Scouts have honor
by digby
The other day I wrote about how the Catholic hierarchy is going after the Girl Scouts again and I mentioned that they are reviving the old charge that they pass out pamphlets from Planned Parenthood to the girls. I frankly think they should pass out Planned Parenthood pamphlets to the girls but the fact is that it just isn't true:
Last year, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) was honored to attend and participate in the 54th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, where girls were encouraged to take action on global issues concerning women and girls. Our participation in that conference was recently the subject of numerous internet stories and blogs that are factually inaccurate and troubling. Here are the facts of that meeting:
* The Girls Only Workshop was jointly hosted by Girl Scouts of the USA, UNICEF's Working Group on Girls, Girls Learn International and The Grail. The meeting was only open to the girls and participating sponsors.
* Only seven adults were in the room at the time of the meeting, each representing one of the sponsors of the event. No one from Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute was in the room to report on the event.
* 30 - 35 girls from across the world participated in this event. All teenagers.
* The girls received a copy of the only document they were working on titled ("The Girls' Statement"). No other documents were given to the girls as part of this event.
* The room in question was also used to host other events over the course of the multi-day conference. Prior to our girls entering the room, we did not "sanitize' the room to ensure that no trash or other items were left behind. We did request that those not associated with the sponsors leave the room prior to our session.
* The Girl Scouts of the USA was not contacted by Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) regarding its initial story to discuss the facts of this event. Had they applied these basic journalistic standards, perhaps the true details of this event would have been reported.
Our Mission in Girl Scouting is to build girls of courage, confidence and character - who make the world a better place. We continue to be proud of our girls and look forward to showing the world what our girls can do. We thank everyone for their support of Girl Scouting.
The spokesperson also added that "Girl Scouts does not take a position on abortion or birth control. The national umbrella organization, Girl Scouts of the USA does not have a relationship with Planned Parenthood on a national level and does not plan to have one."
So, what's the beef? They don't take a position on birth control or abortion. They do honor Dolores Huerta, an activist for workers and women's rights. And they don't discriminate against lesbians. For this they are lied about and called the "l" word, which is the real problem:
"A collision course is probably a good description of where things are headed. The leadership of the Girl Scouts is reflexively liberal. Their board is dominated by people whose views are antithetical to the teachings of the Catholic Church."
I'm pretty sure ignoring "thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" is antithetical to the teaching of the Catholic Church, and it isn't the Girl Scouts who are violating it.
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