'Cookie Theology': Let's Not Forget About The Girl Scouts Either
Since we're an "Equal Opportunity Employer" in this forum, we must also address something of great concern as it pertains to the Girl Scouts of America.
I didn't know this, but a bigger tragedy happened to the Girl Scouts roughly 20 years ago when they made God "optional" and, as a result, now every Girl Scout member (yes, even the ones in our own LCMS churches and schools) are members of an international, pro-abortion coalition called World Association of Girl Guides And Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).
That got me thinking.
I know that the LCMS permits its young people (and even encourages them in some cases) to join the Boy/Girl Scouts. But should we?
You can call me a cynic if you want to, but I'm always a little suspicious whenever the federal government gets involved to promote something, especially when it's promoting something to our children.
Case in point, First Lady Michelle Obama proudly supports the Girl Scouts and even serves as their Honorary President too.
If you're looking for the abridged version of this commentary, then here it is. I call it "Cookie Theology According To The Girl Scouts" or "What Can A Cookie Do? More Than You See!" because of the way in which our financial support of and participation with the Girl Scouts of America is helping to indoctrinate the hearts and minds of young girls with anti-Christian beliefs and practices.
What Can A Cookie Do? More Than You See!
Your generous support of the Girl Scouts of America helps to promote and sustain the following anti-Christian beliefs and practices...
*- Abortion (through their ties with abortion provider Planned Parenthood)
*- Immorality (through their teachings on sexual education)
*- Egalitarianism (through their promotion and teachings of Women's Rights)
*- Humanism/Secularism (through their overt removal of God and Christianity)
*- Idol Worship (through their veneration of pro-choice women like Margaret Sanger/Dolores Huerta as role models)
Cookie Theology According To The Girl Scouts:
Thin Mints - The Girl Scouts of America Are Thin On Theology, But Heavy On Liberalism And The Religiously-Neutral Social Gospel
Trefoils - The Girl Scouts of America Are Truly Committed To Foiling Any Godly Influence From Christian Parents, Churches, And Schools
Do-Si-Dos - The Girl Scouts of America Says "Do Whatever We Say To Do And You'll Be A Good Person" (Because "Good People" Who Do "Good Things" Go To Heaven -- If There Even Is A Heaven!)
Yes, they do all of this with a wave and a smile...and with only 15% of profits from their famous cookie sales going to local groups!
I know, you probably think I'm overreacting here or being a little too critical.
Sorry, but I believe that we need to protect the hearts and minds of our young children and fill them with godly truths and wisdom instead of things that seek to subvert Him and His Word (Proverbs 22:6; Joshua 24:15).
Still think I'm being ridiculously absurd to suggest that Christians have no business being a part of the Girl Scouts of America or should at least think twice before joining and supporting them?
Why Are So Many Christians Leaving The Girl Scouts?
The steady decline in youth and adult participation in Girl Scouts is at least in part attributed to sex education decisions made by Girl Scout national leaders, according to Christians studying the trend and former Girl Scout local leaders who are Christians.
This week, Girl Scouts of the USA launched a campaign aimed at reversing the decline, featuring a video from First Lady Michelle Obama. Christian leaders and former girl scouts explained possible reasons behind it, including increasing ties with abortion provider Planned Parenthood.
"The Girl Scouts for a long time have been promoting an agenda that is contrary to what they were 10, 15 years ago," Janice Crouse, senior fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute, told The Christian Post in a Monday interview. Girl Scout policy on sexual morality, which focuses on self-discovery and protection rather than abstention, proves the main cause, Crouse argued. She also listed the trend of mothers going to work (therefore losing time to volunteer) and controversy about where funds are allocated from the famous Girl Scout cookie sales. Only 15% of profits go to local groups.
The Girl Scouts of the USA did not respond to requests for comment.
Addressing the morality shift, Crouse referred to a Girl Scout-sponsored 2010 publication by International Planned Parenthood Federation entitled "Healthy, Happy and Hot: A young people's guide to rights," which encourages young people with HIV to "take care of your sexual and reproductive health." Crouse attacked materials like this for making "girls ripe to sex from the earliest age." The scholar also pointed to a 2003 5th grader pamphlet called "Nobody's Fool," addressing sex education.
From 2003 on, Crouse said she saw "an underlying theme that promoted a more laissez-faire approach to sexual education," encouraging self-exploration. "This all contributes to the sexualization of our culture," the scholar agued, pointing to increasing rates of pedophilia and child abuse.
"The Girl Scouts formerly embraced the Judeo-Christian values that Americans once grew up with – love of God, love of country, treating others fairly," Crouse explained. "Now, Girl Scouts are more focused on indoctrinating girls on the so-called women's rights agenda."
This shift has strained the organization's relationships with churches, the scholar claimed. Publications demonstrated that "the Girl Scouts were intentionally promoting anti-life and abortion in ways that weren't even subtle."
Such stances have led to the creation of alternative scouting groups for girls.
"I just thought American Heritage Girls would be a club for my third daughter – God had a bigger plan, apparently," Patti Garibay, national executive director of American Heritage Girls, told The Christian Post in an interview on Monday. This Christian alternative, started in 1995, now boasts "over 30,000 members in 700 troops, in 48 states and 6 countries," according to Garibay.
Garibay served as a Girl Scout leader for 13 years, following a tradition from her mother. But in 1993, the organization made the word "God" optional in its promise, and the former adult leader recalled a "sex camp" in her local council, which promoted sexual expressions not in line with Christian values.
American Heritage Girls is "an outreach for the church to use," Garibay said, adding that local chapters must charter with churches and private schools. Girl Scout troops, by contrast, are owned by a national organization, and no not have a church or charter partner.
Ann Saladin, former Girl Scout parent and creator of www.mygirlscoutcouncil.com, said she was alerted to the different philosophy when her daughter mentioned Dolores Huerta, a woman she'd never even heard of. "Huerta is very involved in the fight for reproductive rights, Planned Parenthood's woman of the year, she won the Margaret Sanger award," Saladin said.
After learning about the Girl Scouts' unofficial pro-choice stances, Saladin removed her daughter – a fourth generation member – from the program. When her daughter left at the end of 3rd grade, she was the only girl in her class who was not a Girl Scout. Now, in 7th grade, "there are no girls in her grade or leaders in her grade," Saladin explained.
Saladin's passion drove her to start a website, www.mygirlscoutcouncil.com, which documents the pro-life concerns present at every council across the United States.
"The Girl Scouts are connected to the whole liberal infrastructure," argued Dan Gainor, vice president for business and culture at the Media Research Center in Reston, VA. He told CP that the "Girl Scouts have become a left-wing activist organization, with cookies," coopting a family-friendly concept and destroying it "by making it PC."
The Girl Scouts have fallen from 2.9 million youth members in 2003 to 2.2 million today, while adult membership dropped from 986,000 to 890,000, according to Fox News.
You'd think that all of that would be good news to a father of a 7-year-old girl like me.
However, I have just learned that there's a push (for all I know, it may already be too late to do anything about it at this point) at the private Lutheran Elementary School where my children attend by one of the teachers (my daughter's 2nd Grade Teacher) to establish a Girl Scouts Troop.
So, as Christians are leaving the Girl Scouts as fast as they can across the country, this teacher wants our kids (my daughter) to run to join the Girl Scouts as fast as they can.
I'm hoping that she's just misinformed about all of the facts presented above, and plan to talk to her about it soon, but then again I can't be entirely sure of that. After all, this is the same person who is responsible for getting the "Liturgical Dance Troupe" approved as an active an necessary part of the Contemporary Worship Service each Sunday.
Not to backtrack here, but please just take a moment to prayerfully consider the specific evidence that is contrary to our cherished faith. This is all you need to know.
WAGGGS worked in cooperation with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to distribute a brochure entitled "Healthy, Happy and Hot" at a "no-adults-welcome panel" during a United Nations week-long event (the annual Commission on the Status of Women).
So, what’s so disturbing? Well, for starters, here’s a sample from the brochure quoted from the C-FAM article (click here to read the brochure for yourself; click here to read the C-FAM article):
The brochure claims, "Many people think sex is just about vaginal or anal intercourse… But, there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex. There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!” The brochure goes on to encourage young people to “Improve your sex life by getting to know your own body. Play with yourself! Masturbation is a great way to find out more about your body and what you find sexually stimulating. Mix things up by using different kinds of touch from very soft to hard. Talk about or act out your fantasies. Talk dirty to them."
Charming, isn't it?
Furthermore, although the brochure is targeted at young people with HIV, the problem I have with this is that WAGGGS and IPPF are encouraging sexual immorality and promiscuity around the world via the United Nations.
Is that what we want our young Christian daughters and granddaughters being associated with? Is that what we want our God-given money being used to support?
My dear friends, we haven't even addressed the specifics regarding their "Women’s Reproductive Rights/Abortion-On-Demand" philosophy either!
As another Christian blogger put it:
Maybe it’s just me, but…shouldn’t organizations that purport to help girls develop their self-image stop supporting programs that destroy the self-images of girls, and ultimately result in a world-wide cultural view that objectifies girls and women?
How do we turn a blind eye to an organization that might be helping our daughters in our own backyard, but is destroying our values and hurting “all daughters” on a global scale?
Clearly, we should be exploring other Christian alternatives to the Girl Scouts of America. Organizations like the American Heritage Girls.
In a Lutheran Layman's terms, just because the Girl Scouts can bribe us with their yummy cookies does not mean we should take the bribe and turn a blind eye to any of this, especially when their public and unashamed support of abortion and sexual immorality is just as bad (if not worse) than the Boy Scouts' public and unashamed support of homosexuality.
Besides, how good are Macaroons if the ones peddling them can leave a person marooned after shipwrecking their faith (1 Timothy 1:18-19)?
Food for prayerful thought.
[NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with Lutheran doctrine -- in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word -- so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Thank you in advance for your time and help. Grace and peace to you and yours!]
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