The World’s Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!

Atheist in Girl Scouts.

Just wondering how people here feel about the Girl Scout or Boy Scout pledges including serving "God" in their pledge. My 10 year old daughter just joined Girl Scouts today and I grew up in scouting. As an atheist I simply left that part of the pledge out this evening but my agnostic daughter said it. I'm not too bothered by it, but feel that the Girl Scouts in particular are attempting to be inclusive. Recently they did change policy to allow girls to not say that part of the pledge, I'm just curious how other people feel about it here.

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Nicole on November 1, 2010 at 10:15pm

Remember that it was shaped with the intention of raising good little Christian wives. So it is hard to exclude the god bit. I didn't know they had changed policy, seeing as from what I hear, the boy scouts still won't allow atheists or homosexuals.

It's up to your daughter if she'd rather say the god bit. Personally, whenever people doubt I was a girl scout as a kid, I say it completely, including the god bit.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Janelle Campbell on November 2, 2010 at 8:18am

Yeah, I hadn't even mentioned my thoughts to her. I think it's kinda like the pledge of allegiance and she doesn't think about it the way I do.
I know the boy scouts are more exclusive and take the whole god bit more seriously. The girl scouts recently decided that girls could opt out of saying god in the pledge and they have a stance that allows all girls to join. They are trying to modernize, here's to hoping!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anne Saunders on February 7, 2012 at 10:42am

Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are NOT AFFILIATED WITH EACH OTHER AT ALL. I cannot stress that enough. A great deal of the BSUSA'a funding comes from the Mormon Church, and as such, they allow neither Gay nor Atheist parents to serve in any capacity, including as chaperones on field trips.

I am an out and proud Atheist Girl Scout Leader, and my troop has girls of Christian faith, as well as deists, and my secular humanist daughter. We are free to omit the serve God line, and we welcome all girls and women, including trans girls. We also welcome Dads, Grandpas, and even older brothers as chaperones, regardless of their orientation/religious affiliation.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jen Taylor on February 26, 2012 at 11:51am

This is good to read! I am in the middle of a bit of a quandary regarding the newly-formed troop at my daughter's school. The leader is very Christian, and while she is a very nice person, is under the impression that GSUSA is a Christian organization and wants the troop to have parties and such on religious holidays. I'm pretty laid back, and did not have an issue with the Christmas holiday party, but now she wants to do an Easter party soon.

I attempted to diplomatically recommend that it be a "Spring" party instead, at which point she informed me that GS is Christian-based and that the activities will likely reflect that.

I have done the further research now so I can send her the actual links and such stating that GS is secular, but I haven't figured out exactly how I want to approach it. I'd like to keep things friendly, but I do want to encourage our troop to be more inclusive to the very diverse population of our little charter school.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jen Taylor on February 27, 2012 at 11:05am

Thank you for some really great ideas!!

I think I am going to approach her via email and say that I really would like to discuss things further and ask if she would like to meet up outside of school/GS or would she prefer to discuss them in email. I will continue to not directly mention my family's atheist status, though I doubt she would be wholly surprised. :)

I absolutely would love to run a meeting, and had already been looking into getting our troop access to some of the facilities here in our area for more 'outdoorsy' activities and maybe a weekend camping experience. I know already that I'm (way) in the minority as far as moms that are interested in these sorts of activities, but maybe if I ease them into it with cabin camping and some LNT education, then they might be more amenable to something more primitive down the line. ;)

I had some great experiences with GS growing up in Colorado. So despite some initial concerns, I was excited to support my daughter's interest in participating in scouting. Having a troop at her school is definitely more convenient than seeking out scouting opportunities outside the school - via Campfire or other orgs - but if I have to do so, I will.

I do hope that discussing this will open doors for not only my daughter, but for the very diverse population of girls at her school. While I do think Christians are in the majority at her school, I also know we have a much higher than average Muslim and Buddhist representation at the school due to the density of cultures with those faiths in the area the school serves most. In fact, I might talk with the assistant/co-leader some too, as I believe her family may be Muslim (her husband is Kuwaiti) and may be directly affected by the discussion at hand.

Thank you again!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lindsey S. on November 2, 2010 at 12:32pm

I've always hated the Boy Scouts with a burning passion, but I like the Girl Scouts - they don't expressly forbid anyone from joining (except, of course, you have to be a girl) and I'm pretty sure they except anyone regardless of religious bliefs (or lack thereof) or sexual orientation. The BSA,however, is a homophobic, proseletyzing brainwashing camp that teaches that people who don't believe in a deity are incapable of being good citizens.
being both a gay person and an atheist, they've managed to insult and belittle two of the most important parts of me, so yeah, they really really piss me off.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Janelle Campbell on November 2, 2010 at 7:51pm

Lindsey, I've heard the same things. It's sad that there's such a disparage between the girl and boy scouts. I really wish they'd drop the religious aspect in both, it's unfair to nontheists and making anyone pledge to something they don't believe in is unfair. As far as the bigotry and homophobia I am also disgusted, it's more than unfair it's criminal as far as I'm concerned.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Nicole on November 5, 2010 at 11:49pm

The problem is that they are considered a private organization, receiving no funds from the government, so they are allowed to discriminate freely. >.X

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lindsey S. on November 2, 2010 at 10:58pm

Their website doesn't lie: for "all girls, everywhere" :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Janelle Campbell on November 4, 2010 at 6:29am

I was in scouting for several years in Elementary. It was such a positive experience, and I'm very happy my daughter will have the same opportunity. I hope that because of the stance that no scout needs to believe in God, and not being exclusive that they will simply take that traditional part of the pledge out.