Girl Scouts: an evil leftist godless propagandist lesbian group out to corrupt your little girls!

I don't think I even need to write an introduction, when you have this WingNutDaily article's very first paragraph to summarize its point:

When many parents think of Girl Scouts, they imagine young girls in uniform selling Thin Mints and Tagalong cookies – not learning about stone labyrinths, world peace, global warming, yoga, avatars, smudging incense, Zen gardens and feminist, communist and lesbian role models.

Oooooooh boy.

The whole article is nothing – nothing – but some of the most inane propagandist and dishonest stupidity I've encountered in a while, even by WND standards of wackaloonery.

First of all, the group decided to be more open-minded and accepting towards other religions than the predominant Christianity in America, with the following footnote added to their promise:

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 word "God" can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on one's spiritual beliefs. When reciting the Girl Scout Promise, it is okay to replace the word "God" with whatever word your spiritual beliefs dictate.

Note: there seems to be a discrepancy between the WND article's wording and the wording now visible on their site. The WND article's wording of the asterisk footnote reads:

Girl Scouts of the USA makes no attempt to define or interpret the word "God" in the Girl Scout Promise. It looks to individual members to establish for themselves the nature of their spiritual beliefs. When making the Girl Scout Promise, individuals may substitute wording appropriate to their own spiritual beliefs for the word "God."

Given the absence of mindless wingnuttery, I'm inclined to believe this is the former wording of the footnote, which the current version simply replaces in its shorter form. The message is the exact same, really.

Who in their minds can find anything wrong at all with that footnote? All it says is that Girl Scouts can reformulate the promise to incorporate their own metaphysical beliefs so those with religious affiliations and beliefs don't feel left out or oppressed or discriminated against. Really, it takes a wacko to be against this in any way.

Which brings us back to WND:

Garibay [ex-Girl Scout member who left when Christianity lost its dominant role in the organisation] said it appears that Girl Scouts has taken a stance toward religion – the religion of the New Age – despite its proclaimed secular scouting program. WND asked Girl Scouts USA spokeswoman Michelle Tompkins if the organization is shifting its focus toward a New Age agenda.

"No, Girl Scouts isn't headed into a New Age direction," she said. "We're just looking for new ways to get through to girls."

I doubt she's gonna sway the likes of WND.

The article then poses its conclusions and judgment on some of the books and guides pushed forwards by the girl scouts organisation. One of these books is Amaze: The Twists and Turns of Getting Along. The book basically talks about how to deal with the twists and turns of life, dodging various curveballs, and what girls can do to relieve stress. For example, here's it's "conclusion":

Life is a maze. Navigate its twists and turns and you'll find true friendships, meaningful relationships, and lots of confidence to boot. So, go ahead, enter the maze. The goal is peace – for you, your world, and the planet, too.

Now, what can anyone possibly find to complain about with that, you may wonder?

Well, for one thing, if you eschew the whole point of the book and instead merely concentrate on its metaphors, you may conclude that the book is out to promote New Age mysticism and beliefs based on pagan mythology.

Garibay said, "Placing an asterisk by the word 'God' in the Girl Scout promise in an effort to be tolerant, yet promoting Eastern mysticism through Zen gardens and Buddha writings hardly seems tolerant to those who believe in Christianity."

So to this nut, a book that metaphorically refers to labyrinths and mazes to illustrate the dealing with problems in life, not only equates to promoting spooky beliefs, but is actually intolerant towards Christianity? Not tired of flaunting that sad ol' Christianity Persecution Complex, this one.

Next, the entry dissects (rather, flogs and massacres and shits on) another book called Girltopia. Below is a rendition of the book and what it has to offer to girls.

In the next age group, for teens in the ninth and tenth grades, girls are taught about wage disparities between the sexes, and a lack of assets and senior management positions held by women.

"Girltopia" poses the questions, "When women don't earn enough, what happens to their children?" and "How could everyone help create a Girltopia?"

Asked what the purpose of including a message of inequality served in the Girl Scout curriculum, Tompkins explained:

It's to show girls what's going on in the country and have them be part of the dialogue. A lot of girls just aren't aware of what's going on. I think that specific topic might be new this year, but in the broader scheme of things, it's not that new. I'm sure it's something that came up in the 1920s as well. Girls Scouting has been around since before women had the right to vote, so I'm sure these discussions were always part of this.

The text praises Renaissance author Sir Thomas More for his book "Utopia," Mary Cavendish for her book "A New World: The Blazing World" about a utopian kingdom and 24-year Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood and feminist author Sheri S. Tepper for her novel, "The Gate to Women's Country."

"Girltopia" encourages girls to "let songs inspire you," and as some examples, it provides lyrics to songs such as "Independent Women, part 1" by Destiny's Child; "Hammer and a Nail" by the Indigo Girls – an "out" lesbian rock band; and "Imagine" by John Lennon. The curriculum also asks girls to create an avatar "to represent the ideal you in Girltopia" and features "Wild Geese," a short poem by lesbian poet Mary Oliver.

But hang on – that sounds positive! A little heavy on the importance of feminism maybe, but really, there's nothing in there I wouldn't encourage myself to young girls seeking their way in life.

"This book was so depressing that I don't know what I would have done as a teen reading it," Garibay said. "The sense of hopelessness abounds in 'Girltopia.' The positivity, the enthusiasm and the vigor of youth is completely destroyed by data found to further the Girl Scout USA's feminist agenda. It plants seeds of despair and hopelessness in today's girls."

[...]

"The hollow toll of moral relativism is throughout these books," Garibay said. "The girls are left up to their own 'feelings' in making decisions. This is not age appropriate for girls, nor is it what girls want to be forced to do. They want to know right from wrong."

Hmm ... A lot of big words there. And I'm not sure Garibay understands many of them. (Actually, I'm unsure as to whether she understands the freakin point of the book, but asking a deranged loon to understand what's really being said – that's just torture towards them.)

And as for the next book featured (Your Voice Your World: The Power of Advocacy), which deals primarily with how girls can make the world a better place, the whole focus of WND's criticism towards it is about how the numerous female role models portrayed in it are all "feminists, lesbians, existentialists, communists and Marxists". (Seriously, will idiots and ignorant tools who have no damned idea what the hell Marxism even *is*, please stop calling people that as a pejorative?)

And all that is just part of this endless droning article, and I've just about exhausted whatever little interest I had left for it. Again: for first-rate wackaloonery, disinformation and overall ignorant weirdness, be sure to visit WingNutDaily ... daily!

(via Pharyngula)