Pro-Abortion Feminist Scouts
By Hans Zeiger (02/16/04)
Across America, Girl Scout cookie sales are in full swing. Last week, Girl Scouts of America officials announced a sales record for Washington, D.C. as 4.2 million boxes of Samoas, Thin Mints, and other cookies were sold in the nation's capitol.
But I'm going to be critical of the Girl Scouts. I love the cookies, but the organization has somewhat rejected moral decency.
At a recent Nobody's Fool annual meeting held at Planned Parenthood of Waco, Texas, the Bluebonnet Council of the Girl Scouts of America bestowed on Planned Parenthood chief executive Pam Smallwood the title of "Woman of the Year."
A Texas Christian radio station is urging its listeners to boycott Girl Scout cookie sales because of the Girl Scouts' close dealings with Planned Parenthood, and last Monday, parents of nine Girl Scouts in Crawford, Texas announced that their daughters will be leaving the Girl Scouts of America. Pam Smallwood is "not who I want as a role model for my daughter," announced the mother of a ten-year old Girl Scout who apparently broke into tears upon learning of Ms. Smallwood's lethal occupation. "I have to make a stand or there's no telling what else would happen," another mother told the Waco Tribune-Herald.
Sadly, more unfortunate positions have been taken by the Girl Scouts of America in recent years than parents and supporters may realize.
Rather than fight a 1992 lawsuit that challenged "God" in its Promise, the Girl Scouts broke its Promise with overwhelming support at the 1993 Girl Scouts national convention by permitting atheist and agnostic girls to use "words they deem more appropriate" in place of "God."
Since the 1970s, the Girl Scouts have been aligned with the radical feminist movement. For many years, Betty Friedan was seated on the national board of the Girl Scouts of America. In 1972, at the urging of Friedan and other feminist leaders, the Girl Scouts dropped "loyalty" from its oath because the feminized America was one where neither men nor women were expected to commit to each other in marriage. And for the past thirty years, the Girl Scouts have taken great pride in their anti-family sex education program, a program that has alienated Catholic churches and archdioceses as well and has drawn sharp criticism from leading pro-family organizations.
Girl Scouts sex education materials include such words as, "Some girls have sexual attractions or desires for people of the same sex." A 1997 book entitled On My Honor: Lesbians Reflect on their Scouting Experience estimated that approximately one in three adult Girl Scout professionals are lesbian and that the Girl Scouts are a positive place for lesbian relationships to develop. Obviously, the Girl Scouts are not a lesbian organization, and different girls have had different experiences as Girl Scouts - some good, some bad. But the organization is far from standing against homosexuality. Open lesbians are welcomed into the Girl Scouts.
In the summer of 2001, Mountain Meadow Girl Scout Camp in New Jersey was advertised as a "feminist camping experience [for] children of lesbian, gay, transgender ... and other progressive families." Children ages nine to fifteen were required to fill out an application asking name, birth date, medications, and "Gender of camper: male/female/other (please explain)."
In December 2000, President Clinton welcomed leaders of homosexual organizations to the White House to debut the Girl Scout-promoted film That's A Family! The video, produced by Women's Educational Media (WEM) to educate public schoolchildren about homosexual families, used young children to describe what it is like growing up with two moms or two dads. Girl Scout President Connie Matsui addressed the assembled crowd of homosexual activists at the controversial White House screening, explaining her enthusiasm for the film.
One might wonder why the Girl Scouts have been spared the painful attacks that have been launched upon the Boy Scouts by the Left in recent years. The reasons are simple: the Girl Scouts allow homosexuals and atheists to join their ranks, and they have become a pro-abortion, feminist training corps.
While the Girl Scouts fit comfortably in the dire realm of political correctness, the organization should not fit so comfortably in America's network of moral education. Parents should be warned that the moral content of today's Girl Scouts is no longer based in the Victorian virtues that gave it life in 1912.
Parents and supporters of the Girl Scouts must be vigilant in these matters. If the Girl Scouts of America can't get back to teaching real character, perhaps it will be time to look for our cookies elsewhere.
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