Posted on 11/18/2005 10:05:30 AM PST by Maceman
They are not the group that they were in the 50's and 60's. They took 'God' out of their pledge and have included lesbian lifestyle acceptance in some of the older girl's badge work. I started in Brownines in the early 60's and went through freshman in high school; I was a leader in my daughters's groups/troops until they brought out the lesbian stuff. That was in the mid to late 80's.
Hmm..mm . . those look suspiciously like Little Debbies with just some canned frosting smarmed on top. Could your wife be yanking your chain? (That is a fun thing to do to husbands. Find some easy cooking deal where you can fix it real easy and then serve it to him on a fancy plate.) Hee Hee.
I like to get those little round sandwiches that are mysteriously done at Kroger and look real difficult and put them on his momma's favorite plate. He just melts. Also, Sara Lee is a good friend, along with Little Debbie, but Little Debbies are more of a challenge because they're harder to disguise.
That said, the Girl Scouts (of which Brownies is a program for young girls) is EXPONENTIALLY more politically correct as an institution than the Boy Scouts, on a national and institutional level.
Before I get to specifics, I need to clarify my sources for this information. Many families that have parents who are active in Boy Scout leadership positions also have parents who are active in Girl Scout leadership positions. I know a few men and many women who are, or have been, both Boy Scout and Girl Scout leaders. The hard-care believers in Boy Scouting's moral values are often disillusioned with Girl Scouting. According to them (AND IF I AM WRONG, GIRL-SCOUTERS, PLEASE CORRECT ME):
As a National policy, Girl Scouting has no problem with lesbian leaders and has openly lesbian national board members.
As a general rule, Girl Scout troops are far, far, far less likely to welcome male leaders than Boy Scout troops are to welcome female leaders. As a result, fathers who know that the quality of a Scouting program is determined on the local level, and want to get involved in their daughters' Scouting programs, should find a Troop that willingly accepts male volunteer leaders.
More than one adult has reported to me that college age camp staffers at Girl Scout camps advertised to their teen age camper/daughters that they were lesbians. I have no doubt there are homosexual Boy Scout camp staffers -- but they don't openly walk around holding hands and nuzzling, as has been reported to me by parents on more than one occasion (as they were explaining why they pulled their teenage daughters out of Girl Scouts).
I don't know if it is still the case, but a few years ago, the rainbow was used almost equally with the old Girl Scout trefoil as a symbol of Girl Scouting.
Belief in God has been removed from the Girl Scout oath or promise.
Are there benefits to the program? Certainly, if you have the right leadership. Despite what I've said, my youngest daughter is a Girl Scout; I'm just careful about her Troop leadership and send her to YMCA camp rather than Girl Scout camp. When she gets to be 14, then she'll have the option to switch to the Boy Scout's co-ed Venturing Program.
Do the Girl Scouts, on a NATIONAL level, uphold the same moral values as it once did (and as Boy Scouting still does)? No. Can your daughter's local unit uphold those values? Yes, if your leadership and the girls' parents see to it.
That's not what it is now; they took the part about serving God out.
To add to your excellent post, Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout Packs and Venturing Crews are chartered (owned) by organizations other than the BSA. Girl Scout troops are owned by GSA. That contributes alot to the differences in the two organizations. When my troop co-leader and I were told (Rapid City, SD)that our troop needed to invite a lesbian to discuss her lifestyle with our girls (ages 10-12) to earn a badge, we decided that we were done with the Council and ultimately the troop.
How come I'm not surprised?
My experience- brownies are dead easy and really hard to mess up:
2 large eggs, beaten well
50 grams plain flour
half tablespoon baking powder
110 grams butter
225 grams granulated sugar
50 grams dark chocolate (at least 75% cocoa solids)
100 grams of nuts (use about 25 grams each of pecans, walnuts, brazils, hazelnuts)
180 C oven
9x15 pan
baking parchment
Cut butter into small chunks and also break chocolate into small chunks. Place in a bowl and put that over a pan with about an inch of simmering water (make sure bowl doesn't sit down in the water). Melt gently is the idea here. Stir, mixing butter and chocolate together.
Chop up nuts roughly and then toast for 4-5 minutes on a flat pan in oven. Be careful not to burn.
Mix flour, eggs, baking powder and sugar together with a wooden spoon. Add melted chocolate/butter mixture. Add nuts. Mix it all up real good.
Line 9x15 pan with parchment paper. Pour batter into pan and use plastic spatula to get every last bit out of bowl. Drop pan on counter top several times to even mixture out.
Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (brownies don't really look done when they are so fellas, don't worry if they're funny looking at this point)
Remove from oven and let cool for about a 10-15 mins. Cut into nice squares and lift out of pan and onto cooling rack. Cool another half hour. Then eat them. Preferably alone before anyone else knows you made them. A big glass of cold milk goes well with them.
Enjoy.
I was a Girl Scout in the late 80's, got my Gold Award in '92. I had to work very hard to get what I needed out of the program.
Girls Scouting is a wonderful social experience, provided you have an active group with good leadership that you trust. This is hit and miss. Even if you do find good, wholesome leadership, you'll find those poor volunteers are often at odds with the career scouters at the Council. In my home Council, the exec-types actually 'fired' one of the leaders of a Brownie troop I was helping lead. This wonderful lady gave so much of her time and energy but because she was an uneducated housewife of a cotton farmer, she was "not the kind of role model the GSUSA is looking for". That's a quote. It makes my blood boil to this day.
GSUSA is not like the BSA. It has not held firm against secularists and feminists and various unsavory agendas. Its emphasis on career exploration is at the expense of leadership development and fostering 'grit.' The program does not lead girls toward being selfless and kind and virtuous and strong.
Fun and socialization are about the only reasons to join these days. Just my experience and opinion.
Hmm, I remember it as:
On my honor
I will try
To do my duty
To God and my country
To help other people at all times
And to obey the Girl Scout Laws
Very impressive, nuts and even has chocolate frosting.
< They ARE NOT what they used to be!
My younger daughters will be joining 4-H. >
I have to shake my head at this one. Excellent club to belong to but I have to mention how appalled I was a couple of years ago when our local...(heck, maybe it was national)...group had to cease and desist using Indian terms as mottos and such under threat of lawsuit by "native Americans". I think the individual groups the kids join had "tribes" with Indian names and a lot of the fun camp stuff was heavily Indian based.
I laughed like crazy as my neice explained to me what they can do and what they can't do.
Excellent organization, otherwise. Just more stupid PC crap.
It's like the plague. You almost can't get away from it. Where do you shop, can you see any movies, what books should you read, what tv shows are any good, what groups won't poison your children, where should you send them to school . . .
Makes me sad.
"when you consult with the higher ups, they think that all of their troops are good"
That I can totally understand. Our Association has a mentally unstable mom who merged her troop with mine so that we would meet the troop minimum. She got angry with me during a meeting and - in front of the girls - came at me. I have no doubt that she would have physically attacked me if there hadn't been another mother at the meeting.
When I brought it to the attention of our local association and our higher up association they chose to do nothing. Other than removing her as co-leader they continued to let her work with the girls. I kicked up a fuss and when she stalked two of my girls at an event. Association refused to do anything so I disbanded, pulled my daughter and quit. Their loss.
My daughter is in AWANNA. The only thing missing is the nature aspect.
I meant to say "hard-core believers," not "hard-care believers." Spell-check is not always your friend.
I was a Brownie leader for my oldest daughter and I ran the troop without any outside interference. We chose what badges we wanted to work on. As the previous posts have indicated, it will depend on the troop leader. There may be more than one troop in your area so if one doesn't fit another might.
I would let your daughter join if she wants to. Brownies are 2nd and 3rd grade and there really shouldn't be anything controversial discussed.
I'm really impressed with the children coming out of 4H. It is a very well run organization.
No, but I had a "Dear Penthouse Forum" experience with a Den Mother once.
Sure you did.
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