Depriving Children of Faith and Absolutes
Many would have seen the news item of a few days ago describing a radical change to the Girl Guides. They are dumping God and Queen for some reason, and basically renouncing the very foundation of the group. In the name of trendiness, openness and relativism it seems, they have dumped these century-old foundation stones from the organisation.
The old Guide Promise says this:
“I promise that I will do my best:
To do my duty to God, to serve the Queen and my country;
To help other people; and
To keep the Guide Law.”
The new Guide Promise says this:
“I promise that I will do my best:
To be true to myself and develop my beliefs
To serve my community and Australia
And live by the Guide Law.”
There is no question that the founder of both the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides would be shocked by all this. In 1908 Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts, and with his wife and sister he founded the Girl Guides in 1910. God was always a basic component of this, so to see him stripped away to make the Girl Guides politically correct is quite appalling.
Of course one simply has to look at the homepage of this organisation to see how far it is moving away from its roots. Splashed all over it are various ads and promotions for this and that UN activities. The homepage features UNICEF and the recent UN Rio climate conference.
Why a globalist, pro-abortion, and secularist UN has such a huge role to play here indicates a group that has long ago lost its way. Its moral and religious bearings seem to have been on the decline for quite some time now. And the Boy Scouts have also been dumping their roots big time as well.
Consider these four paragraphs which I penned back in 1999 about the situation then in Australia:
“Recently the English Scout Association lifted a ban on homosexuals becoming troop leaders. The move has infuriated the family of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouts movement. And well it should. When he established the Scout movement in 1908, Baden-Powell made clear that the Scout movement was to train young men in the Christian faith and biblical values.
“Concerned that the decision to allow homosexuals would affect Australia, I called a leader of the Scouting Association here and was quite surprised by his response. He told me that it is illegal to discriminate against gays; that the Scouts are taught to be law abiding, so they cannot exclude gays; that times are changing – these are the 1990s, and we live in a multicultural, pluralistic society, and cannot be exclusive. When I pressed him about changes to Baden-Powell’s original intentions, he dismissed this concern by saying that the Bible is not clear about homosexuality, that churches disagree on the issue, and we cannot really say it is wrong. He also said that about 15 years ago the Scouts motto to serve God, Queen and country was changed to ‘my God’ to allow for Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, etc.
“The secularisation of the scouts and the corresponding compromise on clear-cut moral issues is to be pitied. Of even more concern is the response of its leadership. It is no wonder that things are in such a mess, when people who should be promoting the interests of our youth are instead more concerned to push for special rights for minority groups and taking the easy (and dead-wrong) path of political correctness.
“I am reminded of the words of Christ who said: ‘If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea’ (Matthew 18:6).”
So the rot has been setting in for quite some time now it appears. Anything to strip God out of a young person’s life, along with any moral absolutes and universal values. So now instead of God and Queen, we have this watered-down and anaemic bit of advice: “I promise that I will do my best: To be true to myself and develop my beliefs.”
True to myself? And what if self is in fact a self-centred little tyrant which puts Numero Uno ahead of everyone else? Sound a bit strong? Not at all – that is simply the biblical description of every single boy and girl – and man and woman – on the planet.
Apart from Christ coming into our lives, rescuing us from our sin and selfishness, we are all just dirty rotten scoundrels. That is why God was such a vital component of the scouting movement. The founders knew perfectly well that none of the good works of scouts could even be possible without God.
But now the Girl Guides has dumped the vision and intention of their founders to “go with the times” and embrace secularism, relativism, and the PC agenda it seems. At least a few others have been concerned about this as well. NSW MLC Fred Nile put out a press release stating in part:
“The Girl Guides’ leadership have completely ignored the facts – over 80% of Australians believe in God – Christians, Jews and Muslims. In the 1999 Referendum, the overwhelming majority of Australians, of all religions and ethnic backgrounds, voted to retain Queen Elizabeth II as the Queen of Australia and rejected the republic.
“I was disgusted to see the Girl Guides, in a special ceremony, were removing the Queen’s portrait from their meeting halls. They should be ashamed of themselves for this act of disloyalty. I urge the families of Girl Guide members to complain to their executive and Director and threaten to boycott the Girl Guides until they reverse this shameful, disloyal and atheistic policy.”
Yes quite so. But it seems today nothing is immune from the secularising crusaders and the moral relativists. Whether it is the militant homosexual lobby, or the atheist brigades, they are working overtime to destroy all faith-based organisations and replace them with ones remade in their own radical image.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-05/girl-guides-drop-queen-god-from-promise/4113022
http://www.girlguides.org.au/About-Us/history-of-guiding.html
http://www.girlguides.org.au/
http://www.cdp.org.au/component/jnews/mailing/view/listid-3/mailingid-1663/listype-1.html
[1018 words]
Dear Bill, I have never had anything to do with the Girl Guides, but I share your concerns. The highest number of religious people in Australia are Catholics, the 3rd highest number are Anglicans, but the second highest number are are people with no religion, according to the latest census. The new Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane wants more Catholics committed to Jesus Christ. That is what is needed in Australia, included in the Girl Guides. I make these comments in good faith, yous sincerely,
Franklin Wood
Fortunately, there is scope for churches running their own Scout groups along their own beliefs, as long as they allow anyone to join, which since most youth groups have an evangelistic outlook, I don’t imagine would be a problem.
I very much hope to run one in the future because as an evangelical, I have struggled to include duty to God in a way that honours my obligation to a ‘open’ group (that is, non-church based) and honours my duty to Christ.
Lee Herridge, WA
Lord Baden-Powell was a close friend of William Alexander Smith, the founder of the Boys’ Brigade in 1883. Baden-Powell served as Brigade Secretary and officer in charge of scouting until he started the Boys Scouts. It is unfortunate that both the Scouts and Guides over the years have become secular. But praise the Lord, the Boys’ Brigade and its sister organisation, The Girls’ Brigade, both remain Christian youth organisations to this day. Personally, I grew up in the Boys’ Brigade, and that’s where the seed of God was first planted in me. I didn’t know Jesus until then.
I would strongly encourage all parents who have children in the Scouts or Guides to consider sending them to the BB or GB instead. You can be sure that they will be taught strong Christian values and principles.
Eddie Sim
Thanks Bill. I was not aware of the founder of Scouts, Robert Baden-Powell. Nor of the disappointment of his family regarding recent decisions. None of this is surprising, of course, because all of our institutions and organisations have been under assault from the radicals for some time—really since the ‘End of Christendom’. So, nothing is sacrosanct.
My view is that, the despair many feel—particularly those who have loved their institutions and benefits more than giving attention to Christ and his Word—may indeed be followed by renewal of faith in Jesus Christ, and then new expressions of the life of the Christian church will provide the replacement frameworks for humanity to reform, yet again. It is a case of ‘new wineskins for the new wine’.
Little comfort for a current Christian Scout or Guides person, I guess. But, that seems to be where it must go.
Trevor Faggotter
Lee from WA – Start a Boys’ Brigade Company instead. They do everything that the Scouts do, and lots more, including studying the Bible. After more than 55 years I’m still involved with them. And best of all, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to start a company. The only qualifications you need are a love of Jesus and a willingness to transfer that love to the boys.
Eddie Sim
Thanks guys
For more on the deep decline of the Scouts, see this very disturbing article:
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=35758
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
“True to myself” The bottom line for humanism.
Mansel Rogerson
Take careful note of the order within the new pledge: “To be true to myself and develop my beliefs; To serve my community and Australia, And live by the Guide Law.”
Self-others-country-Guide Law. At least the last three get a mention, but one wonders how much is actually left over once Self is taken care of.
Steve Swartz
Some years back we took a look at the local Guide troop, to see if our elder daughter might jooint in and expand her range of contacts etc., etc.
We were very disappointed at the lack of organisation, poor standards and general worldliness. We accepted the application forms but never went back.
The rot had already set in and in these “egalitarian times” no doubt the pressure was coming from below.
It’s the same philosophy that ruins teaching – an adult cannot be portrayed as superior to her students/charges, she must be no more than a facilitator of their learning.
It now takes a truly gifted teacher to hold a class’s respect and exercise any authority.
John Angelico
This fits what has happened in the US where the Left hates the scouts (because it is a sphere of moral influence buffeted from their influence).
See Dennis Prager’s “The Left’s War Against the Boy Scouts”
“Watching the left attempting to undo the greatness of American medicine and dismantle the unprecedentedly powerful American economic engine built almost entirely on non-governmental entrepreneurial effort, I realize once again that the left is far better at destroying than building.
I first realized this as I watched the left — and here I sadly include the whole organized left from liberal to far left — do whatever it could to destroy one of the most wonderful organizations in American life, the Boy Scouts of America . From Democratic city governments to the New York Times and other liberal editorial pages to the most destructive organization on the left, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), there has been the most concerted effort to break the Boy Scouts…
…And just as there is no left-wing Boy Scouts, there is no Salvation Army built and manned by people with left-wing values. Nor has there ever been a left-wing country as magnanimous, as willing to die for others, as opportunity-giving to people from all over the world, as America , whose greatness comes from its traditional secular values and its Judeo-Christian values. As with the Boy Scouts, the left can bring an America down, but it cannot build one.”
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/dennis-prager/the-lefts-war-against-the-boy-scouts-by-dennis-prager/
Damien Spillane
Thanks for that Damien
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Dear Bill
These ungodly have become so brazen and militant simply because for too long us believers have been turning the other cheek.
Patrick Brahams
I was particularly annoyed that the leaders in the G-G’s said that when they were deciding on the change they consulted with the girls and then acted on their wishes. How can an organisation give guidance to children if the children themselves are deciding where they should go? I am very disappointed by the decisions and I think that many people will now think twice about being a leader or enrolling their children in Guides.
Jane McIntosh
I’m surprised that it took them this long to tell the truth. The Baden-Powell Scouts all but died out in Australia a few years ago. Growing up, I was in the Baden-Powell Scout group in Tasmania. There was one other such group in South Australia. The rest of the Scout groups around Australia to our knowledge were ‘Australian Scouts’. Basically scouts with reference to God taken out as I understand it.
It’s a real shame that the heritage of Scouts and Girl Guides has been lost – this move was really the final nail of many in the coffin.
Regards,
Isaac Overton
ACT
I have my reservations about the scouts and guides even in their traditional form, but anyway, I had to laugh as I saw the chief guide interviewed on TV that night – she said the promise to be obedient was also being removed from the pledge because it was “too prescriptive”. “What do they want?”, I said to my wife, “disobedient guides!”
Mark Henderson
In Australia, the Scouts were well on the way to being emasculated as early as 1971 when it started to accept girls as members. Baden Powell must be rolling in his grave.
Mansel Rogerson
This is a brilliant essay about absolute truth and morals (or the lack of it) –
“If there is no God, then evolution is true. There is no third choice”
http://www.av-1611.com/If_there_is_no_God.htm
Excerpt from the essay-
Do you believe in evolution? If so, are you shocked when kids walk into schools fully armed, shooting up the place, laughing, glorying in their cruelty, acting like beasts and loving it? Are they not merely fulfilling their evolutionary indoctrination, their anti-life programming? Are they not, in that sense, good students? They’re not murderers–“murder” implies right and wrong, but without God, there is no right or wrong. There’s “kill” and “death,” but the word “murder” is meaningless. They’re being exactly who and what they’ve been brainwashed into thinking they are. Because without God, literally anything goes.
Monica Craver
I actually would choose to run a Scout group over a Boys Brigade troop because Scouts has more currency with non-Christians and I don’t think there is any point running a youth group without aiming to invite non-Christians.
Lee Herridge, WA
Thanks Lee
Really? So you would rather invite non-Christians to a non-Christian scouts group – and for what exactly? To stay non-Christian? Maybe to be sodomosied by the homosexual scout leaders they have allowed in? Not sure how that helps anyone in anyway.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
I am talking about running a church-based Scout group, which would allow me to preach the gospel.
Lee Herridge, WA
The AOG used to run a kids group on the scout principle, can’t remember what they called themselves, but I always thought it was a great idea, because it taught discipline, obedience, responsibility and skills. When my children were in scouts I insisted that they would “do their duty to God’ and none of that “My god” stuff and the leaders were okay with that, but now I am glad that they are not part of it any more.
I wonder though if there is a place for running an alternate group in churches, to which you can always invite non-christian kids as long as they are prepared to abide by the rules. Keepers of the faith, an American home schooling group had a manual for groups like that. I think it is beneficial for children to be involved in something like that, especially since we are becoming more isolated even in church communities.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
Maybe everyone has left this discussion before I get to it. I was positively influenced by seeking to follow the guide promise to do my duty to God.. In fact the Jubilee adventurers badge mandated attending church at least monthly for 6 months. That helped me overcome shyness and actually start attending church after we moved to a new area. But that was 50 years ago..
Now if kids from Christian homes attend it will be as missionaries. Might be better to go to Boys brigade/girls brigade unless they are very confident in enemy territory.
Katherine Fishley
Send your sons to the Boys’ Brigade where they can learn about Christian Manliness.
Eddie Sim