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    Girl Scouts Banned from VA Church for Being Connected to Planned Parenthood, Even Though They're Not

    By Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine | Parenting – Fri, Feb 24, 2012 10:29 PM EST

    Girl Scouts selling cookies in Dallas, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)Girl Scouts selling cookies in Dallas, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)Girl Scout troops in Chantilly, Virginia, have been banned from meeting at a local Catholic church and the school that's affiliated with it.

    Not only will girls no longer be allowed to meet on school or church grounds, they are forbidden from wearing their uniforms and badge-bedecked sashes on school or church property, too.

    The reason? According to the pastor of the Arlington Diocese, it's all Planned Parenthood's fault.

    Since the troop is part of the World Association of Girls Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the pastor said, and WAGGGS is partnered with Planned Parenthood, the scouts' agenda doesn't align with church teachings, a spokesman for the church explained. "Every pastor in the diocese has the responsibility to determine how best to use their parish facilities, consider the requests of outside groups, and reconcile such requests with the needs and mission of their parish community," the pastor said in a statement reported by NBC News.

    Except, as local Girls Scout representatives pointed out, its parent organization is the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), which does not have a partnership with Planned Parenthood.

    Though Girl Scouts of the USA is one of WAGGGS's 145 member organizations, "each member organization creates its own programs and pursues advocacy efforts based on the needs and issues affecting girls in their individual countries," Girls Scouts of the USA says on its website. "GSUSA's relationship with WAGGGS is akin to the US relationship with the UN. The United States may not agree with every position the UN takes, but values having a seat at the table."

    "We are committed to ensuring that Girl Scouting is available to all girls from St. Timothy's Catholic School, in Chantilly, VA," the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital said in a statement. "This location change presents us with an opportunity to serve not only the girls from St. Timothy's, but to invite more girls from the area to join Girl Scouts. After all, this is our 100th anniversary year and a great time to be part of Girl Scouting."

    The anti-Girl Scout sentiment may seem like a recent phenomenon, but it's not: In 1995, Patti Garibay of Cincinnati founded the American Heritage Girls because, she said, the Girl Scouts refused to condemn homosexuality.

    "That was a red flag for myself, because I had been a Girl Scout leader for 13 years, and was very involved," Garibay told CNSNews.com in 2002. "As a Christian woman, I was saying, 'Boy what is going on here? This doesn't sound right.'"

    The American Heritage Girls have a sacred oath ("I promise to love God, Cherish my family, Honor my country, and Serve in my community") that sounds like an abbreviated version of the Girl Scout Promise and the Girls Scout Law ("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. I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout").

    But though the Girl Scout law seems to embody exactly what the Bible orders, many conservatives condemn the organization for lacking a moral foundation. Last weekend, Indiana state Representative Bob Morris sent a letter to Indiana House Republicans, saying that the Girl Scouts are "becoming a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood" that promotes "homosexual lifestyles" and that nearly all of the 50 role models they look up to "are feminists, lesbians, or Communists."

    After being ridiculed by his colleagues, who handed out Girl Scout cookies in protest, Morris backed down, telling the Journal Gazette, "I never should have written the letter."

    But still, thanks to the group's views on acceptance and tolerance, "My girls are no longer Girl Scouts," Morris said this week. "They're now going to join American Heritage Girls."

    Copyright © 2012 Yahoo Inc.




    Also on Shine:

    Teen calls for Girl Scout cookie boycott over transgender issue
    Girl Scouts respond to Indiana lawmaker's remarks
    Not just cookies and crafts: Girl Scouts get schooled in managing cash

     
    • weareallhypocrites
      weareallhypocrites  •  Seattle, Washington  •  1 month 0 days ago
      if they put half as much effort into making sure Father Flannery was not fondling the world would be a nicer place
    • whatever
      whatever  •  1 month 2 days ago
      Well maybe you should go over to the other article about the Vatican punishing American nuns for helping the poor and fighting social injustices, because they are focusing more on fighting conception, abortion and pushing for "traditional" values...They are calling it radical feminism..wow just wow,
    • Mere
      Mere  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  2 months ago
      Wow I used to be a Girl Scout and I had no idea we were the tactical arm of Planned Parenthood or that we promoted homosexual agendas lol. I must have missed those meetings. Looks like I'll be buying extra boxes of cookies to show my support.
    • Stepha
      Stepha  •  Washington, District of Columbia  •  2 months ago
      I was a girl scout for years. I earned badges for learning about swimming, singing, camping, sewing. Funny thing is, I don't recall there being an Abortion Badge. Huh. Call me crazy, but it's almost as if the Girl Scouts are about teaching young girls how to become strong, well-rounded members of the community and to be the best people they can be. I guess I must have missed Abortion Day...must've been home sick with the flu.
    • pi
      pi  •  2 months ago
      I'll be buying an extra box of thin mints and somoas to show my support even though I don't need it.
      • Cailin
        Cailin 2 months ago
        We'll be joining you in this, AND sending a major donation to Planned Parenthood.

        Too bad PP couldn't have stepped in BEFORE these moral abortions-on-legs (called the GOP) actually were allowed to be born.

        Not too late for euthanasia...
    • LibertyAndJustice4All
      LibertyAndJustice4All  •  Denver, Colorado  •  2 months ago
      As a Catholic, this is embarrassing and infuriating. The Church has lost its collective mind.
      • lady_katie25
        lady_katie25 2 months ago
        I'm surprised you don't understand it. How many other churches would invite a group, that has opposite beliefs, to meet on their grounds to promote what the church condemns?
      • Joy
        Joy 2 months ago
        Maybe I miss understood... but I don't believe little girls are a threat to the Catholic church.
      • slim chakka
        slim chakka 2 months ago
        This was just one parish wasn't it? When you say "The Church" I assume you are talking about a position handed down from Rome. I think that pastor said "Every pastor in the diocese has the responsibility to determine how best to use their parish facilities, consider the requests of outside groups, and reconcile such requests with the needs and mission of their parish community." So this was "a church" and not "The Church". So then "As a Catholic" you are distorting the truth about your church.
    • Lep
      Lep  •  2 months ago
      Guess I need to ramp up my cookie consumption and renew my adult GS membership.
    • Dl
      Dl  •  Irvine, California  •  2 months ago
      Once again we step back into the dark ages.
    • Mack
      Mack  •  2 months ago
      No cure for stupidity.
      • roberta
        roberta 2 months ago
        You can't fix stupid!!! (Ron White had it right.)
    • Niko-chan
      Niko-chan  •  Dallas, Texas  •  2 months ago
      Sad, and even more disturbing a community would turn their backs on kids because of the organization they're part of that helps people. I wouldn't pull my girls out because of this crap. Go to another church (or yet take them to my grandmother's place since she has more sense and knowledge on the bible than these nutcases).
      • Hussein
        Hussein 2 months ago
        Who really is turning their backs on these poor girls. Who is teaching them the truth? If someone has knowledge of the bible then they know what God has said about homesexuality. Perhaps you should read Leviticus 18:22 in your Grandmother's bible.
      • KendraL
        KendraL 2 months ago
        Girl Scouts don't "condemn anyone-yet they always get it back.
      • 24601
        24601 2 months ago
        I'm not sure about the Planned Parenthood thing, but I know there are a lot of lesbian leaders in Girl Scouts. Who in their right mind would expect a Christian church to accept that?
    • Fred
      Fred  •  Camden, New Jersey  •  2 months ago
      This has climbed to the top of the stupidity heap
    • no. 1 realist
      no. 1 realist  •  2 months ago
      some people are just better of with no brains than with an ounce of brains.
      Morris shows that a little bit of brains can be very dangerous
      • Me
        Me 2 months ago
        yeah, and he has just enough to be dangerous to others,hope they don't let him walk around with sharp objects much.I feel sorry for his daughters as they will now be as brain washed as he is by the time they are adults if not sooner.
    • Janice
      Janice  •  Denver, Colorado  •  2 months ago
      No surprise. The LDS (Mormon) Church does not support Girl Scouts, even though they are heavily invested in Boy Scouts.
    • joe
      joe  •  Westmont, Illinois  •  2 months ago
      doesent suprise me the catholic church has never been about tolerance it was founded on greed and control and still is
    • Brittany
      Brittany  •  Midlothian, Virginia  •  2 months ago
      just sad...
    • michael
      michael  •  Columbia, South Carolina  •  2 months ago
      The scout's agenda don't align with the churches teachings? I suppose priests molesting boys and then the higher up covering it up does align with churches teachings.
    • rokk
      rokk  •  2 months ago
      This 'Church' should be banned. Pedophile priests must be put on trial, send to prison if convicted and NOT PROTECTED by the pope/church.
    • Karen
      Karen  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  2 months ago
      These crazy extremists (ie - the Catholic church, the homophobes, etc.) are allowed to spread their vile ideas without anyone trying to bring reason to the situation. I spent 11 years as a Girl Scout as did my children and many more as a leader. At no time during all those years did I ever hear anything about birth control, abortion, homosexuality or pre-marital sex. We camped, sold cookies, did good deeds and worked on badges and programs that taught us many skills and ideals that helped us get grow up prepared to face life's challenges. Get your filthy minds out of the gutter and let these kids be kids. I''m sure all the good Catholics in Virginia take their sons and daughters out hunting as soon as they can walk. Many of us feel that is barbaric and not at all what God has in mind for his creatures.
    • REB
      REB  •  Daytona Beach, Florida  •  2 months ago
      It's just like the Southern Baptists' boycott of Disney for 10 years. Disney is doing just fine without them. In fact, their tirade made no substantial impact at all. The same goes for all Catholic churches who think they ACTUALLY have an impact on the World. You don't!
    • pjbac2001
      pjbac2001  •  2 months ago
      Am I missing something here? I thought church's were for teaching tolerance and acceptance? I went to Catholic school and public school's and both had girl scout troops. My 3 older daughters and my youngest will go to girl scouts. Why? They teach girls to be smart, honest, and proud to be a girl. How wrong is that. I guess men have a hard time telling smart, proud women what to do, when to do it and how to do it.
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