For
nearly one hundred years, since 1912, the Girl Scouts of the
USA has existed. By 1920, over 70,000 girls had joined; and
there are currently about 3.6 million Girl Scouts and an
alumnae of more than 50 million women. The founder, Juliette
"Daisy" Gordon Low, believed in developing girls
"physically, mentally, and spiritually." While there have
been many wholesome and practical aspects of the Girl Scouts
in the past (teaching cooking, sewing, and outdoor skills),
today the Girl Scouts has become a place where potentially
millions of girls will be introduced to New Age
spirituality. While the organization discourages the use of
Christian emphasis in its meetings, it seems to show no
reluctance when it comes to New Age spirituality.
For instance, on a 12 page brochure for their upcoming
annual National Council Session, to be held in Indianapolis
in October, it states: "Channel your inner being. Be one
with your mind, body, and soul. Yoga for everyone!" Yet,
on their website it states: "Doxology is not an
appropriate Girl Scout event song, as it is easily
identified as a Christian church song."
References to Yoga can be found in Girl Scout literature and
activities, such as the Spring-Summer 2007 issue of Leader
Magazine (the official GSUSA publication) where it tells of
a Charleston, W.V. GS chapter participating in Yoga.
1 And then there is a program called Fit's Inn where "[g]irls
try sports and dance, and even learn yoga."
2 Yoga is also mentioned in a report titled "A Report
from the GIRL SCOUT RESEARCH INSTITUTE" in a favorable way
(p. 29).
3 Yoga has been promoted by the GSUSA for at least five
years. In a 2003 article on the group's main website, the
subheading reads Volunteering--From Yoga to PR.4,
and another article titled "Become the Best You Can Be"
encourages learning "how to meditate" and practicing yoga.
5
While these references and promotions of Yoga are disturbing
to say the least, a recently formed partnership between
GSUSA and a group called "the Ashland Initiative"6
will take Girl Scouts to a whole new level of New Age
spirituality! The Girl Scouts will be incorporating the
Ashland Initiative's Coming Into Your Own program, saying
the program's aim "is to create a team of adult champions
who will model a search for integrated leadership that
springs from a deep sense of self-knowledge."
The Ashland Institute (located in Ashland, Oregon) is a
group that teaches
Attunement (metaphysical energy healing) described as
"Creative Energy Practice," which "deepens" the "connection
with the Source of Life."
7
The
Coming Into Your Own is a "personal development program
for women" who are going through "transition." An opening
quote in the
program brochure is from lesbian poet May Sarton
(1912-1995); the program works in partnership with an
organization called
Dialogos, also a proponent and resource for Attunement.
A
75 page online book about the Coming Into Your Own
program reveals the New Age nature behind the program.
Another partner of the Ashland Institute is
The Fetzer Institute, where a broad assortment of
mystical, New Age resources is offered. Thomas Merton, the
Dalai Lama, David Steindl-Rast, and other mystics
are touted.
The Ashland Institute
lists eleven resources for their participants, the
majority of which are other New Age/New Spirituality
promoting groups, such as Collective Wisdom Initiative,
Co-Intelligent Institute, The Millionth Circle (to "shift
planetary consciousness" it says), and The World Cafe.
The Girl Scouts' move to partner with the Ashland Initiative
will help create leaders within the GSUSA who will take the
New Age agenda to countless girls, and instead of just
teaching girls sewing, outdoor skills, and cooking, they
will introduce them to meditation and the divinity within,
the basic message of the New Age. This is further evidence
that today's world has become a mystical New Age society;
and much of this has been accomplished by directing efforts
toward children.
See another illustration here:
Girl Scouts and Mother Earth
The Girl Scouts' new radicalism:
"...seventh- and eighth-grade cadettes will participate in an eight-session "Journey" called "aMaze," in which "girls create 'peace kits' and learn how to create more peace in the world, one relationship at a time."
...
The "Journey" for the oldest Girl Scouts is called "Your Voice, Your World: The Power of Advocacy." In it, "girls explore the rich and global history of women's advocacy efforts and engages girls to become advocates in their communities." Advocates for what, you might well wonder......
Promoting social activism, emphasizing the power of self, and jumping on the bandwagon of politically correct causes like global warming are further evidence to them of the organization's ever-growing radicalism.
The blueprint for this new curriculum came from the Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus-Pine Council, which decided they needed to be "re-founded." To oversee the process, they naturally hired facilitators -- in this case, from the Ashland Institute, a consulting group with a distinctly New Age bent....
The literature speaks of female empowerment. It asks, "Could the Girl Scouts help birth the quality of women's leadership that the world so desperately needs today?... She [Tamara Woodbury, executive director of the Cactus-Pine Council] knew the time had come for a feminine approach to leadership in the world. What better place than the Girl Scouts to help land the possibility -- but how to do it in a feminine way?'... So the Arizona Cactus-Pine Council forged ahead to find a place where
'preteens and teens learn to hear and trust their own inner guidance.'
.....
But getting back to being anti-God, there is the matter of the
'Covenant of the Goddess' It's a Wiccan website which, among other things, describes their awards program. There's the
'Over the Moon Award' for ages 8-11 and the 'Hart and Crescent Award' for ages 12-18. The awards are offered
'to any young person...who is a member of any nature-oriented religion (Wicca, Druid, Asatru, Native American, etc.).'
What does this have to with the Girl Scouts? The Girl Scouts recognize these awards, which may be worn on the Girl Scout uniform."