Girl Scouts as 'Leftist' Threat

By Lee Russ

Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 08:14 PM

Why does Jane Chastain fear, hate, and/or disdain the Girl Scouts of America (GSA), of all groups? Well, apparently because they're leftists addicted to change kind of like Barack Obama, and because they've added an asterisk to God. And you were worried about al Qaeda while all the while the Girl Scouts were selling God and country down the river of new age waters and multicultural streams!

Now being anti-Girl Scout is hardly a crime, and you have to take into account that Chastain is the same person who basically said that America's financial meltdown was one of God's little ways of telling us that abortion (and a bunch of other modern stuff, I presume) is bad. In the same column where she flat out said that "Obama, has pledged his allegiance to Roe v. Wade, while giving lip service to God. The other candidate, McCain, is honoring God with his stand and, for the most part, has a record to back it up." So we're not talking a lot of open mindedness, here, we're talking the right wing tip of Christian literalness and extremity. But, come on, fear of the Girl Scouts?

I'll let Chastain state her own opinion, but with my emphasis:

"Change" was the buzzword for the Obama campaign. Change was also the buzzword at the 51st Girl Scout National Council Session and Convention held earlier this month in Indianapolis, Ind. It stands as further proof that change is not always for the better.

From the opening ceremony to the exhibitors in the convention hall, it is clear that the direction the Girl Scouts have chosen is a hard left, downhill.

These changes began in 1970, when feminist Betty Friedan was put on the national governing board. Then, partnerships were forged with Planned Parenthood, gun control advocates and other left-wing groups.

In 1980, the organization changed its policy on homosexuality and welcomed lesbians as scouts and troop leaders.

In 1993, the Girl Scouts put an asterisk by the word "God" in the promise and invited girls to tell the Creator to take a hike.

Patriotism has been replaced with globalism. This year, the traditional flag ceremony was trashed. The girls didn't respectfully carry the U.S. flag into the hall. Instead, it was bunched together with the flags of other countries and pulled in by a golf cart to the nonsensical – some say drug related – '70s Chicago tune "25 or 6 to 4." After the girls recited the promise, the band broke into "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire.

Keynote speakers included left-wing political activists actress Geena Davis, who starred in "Commander in Chief," and former Ms. Foundation President Marie Wilson, who founded the White House Project and Take Your Daughter to Work Day.

After going on to make fun of the GSA's "leadership consultant Christian Whitney Sanchez" and her new agey techniques, Chastain comes back to her basic complaint:

These programs are egocentric and devoid of any mention of family. There is a strong anti-boy tone. Instead of mother and father, the books refer to "trusted adults." Gone is the Judeo-Christian tradition on which the Girl Scouts was founded. The emphasis is on moral relativism and "self." The books are salt and peppered with Eastern religious practices. Girls are encouraged to make a Zen garden, use yoga and martial arts as a form of relaxation and use a Japanese tea ceremony to "clear the mind."

Newcomers to the Girl Scouts may not immediately recognize the danger. On the surface, the new Daisy and Brownie Journey programs begin innocently enough, and there is no asterisk by the word "God" in the promise in these books.

Although the Scouts have emphasized "change," leadership recognizes that once a family that holds to Judeo-Christian values has a girl in Scouts, that family is reluctant to face this mistake and "change" to a program that isn't in conflict with its values.

Chastain closes with gratitude that new, still-Christian alternatives to the GSA are available, like the "Legacy Clubs for mothers and daughters began last year in Draper, Utah" and "American Heritage Girls, which began 13 years ago in Cincinnati, Ohio" which--thank God!!--is now nationwide and most closely mirrors the scouting program begun by Juliette Low.

They carried a bunch of different flags? Just because, according to the GSA web site, "USA Girl Scouts Overseas" has members in 90 countries??? Stringemup!

Geena Davis is a "left-wing" political activist because she has sought equal treatment of males and females? And even worse, she starred in "Commander in Chief?" Holy crap, how could they foist such filth on young female minds?

Apart from its sheer absurdity, here's what really bothers me about Chastain's current anti-GSA crusade: the founder of the Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Low, bucked traditional Christian thought of the time (1912) by both treating girls as capable of caring for themselves and, even more importantly, making sure the Girl Scouts "encouraged girls to prepare not only for traditional homemaking, but also for possible future roles as professional women—in the arts, sciences and business." She took this approach at a time when many people believed that it was "God's will" that women remain housewives, employed only in the home of their husbands whom they must bear children. The GSA founder bucked that "traditional" reading of both social roles and the bible, to the ultimate apparent benefit of none other than...Jane Chastain, the first female sportscaster of any note in the United States.

So having reaped the benefit of Low's foresight and courage in ignoring what passed for conventional Christian wisdom in the early part of the 20th century, Chastain now dooms to hell those who dare buck the early 21st century conventional Christian wisdom.

I know I'm impressed.