After years of questions and concerns about the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is conducting an inquiry into the organization and its relationship with the Catholic Church.
In a recent letter, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, briefed the country’s bishops on the committee’s “ongoing consideration” of the issue.
The main focus, Bishop Rhoades observed, is “possible problematic relationships with other organizations, the issue of problematic programmatic materials and resources and other matters of concern.”
There are more than 3 million Girl Scouts in America. Some estimates suggest that as many as 25% of them are Catholic or are in troops sponsored through a Catholic organization.
The bishops’ conference is hoping to address long-standing parental and parish concerns regarding the appropriateness of Catholic girls joining the Girl Scouts. Their apprehensions center on three areas of concern, accompanied by a constellation of smaller issues.
First, there are concerns about GSUSA’s ties to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the confederation of international Girl Scout groups that has exhibited pro-abortion and pro-homosexual agendas in many instances.
Second, questions have been raised about GSUSA’s connection to and involvement with Planned Parenthood and other groups who provide, promote or condone abortion and contraception.
Finally, there is the issue of how GSUSA handles sexuality, sexual education and homosexuality.
One Family’s Awakening
Christy Volanski’s two daughters, Sydney and Tess, were both part of Girl Scouts. The girls had friends in their troop and enjoyed their experience, but after eight years of active scouting, Christy discovered that “the program was not in line with our personal faith and morals. The discovery of GSUSA’s ties to WAGGGS, a group advocating for accessible abortion and ‘sexual rights’ for youth, was upsetting. As members of Girl Scouts USA, we were automatically part of and supported WAGGGS, which, along with their controversial advocacy efforts, has a documented partnership to International Planned Parenthood Federation.”
The discovery led Sydney and Tess to begin SpeakNowGirlScouts.com, which tracks problems with the organization from a Catholic perspective, and one of the biggest problems is WAGGGS.
The organization dates back to 1928 and was founded to unite girl groups from around the world. But its mission and ideology have become anti-life.
In its role as an NGO (non-government organization), it has partnered with both the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which funds population control and “reproductive health” initiatives, and with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and actively campaigned for sex education, contraception, emergency contraception and abortion (including abortion as part of “minimum packages of sexual and reproductive health services”).
A portion of the group's website that had included this last phrase was later modified to read “sexual and reproductive health services should, as a minimum, be accessible, affordable and safe.”
HonestGirlScouts.com estimated how much of the Girl Scouts’ money goes to WAGGGS, based on the 2009 annual report.
With 3,330,429 registered scouts, it’s possible that GSUSA generated $39,965,148 in membership fees alone, if each one of the scouts paid the full membership fee. They also average about $700 million in annual cookie sales. GSUSA pays an annual quota fee to WAGGGS, which totaled $1,465,389 in 2009.
And just who makes up the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts? They’re mostly Americans. GSUSA makes up 43.98% of the WAGGGS membership, with second-place India making up only 16.04%, followed by the Philippines (8.77%) and the U.K. (6.79%), with the 117 other member countries accounting for the remaining 24.42%.
Based on the available numbers, this means that 64.4% of the WAGGGS budget comes from U.S. girls.
GSUSA claims that no dues money is used to pay their financial obligation to WAGGGS, saying "Every Girl Scout and Girl Guide organization is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts – and each Member Organization, including Girl Scouts of the USA, pays dues. WAGGGS operates in much the same way as the United Nations: each member organization pays dues based on the size of its membership and the per capita income of the country in which the organization resides. Membership dues from girls and from adults are not used to pay the WAGGGS quota. All dues collected from Girl Scout members are used to pay for services that directly impact the development and delivery of Girl Scouting to girls in the USA and girls who are involved in USA Girl Scouts Overseas, our program that brings Girl Scouting to American families who live and work abroad."
Nonetheless, the connections disturbed Christy Volanski enough to prompt her to contact her local council and then the national office.
“They were indifferent to the WAGGGS information promoting abortion and ‘sexual rights’ for youth,” she said, “and attempted to distance themselves from that advocacy effort, although we knew from GSUSA that all members of GSUSA were also a part of WAGGGS.
“They also claimed to be neutral on the subject of abortion and birth control, despite the evidence that local Girl Scout councils were permitted by GSUSA to partner with the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.”
Planned Parenthood
The Girl Scouts’ connection to Planned Parenthood is a major area of concern.
In 2004, GSUSA CEO Kathy Cloninger admitted, “We have relationships with our church communities, with YWCAs and with Planned Parenthood organizations across the country to bring information-based sex education to girls.”
Since then, the Girl Scouts have issued a series of denials explaining that they have no relationships with Planned Parenthood. Its current statement is simply: “No, Girl Scouts of the USA does not have a relationship or partnership with Planned Parenthood.”
This is correct. Although figures in national leadership roles have ties to or support the agenda of Planned Parenthood, GSUSA tries to remain neutral on hot-button issues related to sexuality and abortion.
However, local councils are free to form partnerships, and there is evidence that some councils have done just that.
The connection between various councils and Planned Parenthood falls into several different categories. Sometimes, it is nothing more than the Girl Scouts appearing at a particular event along with Planned Parenthood, as the Girl Scouts of Northern California did in 2009 at the Women’s Policy Summit.
Other connections are more problematic, such as when various councils partnered with Planned Parenthood on their “Real Life. Real Talk” or “Nobody’s Fool” sex-education programs, as did councils in New York, Texas and Arizona.
In an annual report, Planned Parenthood of Western New York listed Girl Scouts of Western New York as a “community partner.”
Some issues that have generated a great deal of heat on the Internet are too sketchy to sort out.
The notorious, explicit Planned Parenthood pamphlet “Happy, Healthy and Hot” was allegedly discovered in a room at the United Nations that was used for a “girls only” workshop. The Girl Scouts deny that any of their people brought the pamphlet into the room or distributed it, claiming it must have been left there by a group who used the room earlier.
According to a Washington Times article, the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood handed out the semi-pornographic pamphlet “It’s Perfectly Normal” at a meeting in 2004, so it wouldn’t be unusual to find similar content at the same U.N. meeting that produced the WAGGGS’ demand for “sexual and reproductive rights” and “safe abortion.”
Organization
The problem comes down to organization. While the Boy Scouts of America have a strong central leadership that sets policy from the top down, GSUSA relies more on local leadership.
As GSUSA spokeswoman Michelle Tompkins observes, “Each council is a separate 501c3 organization with its own board of directors that is responsible for delivering the programming and membership to Girl Scouts. We can’t stress enough that Girl Scouts is a grassroots volunteer organization that is run mostly by parents in each community. The local volunteers, many in Catholic churches across the country, control what programming the girls receive. Parents, many of whom serve as troop volunteers, are actively engaged in those activities and well aware of what their girls are doing. The notion that a small band of individuals from a faraway place ‘control’ everything the girls see and do is simply fantasy.”
But reports of activities that depart from the traditional values that many families want to pass on to their daughters seem to add up to a pattern that makes many parents leery. Tomorrow, we’ll take a closer look at some of those.
Part 2 of this story can be found here.
Register correspondent Thomas L. McDonald writes about Catholicism, technology and culture at godandthemachine.com.
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There are other options out there.
Some are specifically Catholic and for girls - such as Challenge
http://www.challengeclubs.com/
A similar option for younger girls (5-10) is Little Flower Girl’s Club
others are general christian and for girls - such as American Heritage Girls
Finally some are specifically Catholic and can be only girls even though they can also be mixed such as K4J (Catholic Kids Net).
There is no reason to stick with Girl Guides.
It makes sense that in aborting their own children, and not opposing aborting girls because they’re girls. PP pool of new women is small. So why not try to induce the girls, in scouts…??
Because they lack an effective central leadership, the girl scouts are especially vulnerable.
Thank you for covering this issue.
While it may be true that GS give more power to local councils than BS, it is also true that the national organization provides written and other materials to councils and is responsible overall for the philosophy and direction of the organization. One item of concern with GS that was not mentioned above is the program materials that troops use. There is a series of handbooks, one for each level, the “Journey” handbooks. The Speaknowgirlscouts website has details on this objectionable material here:
http://speaknowgirlscouts.com/index.php?p=1_4_The-latest-Journeys-more
Looking forward to the next article on this topic.
I have heard about all these issues as well, but it so hidden and no one knows the truth…..I haven’t bought Girl Scout cookies in a few years and don’t plan to. Years ago when my daughter was a Scout I don’t think it was like this, but then again she was only in it for two years. How can we get this information out there and not just to those on NCR?
Planned Parenthood is an easy target. Yes, they do abortions, of which I am against, but only three percent of their budget is abortions. Yes, much of what they do is contraception, but more than 85 percent of Catholic women use contraception. While I think we should be questioning Planned Parenthood to some extent, we should also be questioning who the real Catholics are. If you use artificial birth control, you should not be allowed to be get communion. End of story.
If you have concerns and are looking for a program for your daughter, please consider Little Flowers Girls Clubs.
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As featured on EWTN’s “Women of Grace”, we are entering our 20th year of providing simple, affordable and fun programs for girls that can be done within a family, with friends, homeschool groups, parishes and schools.
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Growing Holy, Having Fun - One Virtue at a Time! http://www.eccehomopress.com
A great Catholic alternative to Girl Scouts is Little Flowers Girls’ Club (http://www.littleflowersgirlsclub.com). Girls 5 and up learn virtue through lives of the saints, scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Groups are locally run, no national dues to pay. The materials (books, badges, sashes, etc.) are affordable and flexible. Written by a Catholic mom of 11, Rachel Watkins, Little Flowers Girls’ Club is a growing by about 2000 girls a year in homes, schools and parishes. Free informational CD available.
The GSA fails all the Catholic principles of formal and material cooperation with evil. Not only because of the dues given to WAGGGS, but also their attendance at women’s conferences which promote a radical feminist agenda that opposes Catholic teachings at these meetings. “Just showing up” is equal to implicit formal cooperation. There are alternative groups like Heritage Girls that support traditional values. This is a group the Catholic church can support in good conscience. It’s time for the church to pull its plug on the GSA agenda and de-charter these groups from Catholic parishes. If the church is unwilling or unable to do it, it had better plan to lose the war on religious freedom.
You missed the radical feminist line that is now in their manuals. It isn’t just what they are connected with or the pamphlets but it is woven into the very text of the handbooks and guidelines used. Yes each may be independent of the other but there is one central decision when it comes to the handbooks and uniforms and badge requirements. There are alternatives out there that are safe. Women of Grace covered this topic within the last few months. I think we should pull out from Girl Scouts to protect our girls. In the cultural environment in which we live, we can’t afford to walk such a thin line. We must be boldly Catholic and defend our beliefs and protect our girls from that which is not in line with the church’s teaching or we run the risk of raising more women like Nacy Pelosi and such who think they are Catholic yet they reject the basic magesterium of the church.
A point that the writer of this article has completely wrong and in reading, very misleading: “or are in troops chartered through a Catholic organization.” The national organization CHARTERS the local franchises, aka Girl Scout Councils.
Local groups, like schools or churches, and veteran’s or civil groups MAY SPONSOR, but are not chartered. Sponsors of troops MAY provide a meeting location, have some of their membership involved with the troop, or provide other support, but the groups do not charter Girl Scout Troops. This IS NOT the Boy Scouts of America, Inc., (BSA) But like the BSA, there are two parts, the employees and the membership (dues paying) adults and the kids for whom both work to provide a program.
Now here’s the trick, how to call attention to actions and activities of the Corporation and it’s employees that are in direct conflict with Church teachings WITHOUT the alienation of the membership?
These women and men that are dues paying membership, and active in volunteering their resources (time, and money), ARE practicing Catholics and want their girls involved in a group that has for nearly 100 years stood for the highest in community involvement and service, civic participation, competence and skilled in many facets of life, and leadership.
The Inquisition contines! First the nuns now the girl scounts. The Bishops are a barnacle of history. Perhaps the GS can return the favor and declare the RCC clergy off limits to adolescents since they have such a terrible record in that area.
I am a Catholic wife and mother. I am also a teacher, a catechist, and a Girl Scout troop leader. The leadership within the Girl Scouts is at the core of this issue. My co-leader and I are active members within our churches, as are all the parents whose children participate in the troop. In my experience, aside from training and safety issues, the troops are very independent of each other. We work very hard to impart skills and knowledge which will benefit the girls throughout their lives. I have asked questions about particular matters and was advised to “Do what’s best for your troop”. I even asked our local leadership about involvement with Planned Parenthood and I was told that supporting Planned Parenthood is a local council and troop decision,that the leaders and parents chose that for any troops which are supporting this organization. (There are no troops in our council or service unit which support Planned Parenthood.) Due to the way Girl Scout leadership is set up, they can’t very well dictate the causes that a troop or council may support. We supported American soldiers overseas with the proceeds from our cookie sales this year. I believe the Girl Scouts as a whole is a very good organization for girls. It is a shame that some people are distorting the Girl Scout mission.
I listened to an Evangelical minister voice the same concerns about 6 months ago.
A growing option for young women is: American Heritage Girls
http://www.ahgonline.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=18722
To “dch”, find another forum, troll. Maybe the Huffington Post or MSNBC.
“Where there is smoke, there is fire”.
Joy Rebello - the only ones “distorting the Girl Scout mission” are the current feminist leaders. They are welcome to be pro-abortion, pro-contraception, and pro-homosexuality, but they should also be “pro-telling the truth”, which they are not.
This is a great article on a vital issue: since 25% of troops are sponsored by parishes, it is long overdue that church leadership look into the blatant conflicts that exist between what Catholics believe and what current GSUSA leadership support.
This is no “inquisition”. If there is nothing found, nothing will change, but if they follow the smoke and find the fire, I expect Catholic parishes will switch their support to other programs, like American Heritage Girls, which does not put our girls in contact with these feminist ideologies.
It is important to remember that girls experience the girl scouts at the local level, not the national and international level. If the local troop is sponsored and led by the a Catholic school and Catholic leaders, then the girls in the troop will receive Catholic values in their experience in scouting.
Likewise, the local Red Cross tends to support values in the local communities served versus the national and international. If the Girl Scouts are off limits because of their national and international affiliations, should not the Red Cross, UNICEF, Amnesty International and a host of other organizations that also affiliate with or have ties with organizations that are not in agreement with Church teaching.
The US Bishops need to think this out carefully. If the goal is to ostracize the Girl Scouts then so be it. On the other hand, if it is to get them to change to be more aligned with Church teaching, then wouldn’t that be better served by encouraging Catholics to participate so that there is a Catholic voice to be heard by the leadership? Better yet, to become part of the leadership?
What is “safe”? Catholics need to be courageous and bold not obsess about what is safe. Safe - it is such an insipid evangelical term.
eighty five percent of Catholic women (or what ever the number is) use birth control yet Bishops want to ponder the evils of the girl scouts .. Is this not a bit of the “Log in the eye”
Get people to love the Church. Get people to the confessionals. Let the priests, our faith, the Holy Spirit change hearts first. the rest will take care of its self.
When are Catholics going to realize that our Church is anti woman? Have any of you read Mulieris Dignitatem by John Paul II? I would never raise my daughter to believe that the role of women is only one of motherhood or child rearing. The Church still fails to give women a role in leadership. Where else is this okay in the West? And now, celibate men are making rules on very much a women’s issue.
Does no one see how problematic this is?
Tim it does NOT matter the numbers of Catholic women who are using contraceptives. I love this quote from St. Augustine (354-430)“Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it, and right is right even if nobody is doing it.”
Whats wrong with Planned Parenthood besides killing approx. 5,600,000 unborn since PP starting doing abortions? Well PP covers for child rapists, child sex traffickers LIES about the development of the unborn, doing mammograms and now they’ve been caught on video with encouraging a sex selection abortion. All that does NOT surprise me considering PP’s sex education is based off of child sex abuse and PP has an affiliate in China since 1983 where forced and sex selection abortion is rampant. On this link I have bundled 16 links showing what I have wrote about Planned Parenthood including the true numbers on PP’s claim abortion is only “3%” of services. Whats Wrong with Planned Parenthood http://bit.ly/c7LtTA
dch the Bishops did not want to look into this it was Catholic pressuring them into it. How do I know because I posted about the connection with PP & GS on their face book page and was banned from commenting even though I did not say anything derogatory.
Great interview with Bill Donohue which he talks about the nun situation & I agree with him if the nuns don’t agree with the Catholic Church they are free to go to another Church….. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1pYuqsKAHU&list=PLFF9ED3BCD4D9AE9F&index=38&feature=plpp_video
Well stated, dch! The GSUSA seems to be open and transparent about their financing and governance, why not ask the same of the USCCB? And then let’s see who fires whom.
While I understand that individual councils may choose their actions, partners, and involvement, there’s the issue of money. Millions of dollars in cookie sales; where does it go? How much goes to the local troop to pay for field trips and camp (or other wholesome activities), and how much goes to national where the real trouble is? I’ve also read that there are quotas for sales; someone actually involved in GSA could either confirm or refute that. Joy?
There are and can be fantastic troops completely in agreement with the Church—until you get to the money.
Posted by dch on Wednesday, Jun 6, 2012 8:35 AM (EST):
“The Inquisition contines! First the nuns now the girl scounts.”
Will the church hierarchy ever run out of feet to shoot itself in? Maybe the next step will be refusing communion to Catholics who contracept, as a commenter above demands. Although I’m not sure how the priest will know . . . . Maybe it would be sufficient to make an announcement at the end of the homily at each Mass reminding everyone that they can’t receive communion if they use contraceptives.
My main complaint about Girl Scouts is that their actions are inconsistent with their policies. If you go to their website FAQ, you will find that they have a statement that they are neutral on issues of sexuality and abortion. I am actually OK with that as a policy. The problem is that every time they partner with an organziation that has taken a position on abortion or sexuality, the organization’s positions are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
My impression is that Girl Scouts USA states they are neutral on abortion and sexuality because that is what they need to say so parents will put their daughters in Girl Scouts. But, Girl Scouts USA wants to partner with an organization for a particular project, the leadership is drawn to groups with values inconsistent with Catholic teaching on abortion and human sexuality. I am yet to find an organization Girl Scout USA partners with that is pro-life.
If Girl Scouts USA is truly neutral, then its policy should be that no one can partner with an organization that takes positions on abortion and sexuality. The absence of such a policy suggests a lack of integrity and I have no interest in having my daughters involved in such an organization.
My fear is that the bishops will accept Girl Scouts USA statement that they are neutral without actually determining whether they are in fact neutral.
The Girl Scout programs for girls is not in keeping with our Catholic faith. Some councils connect more fully with PP but ALL councils use the Journey Program books that girls must work from to earn their awards. Here lies the problems as we see PORN in the 4th and 5th grade Journey Program book Agent of Change. A young lady spraying her crotch area with perfume and spreading her hands and saying welcome to paradise gentlemen. You are known by the company you keep and the role models of GS are socialists, pro abortion, pro lesbian and lesbian characters. Please pray that the investigation by the Bishops is very intensive as the GS have been given a nod by NFCYM Bob McCarty for a very long time. This man himself is gaining some scrutiny as his book and attitude regarding the GS issues is certainly cause for review. As parents are the true vicars of their children please take a thorough look into the sites and see why there is such alarm. These are our kids they deserve role models. I am a 68 yr old Lifetime Mbr. who has been betrayed by the GS and now I work to get the message of who they have become out to all concerned parents. I am in the St.L. Archdioceses and have put in close to 30 yrs. as a mbr. of the Catholic Committee and earned my St.Elizabeth Anne Seton and my St. Ann Awards. I also have my Gold Award (fomerly 1st Class) and my Marian Award. I will pray your personal discernment. Jane
My prayers and appreciation to our bishops for taking on an important, and emotionally combustible, issues like what Girls Scouts stands for.
Our family dealt with this topic 8-9 years ago, as we learned and became concerned with what Girl Scouts was doing at the national and international level.
While our local troop was being led by good people, we could not (even indirectly) support what was happening at the broader levels. Indeed, this led to my wife introducing American Heritage Girls to our parish, which has thrived since.
I’ll repeat, there are MANY good Catholics leading Girl Scouts locally and doing so for admirable reasons. But there have been and are fundamental concerns what is being supported, programmed, and supported at higher organizational level.
I pray that local GS leaders receive the grace and wisdom to understand what is being implicitly supported and the courage to hold their national/international leaders accountable.
I am in total agreement with Joy Rebello. My daughter will be 19 in July. she has been a member of Girl Scouts for 14 years. She has belonged to two different councils, one in Connecticut and in Eastern Oklahoma. She has earned more than 80 different patches and awards througout her tenure including 3 Catholic Awards and the Girl Scout Gold Award, the equivalent of the Boy Scout Eagle Award.
In that time, she has NEVER been approached or solicited to learn about birth control, sexual relations or abortions. She has NEVER been given literature promoting any of the above. The rumors have been flying uncontrollably. I am aware of one family who left Girl Scouting because ‘Girl Scouts funds Planned Parenthood’.
Girl Scouts of the USA is a fine organization. Does it hurt scouting to punish a council by not purchasing cookies? No, of course not. It hurts the girls. Concerns over these matters should be voiced to the local councils. But please do not condemn an entire organization or feed into the rumor mill for the actions of a few.
Did not our Holy Father Pope Benidict warn us about the dangers of realativism? Either we support live or we don’t; we need to be more radical in our support for life and the teaching of our Church and avoid even a hint of scandel. There are too many alternatives to the Girl Scout to continue in a questionable relationship any longer.
Another wonderful option is American Heritage Girls (AHG). AHG and the Boy Scouts are the two scouting organizations that truly “charter” with the Church. And with AHG there is no fear of inappropriate affiliations like the Girl Scouts have with the World Association of Girl Guides (WAGGS). AHG is a Christ-centered scouting experience for girls. It exemplifies the Great Commission from the local Troop all the way to the national level. My daughters have been truly blessed by the experience.
In 1990s I was a Girl Scout up to the rank of junior but our troop disbanded. Lack of new girls to the troop was one reason. Still I have positive memories from that time.
For readers who are interested, the Heritage Girls has been mentioned as an alternative to Girl Scouts:
http://ahgonline.org/
@Tim - you have to look at the local clinics to know what really is being done by PP. Try 51%. http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/05/planned-parenthood-51-of-its-income-comes-from-abortions/
@Jane and @ Joy - not too much of the cookie proceeds stay local (19%) http://www.honestgirlscouts.com/files/GS-WAGGG$Chart110425.pdf
Compare this with Boy Scout popcorn at 70%.
@dch - 30 seconds into this article I was speculating on how quickly some would point to the religious women leaders topic.
There is a strong parallel - both are structures where many of the members are doing good, but leaders are disconnected or working a different agenda - agendas that are too often counter to the teachings of the Catholic church.
From reading the above comments from holier than Thou zealots, I can understand why Catholics leave the Church for more welcoming and less judgmental Protestant Churches.
When our girls were of an age to going Girl Scouts, we decided against registering them. The speakers that GSUSA chose for their national convention were all abortion advocates. GSUSA has continued that trend by holing up women who are firmly opposed to Catholic teachings as role models, either as speakers at their conventions, or explicitly in the new Journey books.
We have since put our girls in an American Heritage Girls troop and could not be happier. They did Little Flowers for awhile, but wanted the Scout type experience with camping and badges.
Sure, an individual GS troop might be sound, but why settle for that when you can have a troop in an organization that is fully pro-life and publically supportive of Catholic values.
Heather Price, there are quotas involved, but not for the reasons alluded to by other sources. (As to any other quotas, I cannot say.) At the beginning of cookie sales, the girls and troop leadership, with some input from parents determine what our goal will be for the year, such as an outing or field trip, which costs money. We determined how much money is needed for each girl. Each troop gets 50 cents per box. In order to go somewhere that costs $100, each girl will have to sell 200 boxes. There were many troops which had each girl selling 1,000 boxes each. Some troops opt to not even sell cookies at all. We also do not require all the girls to sell cookies in our troop, but the parents will have to pay out of pocket for their girls to participate in the reward activity. Most parents choose to sell the cookies.
While others may be posting alternatives to Girl Scouts, in many states those activities are not available, such as the Heritage Girls. In this area, it is often difficult to get enough girls to even join Girl Scouts for troops to form and continue. This is a situation of the Girl Scouts being the “only cookie in the jar”. I just do not see enough demand for these groups in certain demographic areas to be able to start up such a group.
In regards to parents, I have been fortunate to have parents who are very active in our troop. We are probably a little different than other troops. Most of our girls have been friends since kindergarten. They play soccer and other sports together. Some of them attend church together. We all know each other very well. The girls attend almost all the meetings. We all work together to guide the girls through the decision-making experience. I have heard other leaders complain that the parents don’t participate and use the Girl Scouts as a babysitting service.
The parents and leadership can mold existing Girl Scout troops to meet their own needs, good or bad. The troops, service units, and local councils can also influence the upper levels of the organization. In general, I believe that the fault lies at the national level which does try to make these all-inclusive policies, trying to please everyone.
Underneath it all, we should also be considering the corporate sponsorships and relationships which the Girl Scouts have cultivated, much like the Susan B. Komen Foundation. It is also important to remember that the lower levels of the Girl Scout organization is ran by volunteers, but the upper levels are paid employees, often operating like corporate employees often do. We are talking about money and profit, but I believe everyone already knew that.
I have not bought GS cookies in yrs., because the biggest percentage of the money goes to the cookie company. Anyway I get tired of every organization [almost] offering sex education to our children. Isn’t it enough they they get it in school? Most of their sex education SHOULD come from the parents, but unfortunately some leave it up to the school. When pedophilia came out in the Catholic Church, I studied it and PARENTS MUST be careful of the organizations and camps your children attend. Pedophilia is a world wide problem and these sick people tend to gravitate to organizations for children. Parents have to teach their children that if anything unnatural happens to them, they should confide in their parents and not be afraid to, whether it was a priest, minister, scout leader, teacher, family member or anyone. It is very normal for children to be enthralled with the entertainment industry and they [the industry] should be held accountable for the trash that they put in our children’s heads.
What Joy Rebello and Henry F. Stanco fail to realize, is that GSUSA depends on them to remain ignorant of the hierarchy and the money they are raising for it and WAGGGS. Sure, at the local level, your family may not have seen one iota of the pro-abortion, pro-gay promotion that occurs at the national and international level. BUT EVERY DOLLAR YOU EARN FOR THEM IS USED FOR THEIR AGENDA whether you are aware of it or not. I felt sick when I first realized the money trail that leads to Girl Scouts of the USA hosting “sexual rights” events at the United Nations. when I called GSUSA and spoke with Sandy Thomas (VP Overseas), I asked her what business Girl Scouts had promoting sexual rights for children through WAGGGS, and do you know what she told me? She did NOT deny my remark, but explained “Because 5-year old girls in Africa are getting raped by their fathers!” Let me get this straight. Because some unfortunate soul in Africa is being abused, all little girls around the world need to be taught explicit sex education? They are rabidly pro-abortion. My troop earned thousands of dollars in cookie sales to make that happen. Every year, I would spend hundreds of dollars in patches, awards, and fun Girl-Scout-logo-emblazened knick-knacks. Under our noses, right in front of our eyes. But most families are too busy raising their children and working hard to notice… and we blindly trusted GSUSA to use our money wisely. No more. My family is boycotting Girl Scouts from now on.
Dr. Mark, from your reply all one can suppose is that blogs such as this are meant solely to ‘preach to the choir’. Is that your notion of ‘epistemic closure’ or a trip on the ‘Mobius strip’.
Jane E Petry, do you even have the Girl Scout Journey book, Agent of Change in your possession? I do and there are no such illustrations or statements in this book. Your allegations of pornography in this book are very false. The topics covered in this book are girls finding their individual talents, future goals and aspirations, and helping others. Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Anne Frank, and Dolores Huerta are historical women mentioned in this book. Celebrities America Ferrera, Dakota Fanning, and the Williams Sisters, Venus and Serena, are mentioned. There is a story about two girls finding a box of abandoned puppies and an activity to fill a local food bank. What is so wrong with that? There is no porn in this book. Period. (This book may be purchased online through the Girl Scouts’ national store or through any Girl Scout council store. The ISBN is 978-0-88441-713-2, printed in 2008, and the cost is $7.00.)
I have been aware of the connection between the GSA and PPH and Gay rights organizations for at least two years. I do not buy their cookies nor do I support them in any way. I am a little bit surprised that the bishops have taken so long to look into this matter but the good news is that they are finally doing so.
The biggest problem they have is that the GSA national organization is firmly committed to the gay, abortion and radical feminist agenda. This agenda whether the troops like it or not are identified and influenced by the national organization.
If I were the USCCB I would give the GSA national a year to completely disassociate with these radical groups and the agendas they support. If the GSA does not reform I would suggest that those in the GSA chapters align with the BSA. I am sure the Boy Scouts of America would welcome and support the reformed GSA chapters. This would allow the girls to continue scouting. Since GSA is so decentralized most of the troop assets would go with them to the new organization. They may even be able to take the name GSA with them.
Frankly in closing I do not think that the national of the GSA will budge from supporting their radical agendas like PPH and the gay agenda even if threatened with a 25% exodus of membership.
I find it fascinating that the Bishops have all this time on their hands, that they now feel the need to investigate the Girl Scouts. Will they investigate the Boy Scouts next? Oh wait a minute, that’s a male organization and therefore would be part of the Good Ole Boys network. I love my Church but I think that it is time that they realize that we are living in the 21st Century and not the 12th Century. It would be really nice if they decided to investigate themselves in regards to the Child Sex Abuse crisis.
My daughter and I had been in GSs and loving it for 4 years. Two years ago, I started hearing rumors but it took 2 more years to make me stand up as a Catholic and be bold enough to leave GS. This was the first time I ever stood up for my faith, and it’s not because the Bishops or the Magisterium told me I had to. My daughter was ready to leave before I was. She’s 10. With ALL of these issues mentioned, we couldn’t raise money for this organization any longer, either by selling or buying cookies. If you are a Catholic GS parent/leader, take the time…do the research. Check the mentioned websites, order the GS books, and see what information the national organization thinks is okay for your little girl. Specifically, I suggest looking at the plays that the GS books suggest. I don’t want my daughter reading material at age 10 that made me sick to read because of it’s explicit sexual nature and negative view of women. GS is not the same as it was when you were a GS. They still want to raise leaders, but not the leader they raised you to be. And whether your troop uses their books or not, the money you raise buying or selling cookies, helps them print those books and materials. Be bold! Be Catholic! Be the leader GS raised you to be, and leave!
Joy Rebello,
GS wasn’t bold enough to put the truly sexual stuff in the GS Amuse book (for grades 4-5) either. But they highly praised a female playwright named Josefina Lopez and that her play “Simply Maria” won her a playwrighting contest at the age of 18. I thought “Wow! She sounds great. What a successful woman!Maybe I’ll order the play.” So, I ordered it from her publisher, and I was shocked! If my daughter had read it, she would have learned a lot more than any 10 year old girl needs to know about sex! It’s filth! Is this the only female leader they could find to promote to our girls? Did they have to mention the play by name? I think GS could have made better choices. So here’s the question… If I had found my daughter reading a play that had been mentioned in her GS book, would I have questioned it’s appropriateness? Probably not, but now I know I have to. I can’t trust GS to protect my girl. That’s my job.
Jennifer Ironsmith, I believe this is another example of the Girl Scout organization trying to make everyone happy. Yes, that’s great that Josefina Lopez won a contest at 19. The writers should have more thoroughly vetted her works before recommending her in a book for younger children. It sounds like sloppy research and editing, too.
What bothers me is how many of the individual achievement badges that have been dropped by the GS. Very few cooking, pet care, sewing, camping, etc badges any more. Little gawky awkward girls could learn these skills and get the badges and have something to show that they could be successful. Especially if it was something a little unusual, like pet care of lizards, or sewing/weaving.
Now it seems to be more about self-aggrandizement, being special just by being special. There’s enough of that in society and the schools now.
I was a Girl Scout leader back in the 90’s, for 7 years. I didn’t find out until my last year as a leader when I became a representative, that Planned Parenthood was on the Board of the Girl Scouts and so was a representative from the Catholic diocese. I wrote a letter of protest to every member of the Board in NYC and in Long Island and I was told that the Planned Parenthood board member quit. I’m sure that didn’t last very long. I was appalled that the diocese would sit on the same board as Planned Parenthood. I have boycotted the Girl Scouts ever since and I cannot understand why so many Catholic organizations run Girl Scout programs on their premises.
Joy Rebello—Jane is referring to the GSUSA Agent of Change book’s promotion of the book and movie “Persepolis”. GSUSA promoted this to girls for 4 YEARS before deciding they would offer a sticker that the girls could use to cover this offensive recommendation in their books. What about the girls that already saw GS’ recommendation? What about the girls who acted on this and read this GSUSA-approved book or movie (movie is also terribly inappropriate). Look at the excerpts yourself. http://www.speaknowgirlscouts.com/index.php?p=1_4_The-latest-Journeys-more
(page scan from Agent of Change, page 19 is included at the top of the documentation.) This is one of MANY examples of problematic materials, many of which have not been remedied. Here a partial list of pro-abortion role models, resources and websites that GSUSA is proud to promote to our girls in their printed curriculum: http://www.speaknowgirlscouts.com/index.php?p=1_4_The-latest-Journeys-more
Thank you, ProLife Texan, for the clarification and I apologize to Jane for misunderstanding her reference.
My co-leader and I have not seen many of the materials listed there as the girls in our troop are still in elementary school. The oldest one will be in 6th grade next year. The ones cited are very inappropriate for any girl, let alone being officially sanctioned and even recommended. We preview any books or websites that we recommend to our troops. I see a huge push for diversity and trying to please everyone in the books and other materials.
For the most part, we have ignored WAGGS when it has been mentioned other than to explain what it was. Official council publications and correspondence seldom mention WAGGS.
I was not aware of the financial ramifications of World Thinking Day. We always observe it and do a project, but we don’t contribute or anything, same for Juliette Gordon Low’s birthday. The theme for 2012 was nature so we went on a hike and had a picnic.
Way to go USCCB!!!
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia banned the Girl Scouts from the church’s institutions years ago. I forget the organization that they switched to.
I was a Girl Scout leader for 11 years, two troops at one point. This is my last year because I’ve learned that they have taken a liberal view. Look up GirlScoutsWhynot online to find out more info. It’s out there. They are trying to be sneaky about it because they know they will lose many girls. Even the 100th yr celebration in the GS Texas convention has a bunch of liberal speakers ONLY. My oldest daughter earned Camp Samoa when she was in 5th grade 4 years ago, and she said that the dinner song was changed from “Thank you God for giving us food,” to “Thank you earth for giving us food.” She said 3/4 of the girls did NOT participate in the change up song.
when she was in 5th grade 4 years ago, and she said that the dinner song was changed from “Thank you God for giving us food,” to “Thank you earth for giving us food.” She said 3/4 of the girls did NOT participate in the change up song.
@Leticia, I was a Master Trainer for a couple Girl Scout Councils; it is a fact that overtly “Christian” graces that specify “G-d” may not be used. There went all the graces I learned as a Girl Scout. Even the “Johnny Appleseed” song is no longer allowed.
@ those always pointing to the priest scandals to justify any other bad behaviors, which it does not. Yes - those were totally wrong and needed cleansing. But hasn’t anyone figured out yet that almost all were homosexual misbehavior with adolescents, not so much pedophilia, few girls or actual children involved - in fact I only keep hearing about males. Guess we don’t dare point to where the real problem is. And being told the same cases over and over is to make us believe it’s so widespread, but it’s really a very small percentage of priests who caused it. No more, and probably much less, than in other institutions. They’re just not such satisfying targets for some. So please, don’t try to justify every other wrong with that. Thank you.
Really…you think that troops are discussing abortion and birth control? Really? Have you been to a troop meeting lately? Do you realize who the troop leaders are? If you believe the Girl Scouts has a pro-abortion, anti-Catholic agenda, then I’m sorry, but you are paranoid and on the look out to attack. Who will be next? Maybe the U.S. Figure Skating or Gynmastics—let’s face it, if those costumes aren’t promiscuous, I don’t know what is. Or all those women’s book clubs—well, they all ready Fifty Shades of Grey…we should ban all gathering of women because goodness knows what they really are doing over tea.
I’m sorry you all feel so under siege—seems like an over wrought cross between Opus Dei and too many helicopter parents with too much time on their hands. Teach your own children and they will know whether to accept anyone else’s teaching and RELAX
I have been a Girl Scout my entire life, as a girl and an adult - even before I had girls of my own. I have volunteered with GS most of my adult life (I am pushing 50). I have been offered employment with GS in the past. But over the past few years GS has been changing and NOT at the “grass roots” levl. Michelle Tompkins observation in your piece is laughable. Yes, GS was a grass roots organziation 100 years ago, but certainly is not now. If it was, please explain to me why the box girls sell for $3.50 they only get to keep 45 cents per box! Please explain to we why all program materials come from the NATIONAL, NOT LOCAL, council. Please introduce me to the grass roots girls that thought the new Journey program was a good idea, maybe for their “local council, grass roots” area. Please tell me why the $12 registration fee does NOT stay with the local girls, but goes to NATIONAL. The entire program is written and mandated by a “faraway place”, for sure!
My troop is disbanding and I cannot begin to tell you the heartache this has caused me, though the dispanding was initiated by me. We will be doing AMerican Heritage Girls, plus I am going to try to start a Little Flowers at my church. This is the 100th anniversary of GS and their founder Juliette Gordon Low, I can imagine is turning over in her grave as tot he state of the organization she started, which by the way included GOD, now it includes a washed down,warm, fuzzy whatever you want.
I wanted to acknowledge “Old Girl Scout’s” correction and note that we have changed the word “chartered” to “sponsored”. My long experience with the Boy Scouts led me to use the word “chartered” automatically, where “sponsored” is the correct word. There is a difference, and I appreciate her clarification.
In the interest of full disclosure, I want to point out that my daughter is a Girl Scout and my son is a Boy Scout. I have volunteered with both groups. In this article, I have made every attempt to be fair to both sides of the story while expressing concerns that are unique to a Catholic audience.
Jane Thomas—- While the issues may not surface with troops who are fortunate enough to have a very diligent troop leader, if the leader is following Journeys, then yes, she will promote pro-abortion role models and resources to girls. Indoctrination is subtle. The Girl Scouts families and troop leaders, are for the most part awesome. The problem is with the national organization, its leadership and its curricula. (Not to mention the international connection with WAGGGS is a polar opposite to the teachings of our Church). Have you looked at the GSUSA Journeys program? Have you seen the official GSUSA blog? It takes girls to websites like Alternet.org, MarieClaire.com, Amnesty International and other pro-abortion, pro-homosexual resources, that feature articles like “The History of the Vibrator”, promote homosexuality or “GeoCondoms”—WHY is GSUSA linking girls to this trash? Be informed, please.
jane Thomas ,
I hear you & I, too sometimes find conservative Catholic folk teetering on the edge of paranoia.
However, questions about the Girl Scouts leadership & philosophy have been around since the 1980’s at least.I don’t think there’s any doubt that on a national level there has certainly been a push to the left.Whether one can avoid that at a local level is another question.
I’m glad the bishops are checking into this.
Of course we get the usual responses from the peanut gallery. Oh, the Church is too judgemental! Oh, the Church is too patriarchal and not focused enough on the abuse crisis!
Red herrings abound when people are confronted with things that challenge the essence of their moral lives.
This poster
Posted by MPSchneiderLC on Wednesday, Jun 6, 2012 3:58 AM (EST):
recommended “Challenge” Clubs. But readers should know that this is an apostolate/group for the Legion of Christ (lc) and its lay organization regnum (rc). This group is being investigated and over seen by the Vatican because the Vatican discovered that the founder was a:pedophile, had children with multiple women, and misused funds. Please see
life-after-rc.com
The “challenge” club is used for recruitment to rc. While there are some good people in lc/rc, the organizations a deeply flawed. They often use Catholic words that actually have different meanings. One example is the term of “consecrated”. The “consecrated” of rc have NO canonical status in the church. I think it is only fair that if “challenge” is recommended by an lc then people should know all of the facts so that people can make an informed decision.
The “American Doll” company also links to inappropriate sites for young girls.
Agreed Bill! All the die hard GSUSA fans want to divert the attention elsewhere—- point the finger of blame at the Church and these “pesky Bishops” and let’s just ignore the 2.3 million girls that Girl Scouts is pushing towards sexual explicit information and LGBT/abortion rights.
A wonderful faith-based doll company is Girls ‘n Grace http://girlsngrace.com/
beautifully crafted dolls, accurate historical stories, Christian company
Wonderful article! I myself have been wondering if Girl Scouts USA was okay to be apart of, this article has helped me to determine my answer.
ignorance is so very sad. my heart aches for the catholic church’s ignorance.
That is frightening, I had heard sporadically over the past that the Girl Scouts were fairly partial to the feminist movement, but I had no idea the gravity of that partiality. Perhaps a better alternative would be the American Heritage Girls (AHG). They are newly affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, and share their values. From the meeting I attended AHG is fun, functional and growing!
I cant believe this. Perhaps the church schould pay equal attention to their priests as they do to the Girl Scouts. Thought the comment about the Boy Scouts was intersting, of course they run a better organizaiton…they are male! I just cant believe this. It sounds like the church wants to keep “her women” down on the farm, barefoot, ignorant, pregnant and helpless!
CYNTHIA SARTOR—- how about keeping Catholic girls free from an agenda stacked with promotion of abortion rights, sexually explicit content and the LGBT lifestyle? It sounds to me like the Church and the Bishops want to help Catholic girls to be empowered with a respect for life and the sanctity of marriage. And to help them honor the beautiful teachings of our Catholic Church—- So you go head mock and criticize all you want. I’m proud of the Bishops for protecting our girls from the corrupt curriculum of the Girl Scouts that clearly contradicts the teachings of our Holy Mother Church.
I was a GS as a girl for about 6 years, many years ago, and have been a GS leader for the past 14 years to 3+ troops and a service area coordinator in WI for the past three years. I am also a Catholic parent of three girls who have/are attending Catholic School. In our service area, the Catholic Schools are the only parochial schools allowing GS to come in and, not only recruit girls into Girl Scouts, but set up troops within the school. In the past, I have always assumed that organizations that the church and school allow to be set up within the school are in line with our Catholic faith, because the first and foremost reason for sending my children to the Catholic School is for my children to get a Catholic education and to build a strong Catholic faith foundation for them. In the very least, I believe the Bishops should ask that the Catholic Churches and Schools not allow GS to set up troops within our schools and parishes and not allow such events to happen on Church grounds.
The picture (which is worth 1000 words, as ‘p.p.’ knows) on page one of the printed copy Vol. 88, No. 13, says it all about what the GSUSA is all about and where it is heading, and it is not into the gates of Heaven. Mrs. Sanchez, (I believe that she is suppose to be a Catholic), is against anything that is moral or decent, in other-words, she is a typical Democrat, that supports birth-control, abortion, homosexual activity and constantly attacks the Church. Please Bishops get the Girl Scouts out of the Church until it becomes decent and safe for our daughters and grand-daughters once again. DON’T BUY THEIR COOKIES!! +JMJ+
My oldest daughter is now 30 and loved her Girl Scout experiences. I was always so proud, as was she, when I sewed another patch on her vest which represented a time commitment and learning something new. I still have that vest and will always keep it.
I’m sorry to say that back then I never considered what corporations GSA was affiliated with- we just enjoyed being part of it for so many reasons. Planned Parenthood was totally off my radar back then as well. Now of course my eyes have been opened and Inhave nomexcuse but to follow my conscience as best as I can. I understand it is a struggle for some and can only be responsible for myself without judging others. We are only small parts in this big machine of consumerism and economics but we do have a rightnto express ourselves by where we shop, by buying less things than we really need and even by writing to corporate offices to let them know how we feel. Many posters here have expressed great ideas about changing our mindless spending. A little thought about the choices we make can go a long way, especially in our own hearts. And it’s never too small for our Lord to know the changes we have made for His sake.
some have touched on it, but the main point is not much discussed here, which is if anyone wants to place their girls in GS, that is up to them, but the church has every right to determine which activities go on in church grounds, I am tired of liberals screaming inquisition, every time the church questions the groups and organizations and their keeping of the faith. They all may do well and mean well and have the same goals of peace and wellbeing but their means of achieving it is different then the church’s and in the church home they have every right to question, just like any organization has every right to question if a particular group, program, or entity is comprable with their mission. Everytime I go to my boss when we are auditing our vendors if they are aligned with our mission or not, we are now burning our vendors at the stake, how ridiculous that they place this mantra on “OUR” (unfortunately it comes from the catholics within) Church.
Years ago it was banning Masonic organizations. Now the red-frocked ones want to ban the Girl Scouts. Talk about hutzpah !!!!!
Too much power in the hands of the hierarchy. Why not ban the K of C with their plumes, capes and sabers? Those are warlike-costumes, aren’t they?
Also let’s ban collections.
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