoming, but you must also respect that there are other faiths out there. There is nothing written saying you can not have faith, celebrate your faith/religion go to Church as a Troop or be a Faith/Religious Leader for a Troop. I would not hold being Catholic against you as you should not hod me not being Catholic against me, If you were my Daughters Troop Leader I would welcome the introduction of a new religion and be proud that she had a Leader that was dedicated to her Faith. As a Troop/Council we performed many Community Projects not just sold cookies, camped under the stars, not just made crafts, we met with and made friends with people of different cultures, race and beliefs we did not hold it against them. We shared our knowledge and walked away with the knowledge they had to share as well.
The author's viewpoint is why I am no longer a practicing Catholic. The intolerance is amazingly sad and I am pretty sure that Jesus isn't threatened by Girl Scouts being open to all faiths.
To those who have not yet given up on Girl Scouts for their daughters, please consider signing this petition to pressure GSUSA to wean off of this failed Journeys program. It is NOT well-received, and GSUSA has implemented to impress those who fund it. If there is demonstrable evidence that the program is not well-received and that they will lose members (and cookie sellers) they will be forced to light a fire under GSUSA to allow a traditional scouting pathway for our girls.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/553/petition-to-render-journeys-optional-for-girl-scout-bronze-silver-and-gold-awards
Even if you have moved your daughter to AHG, please consider signing. AHG is not an option for many of us. I am a Jewish mother of two girls. GSUSA is the only multi-faith, all-girl scouting opportunity for my daughters. Please help families like ours and sign this petition.
GSUSA would like parents to believe that their organization continues to be wholesome for Christian families. I was verbally attacked when I pulled my daughter out, citing the inappropriate liberal direction and national "leadership". My daughter is now a trailblazer in AHG..where there is no controversy. AHG teaches the girls self-respect and service to others. GSUSA has overstepped and delved into areas that were never meant to be a part of scouting. All of these issues are parent issues, NOT GS issues. Every parent has the right to know exactly what they are signing their girls up for. GSUSA is deliberately deceiving the majority and hiding their radical agenda as they continually turn left and left and left. Shameful. ..but then I guess you would have to actually have some type of moral compass to be ashamed.
Christians are learning a vital lesson as the World turns: we must be separate from the World. We must live our own lives. We must live our own lifestyle: the Way of the Cross, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Elizabeth: Yes, the environment is well worth protecting; in fact, the Lord has given us a mandate to do so. Paganism and secular humanism, however, are not part of that mandate. In fact, they contradict it, and they contradict the word of our Lord.
I am a Co-leader of a girl scout troop and just had a leaders meeting. I commented against a recent girl scout activity where abortion was mentioned in a speech as well as contraceptives for reproductive rights ( code words for pro abortion) from the "NOW "organization. In addition I complained to them (the local unit ) about being politically correct with calling A father's day, mother"s day, and grandma dance "a guy and me" "a lady and me dance". I was told that abortion was perfectly fine to talk about as well as the "NOW "National organization for women because it is part of life.The safety and wise book of scouts allows it Yet we can't say the father's,grandmother or moms party not to hurt anyone's feelings. At the same meeting we were also told that scouts and adult leaders should not speak about their religious beliefs. But Abortion is OK. Remember that if more people chose murder we would not have these girls in our troops. I am going to resign at the end of the troop year!!
BTW Mrs. Hartline, that GS logo is copyrighted. Did you get permission to use it? I doubt it. GSUSA would have asked you what the article was about and denied you because of your inaccurate views which you pose as facts. GSUSA is very protective of allowing anyone to use their logo. I had to go through all kinds of approvals when I asked if our Diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting could use the logo on certificates presented by the bishop for girls in recognition of the leadership shown through working/earning the highest leadership award in Girl Scouting, the Gold Award.
Someone asked if GS was Catholic in the beginning. A couple of years after GS started, the founder went to the Archbishop of Baltimore and asked if she could bring the program to the girls in the parochial schools along the eastern coast of the US since that is where the schools were. You know, bring the program to those you serve. The archbishop gave his approval. For many years in the beginning, Catholic parishes sponsored more GS troops than any other organization. At last count, the Assemblies of God churches sponsor more, WHY? Is your parish welcoming? Do you have Catholic adults willing to be troop leaders? As our Diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting, Vice Chair, I would put those up there as the top two reasons there is not more pressure on GSUSA to disassociate themselves with groups like Planned Parenthood. Let me be clear, I said they associate, NOT give money. As a non-proft you can lose your non-profit status by giving MONEY to another non-profit. GSUSA would be stupid to do that. There is absolutely NO PROOF that GS distributed any brochures at the UN meeting. In fact, the GS that were interviewed after the event said there we NO brochures of any kind distributed. Please C-FAM be responsible in what you report. You headline your article with .."GS distribute Planned Parenthood brochures...", yet in your article you say ..."Planned Parenthood distributes brochures..." This event was not sponsored by Girl Scouts nor Planned Parenthod and as such did not have access to distribute brochures. Now, according to C-FAM there were brochures in the room, I don't know, maybe yes, maybe no. For all any us know, C-FAM planted them in the room. The room was not locked before the girl participants entered. Anybody could have left anything in there. C-FAM, having the ability to post whatever you want on the internet does not give you license to use bad judgement in journalism. If you want to publish something based on heresay, inuendo and misinformation, please state that fact at the beginning of the article.
If you look at the patch programs offered through GSUSA you will not find any badge that has anything to do with sex, sex-ed, abortion, etc. You can reach the highest level of scouting and never have anything on any of those subjects. Every parent has the right to question any activity their child is involved in. In fact, ANYTHING outside of the normal troop meeting room is required to have a signed parental consent.
Catholics, step up and do your duty to God, get involved. Be sure you have the FACTS. If you forward inaccurate articles from the internet, you are just as guilty.
My next statement IS NOT meant to slam Boy Scouts nor the Catholic Church. Yet, I read your comments about God and GS and realize how ignorant some people are in their statements. GS is not a religious organization. They cannot tell someone to believe in one true God. Boy Scouts as well is not a religious organization. Just so that you are aware, there are Muslim Boy Scouts. Do you honestly think they worship God or Allah and Mohammed.
This brings me to Boy Scouts and the Catholic Church and pedophiles and child molesters. I don't hear you saying you are pulling your boys from scouting, nor leaving your faith. Yet you ARE tolerating the inappropriate actions of a few. Yet you are saying the entire GS is bad. That is pretty hypocritical thinking on the part of those individuals.
How about becoming involved in GSUSA, BSA and ministries of the Catholic Church and help build up something that is not broken, but help make it stronger.