Girl Scouts Of Amercia + Lds Church

[mountainrider]

Why doesn't the LDS church support the Girl Scouts of America in the same way that it supports the Boy Scouts of America? I have heard the argument that the church has its own Young Women's Program but they have a Young Men's program too. Has any official church position on GSA ever been publicized or are the reasons a mystery?

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

GSA puplicly supports lesbian and hard-core feminist platforms, which are not in line with Church teachings.

BSA has remained an organization with traditional, conservative values (treat women with respect, "keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight," etc.). That's true in the USA. In Canada, the Boy Scouts have swung radically toward open acceptance of homosexuality in recent years. You will note that the Church only uses the Scouting program (both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts) in areas where they are approved. In other areas, the boys aged 8-11 do something similar to Activity Days and the young men do the Duty to God series, but not Scouts.

[Palerider]

The Church has its own Young Womens Program with camping and awards they can earn etc....yes the Young Men have their program and its called the Boy Scouts of America......and if the BSA ever caves in the taking of God out of scouting the Church will then have its own Young Mens program similar to Scouting....also my understanding is they have it all in place in the event it were to happen.

[Laureltree]

Mom,

You are so on it !! I won't support them either. Disney has the same program s and I won't support them either.............

[prisonchaplain]

Mom,

You are so on it !! I won't support them either. Disney has the same program s and I won't support them either.............

Yes, thanks for the heads up! The GSA just lost three up and coming youngsters. I guess our Missionettes will have to suffice for our girls. Though it probably means DAD is going to have to get into camping a bit.

[Guest MrsS]

<div class='quotemain'>

Mom,

You are so on it !! I won't support them either. Disney has the same program s and I won't support them either.............

Yes, thanks for the heads up! The GSA just lost three up and coming youngsters. I guess our Missionettes will have to suffice for our girls. Though it probably means DAD is going to have to get into camping a bit.

PC, your daughters could participate in LDS Activity Days and later on in Mutual and NOT be members of the LDS Church. I was Primary 1st Councilor for 4 years and half of the children in our primary were of different faiths. They alternated attending Primary (on Sundays) with going to their own church, or not going to any church. But the Activity Days (for the girls) and Scouts for the boys, they attended every week. Our little branch had nearly all the boys in the town in our scout program. I was told by the non-member parents that they preferred their sons to go to the LDS Scout Troop, than to the other troops in the town.

I am Young Women's Secretary now, and we have three young women (aged 12 to 18) who come every wednesday evening to Mutual, and they are not members of the Church, and really have no plans on joining. We aren't pushing them either. The only thing they can not participate in, is in going to the Temple to do baptisms for the dead. Only those who are baptized in the LDS church can participate in that ordinance.

We are happy that they come to Mutual, and are not out on the streets.

We have a wonderful youth program ~ check it out: Primary Activity Days: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4697-1,00.html

Young women: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4646-1,00.html

and for the Young Men: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4645-1,00.html

What I am trying to say is it is not a requirement that they be baptised members of the LDS church, nor do their parents need be. Our youth programs are just that ~ for the youth, ALL YOUTH! Matter of fact, at my old branch one of our scout leaders wasn't even a member of the church.

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

my Dad and his siblings attended LDS Scouts and Youth activities in Southern California while they were active members of an Episcopalian (spelling?) Church.

[prisonchaplain]

Thank you for the information. I did check the link on primaries. It's one of those "keep it on the back burner things, since our oldest is five, and is currently satisfied with Missionettes, Ballet, and play dates. As FYI, the Assemblies of God, much like the Southern Baptists, has a church scouting program for boys, called Royal Rangers. It's lighter on camping, but heavier on spirituality--including a distinct Pentecostal flavor. Missionettes is the same for the girls. It's not that the church opposed scouting, just that it wanted faith and religious teaching to infuse as much of our young people's lives as possible. The church we go to is in a difficult part of town, where many children don't know what stable family life is. So, the majority of our children's program students are not church members--even in the program for teenagers. They come as much to be around clean, sober, caring adults, as to learn what we might have to teach them. It's all for the kingdom, so praise God!

[Guest MrsS]

They come as much to be around clean, sober, caring adults, as to learn what we might have to teach them. It's all for the kingdom, so praise God!

Yes, the same for us. Our scouts is more spiritual too. Ah, yes ~ Praise be to God!

[mountainrider]

GSA puplicly supports lesbian and hard-core feminist platforms, which are not in line with Church teachings.

BSA has remained an organization with traditional, conservative values (treat women with respect, "keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight," etc.). That's true in the USA. In Canada, the Boy Scouts have swung radically toward open acceptance of homosexuality in recent years. You will note that the Church only uses the Scouting program (both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts) in areas where they are approved. In other areas, the boys aged 8-11 do something similar to Activity Days and the young men do the Duty to God series, but not Scouts.

is there any documentation to back this up? As I understand it, the GSA units are very much run at a local level and it is decided locally what kind of a program to run and support. Are there any official GSA quotes or anything like that that says that the organization as a whole supports lesbian/feminist ideals?

The Church has its own Young Womens Program with camping and awards they can earn etc....yes the Young Men have their program and its called the Boy Scouts of America......and if the BSA ever caves in the taking of God out of scouting the Church will then have its own Young Mens program similar to Scouting....also my understanding is they have it all in place in the event it were to happen.

so how exactly does the new (or fairly new, anyway) Duty to God program fit in here with the Young Men's program? The church has specifically said that the new DTG program WAS NOT created in case BSA accepts gays and forces the LDS church to sever ties.

[StrawberryFields]

GSA puplicly supports lesbian and hard-core feminist platforms, which are not in line with Church teachings.

I didn't know that the GSA did this.

When I was young I was involved in 4-H and I really liked it.

[tngu]

I guess I am in the minority because I would have no problem letting my daughters be girl scouts. I enjoyed it when I was growing up. I made a lot of friends and had a lot of fun and learned a lot of useful information. I think it would help teach my girls self confidence and if they learned to be nice to lesbians and to have a little bit of feminism in the process, I would be fine with that.

I rarely get involved in debates on this forum because I am not a good debater, so this will probably be the last thing I have to say on this topic. For some reason I just wanted to put in my 2 cents. Call it temporary insanity.

[prisonchaplain]

is there any documentation to back this up? As I understand it, the GSA units are very much run at a local level and it is decided locally what kind of a program to run and support. Are there any official GSA quotes or anything like that that says that the organization as a whole supports lesbian/feminist ideals?

Just do a google of girl scouts lesbian and you'll hit a plethora of articles, most of them by Catholic or Christian groups opposing the Girl Scout surrender to political correctness. Below is the one secular source I found--a conservative, but well-respected publication--National Review.

http://www.nationalreview.com/23oct00/lopez102300.shtml

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[Palerider]

<div class='quotemain'>

GSA puplicly supports lesbian and hard-core feminist platforms, which are not in line with Church teachings.

BSA has remained an organization with traditional, conservative values (treat women with respect, "keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight," etc.). That's true in the USA. In Canada, the Boy Scouts have swung radically toward open acceptance of homosexuality in recent years. You will note that the Church only uses the Scouting program (both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts) in areas where they are approved. In other areas, the boys aged 8-11 do something similar to Activity Days and the young men do the Duty to God series, but not Scouts.

is there any documentation to back this up? As I understand it, the GSA units are very much run at a local level and it is decided locally what kind of a program to run and support. Are there any official GSA quotes or anything like that that says that the organization as a whole supports lesbian/feminist ideals?

The Church has its own Young Womens Program with camping and awards they can earn etc....yes the Young Men have their program and its called the Boy Scouts of America......and if the BSA ever caves in the taking of God out of scouting the Church will then have its own Young Mens program similar to Scouting....also my understanding is they have it all in place in the event it were to happen.

so how exactly does the new (or fairly new, anyway) Duty to God program fit in here with the Young Men's program? The church has specifically said that the new DTG program WAS NOT created in case BSA accepts gays and forces the LDS church to sever ties.

The Duty to God Award has been around for a long time....I earned mine as a youth....now they are encouraging the Young Men to earn it....it is not a scouting award...its just a Priesthood award lets say....as for the scouting program in case the church drops it......I said they have a program ready to go if that day ever comes.....

[StrawberryFields]

The Duty To God Award~ I believe that in the scout handbook it lists something like "religious award". This gave me the impression that we are not the only religion which offers this kind of award. The scouting program is alive and well in my ward and I am very thankful for that. I have two boys and both are Eagle Scouts.

[Palerider]

The Duty to God award is based on Church attendance and Priesthood participation....it says Duty to God across the top and it has a Oxen head on the medal itself

[Winnie G]

I grow up in the GSA till I moved to Canada.

It was a bit of a transitional shock for me. It was more military in its opening exercises.

Those programs are more along the founder Robert Baden-Powell ideas of what scouting was before it was watered down.

Jack Cornwell Decoration

Award For Fortitude

For Gallantry & Meritorious Conduct

For Outstanding Service

For Long Service

Honourary Membership

Youth Service Award

Chief Scout's Award

Queen's Venturer Award

Pathfinder Citizenship Badge Recognition

Promise

I promise to do my best,

To be true to myself, my God/faith* and Canada;

I will help others,

And accept the Guiding Law.

Law

Be honest and trustworthy

Use my resources wisely

Respect myself and others

Recognize and use my talents and abilities

Protect our common environment

Live with courage and strength

Share in the sisterhood of Guiding.

Who can find wrong in that?

But I hung in there and went right though to being a Ranger, high school age and up.

You’re more in training for leadership.

As fare as being morally clean and those women’s rights, it encompassed it all.

I found a Girl Guide program for my daughter as soon as she was old enough, she did both and Wow she loved it and I was very impressed.

[Lindy]

I guess I am in the minority because I would have no problem letting my daughters be girl scouts. I enjoyed it when I was growing up. I made a lot of friends and had a lot of fun and learned a lot of useful information. I think it would help teach my girls self confidence and if they learned to be nice to lesbians and to have a little bit of feminism in the process, I would be fine with that.

I rarely get involved in debates on this forum because I am not a good debater, so this will probably be the last thing I have to say on this topic. For some reason I just wanted to put in my 2 cents. Call it temporary insanity.

Hey tngu :) I am glad to see your post...I was thinking the same thing until I read the article and realized how the GSA has taken a wrong turn in politics to make itself look better in society. I had fun in girl scouts for a couple of years myself.... but I do understand that they have taken somethings I deem important out of their program. Such as God and self worth.

I enjoyed your post tngu... you don't have to be a good debater to express an opinion.... becasue it's as valuable as those of anyone else :)

A young father was telling me he wouldn't put his daughter in girl scouts because what they support does not correspond with what he wants to teach his children... he wasn't specific, but now I understand what he meant.

Quotes taken from the article

:"One resource book for Scouts informs its young readers: "Some girls have sexual attractions or desires for people of the same sex." ...... Others remember how sleepovers and camping trips were opportunities for same-sex sexual experimentation. Girl Scout staffers writing in the book claim that roughly one in three of the Girl Scouts' paid professional staff is lesbian..... Along with an essay entitled "All I Really Need to Know About Being a Lesbian I Learned at Girl Scout Camp,".....

I can understand GSA teaching tolerance of others who chose a different lifestyle..but not encouraging or promoting it.

Girl Scouts and Girl Scout moms are anti-gun, and were, naturally enough, represented in the anti-gun Million Mom March......they dropped "loyalty" from their oath in 1972, in favor of "I will do my best to be honest and fair." In 1975, a Catholic archdiocese cut off all support of the Girl Scouts because of their sex-ed program. In 1993, the Girl Scouts made "God" optional in the Girl Scout Promise: "On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, to help people at all times and to live by the Girl Scout Law." (The Boy Scouts, meanwhile, have been sued over keeping God obligatory in their oath.)

I am not anti-gun.... nor will I support those who march against them...... and I am appalled that GOD would be made optional in the Girl Scout Promise..... GOD is NOT an option..... and that was one of the reasons why the scouting program was great when I was young..... a program that helped teach faith in God, faith in oneself..... a little bit of feministic view back then ... but that helped us grow up to be strong women in this world.

In a speech shortly after becoming executive director, the Girl Scouts' Marty Evans boasted, "We're not your mother's Girl Scout troop." No kidding.

[Cal]

GSA puplicly supports lesbian and hard-core feminist platforms, which are not in line with Church teachings.

BSA has remained an organization with traditional, conservative values (treat women with respect, "keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight," etc.). That's true in the USA. In Canada, the Boy Scouts have swung radically toward open acceptance of homosexuality in recent years. You will note that the Church only uses the Scouting program (both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts) in areas where they are approved. In other areas, the boys aged 8-11 do something similar to Activity Days and the young men do the Duty to God series, but not Scouts.

Long before feminism became much of an issue in america (the 50's and early 60's) the Church did not support the GSA. Find another reason, please.

[momsaid]

The Girl Scout program encourages girls to 'discover' their values and go forward in life to make a difference. The notion of set standards doesn't seem to appear in the guidelines. The Girl Scout local committees choose leaders, and do not allow for church-sponsored, autonomous leadership.

The Boy Scouts include a wide range of denominations, with specific recognition of their beliefs. They also allow churches to choose their own leaders. When the Boy Scout program was first introduced here nearly a century ago, the LDS hierarchy looked it over and embraced it as being perfectly in tune with the Priesthood and Young Men's needs.

[annamaureen]

is there any documentation to back this up? As I understand it, the GSA units are very much run at a local level and it is decided locally what kind of a program to run and support. Are there any official GSA quotes or anything like that that says that the organization as a whole supports lesbian/feminist ideals?

I don't know much about this subject but googled out of curiosity. Here are some links I found; maybe they'll be helpful to you, too.

Pro-Abortion Feminist Scouts

Baptist Press - FIRST-PERSON: Not your mom's Girl Scouts - News with a Christian Perspective

What happened<BR>to the Girl Scouts?

[pam]

Keep in mind..this thread was started in 2006 and the OP has not visited the site since 2008 so probably won't see the responses.

[Nikkie85]

This is kinda off subject but my niece was in girl scouts and my sister in law said she spent more money doing it than dance, karate, and piano lessons in one! They did do a few fun things like spending the night in the aquarium but overall my niece was kinda bored and always felt pressure to raise money for the girl scouts. I know that it depends on a the local leaders of the program what the girls do so I am sure that some girl scout troops are awesome. My niece decided that she would rather do karate and go to Faith in God than girl scouts.

[NeuroTypical]

My girls are in Girl Scouts. It's not as important in their life as I guess Boy Scouts would be if I had boys. It's one of a bunch of social/service activity things they do. Not too spendy, lots of fun, say the pledge of Allegiance (including the reference to God), do lots of activities. The troop was put together by people we know and trust.

Nothing objectionable so far. Just a bit more emphasis on world unity and togetherness than I'd provide if I were in charge. But I'm not - so for now, I just sit back and heap praise and gratitude on the organized mommies who put more energy into 2 hrs/week than I usually put into an entire day.

LM

[talisyn]

I didn't see any links to what the GSA handbook or other literature actually says. I'd rather make judgments based on the organization's actual words than what someone thinks is going on.