The Palm Beach Post News -?Lona O?Connor
The Girl Scouts organization is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, but the party has been spoiled somewhat by an official inquiry from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The bishops want clarification of the Scouts? relationship with groups whose goals contradict Catholic Church doctrine on sexuality.
The ?possible problematic relationships with other organizations? mentioned in a March 28 letter from the bishop leading the investigation are not spelled out, but relate to a long-held belief by conservatives that the Girl Scouts are connected to Planned Parenthood, the family planning and women?s health organization demonized by many religious conservatives as the center of the ?abortion industry.?
Any rift between the Catholic Church and the Girl Scouts could be awkward. The group estimates that Catholics make up about one-fourth of its membership, which nationwide amounts to 2.3 million girls and 890,000 adults, mostly volunteers .
?We work with all faiths. We are very inclusive,? said Lisa Johnson, spokeswoman for Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida, an 18,000-member regional council that comprises Palm Beach, Broward and four other counties. ?It feels like guilt by association.?
Girl Scouts leaders have consistently denied any relationship with Planned Parenthood, but anti-abortion websites continue to trumpet the relationship.
The bishops? inquiry amounts to a religious investigation of an organization that its leaders say has been steadfastly nonreligious and nonpartisan since it was founded in 1912. The letter was written by the Rev. Kevin Rhoades, chairman of the bishops? Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and the bishop in charge of the investigation.
Rhoades? letter follows a complaint by Indiana state Rep. Bob Morris, who wrote to his colleagues depicting the Girl Scouts as a radical group that promotes abortions and homosexuality. The Republican lawmaker later apologized for ?reactionary and inflammatory? comments, but stood by his contention that the group has links to Planned Parenthood.
The bishops? inquiry into the Girl Scouts might seem to non-Catholics to be an attack on women similar to the Vatican?s announcement last month that it was censuring a prominent group of American nuns for ?radical feminism.? But the American bishops also are re-?evaluating relationships with other organizations.
The group insists its relationship with the Catholic Church remains cordial.
?I see no problem with people asking questions,? said Michelle Tompkins, national spokeswoman for Girl Scouts of the USA. ?We will address any issues they have.?
A ?very vocal minority?
The specifics date back years and can be linked to groups with social or religious agendas critical of the Girl Scouts .
?Some people are seeking outrage. There is a very vocal minority saying things that aren?t true. But we?re not angry (at the bishops? investigation). We?re happy to work with them,? Tompkins said. ?We have priests as board members in local communities. We?re not worried about them going away.?
Girl Scouts of the USA officials, including CEO Anna Maria Chavez, a Catholic, repeatedly underline their intention to cooperate and to get beyond the controversy. And although it?s a secular organization, it embraces partnerships with religious groups. Scouts can earn a ?My Promise, My Faith? pin for activities linked to their religious beliefs.
Accusations, which the group has denied for years, keep looping around on anti-abortion and anti-Girl Scout websites. It is those accusations that the bishops are investigating.
?Quit the Girl Scouts over their Planned Parenthood connection? is the headline on a 2011 blog on Lifenews.com, an anti-abortion website.
?The Girl Scouts are directly affiliated with Planned Parenthood, our country?s largest abortion provider,? wrote blogger Abby Johnson, who described herself as a former Planned Parenthood employee. ?Planned Parenthood put out a brochure entitled, ?Happy, Healthy and Hot,? distributed to thousands of Girl Scouts. The intended audience is girls aged 8-16.?
The blog?s contention is ?beyond false,? Tompkins said.
?Some people have been throwing stones at us for years, people who may or may not be part of the faith-based community,? she said. ?It?s not the bishops. There is a difference between the fringe and (mainstream organizations). It?s a very vocal minority with their own agenda. They know that if you attack an organization with our stellar reputation, you might get a headline. The Catholic Church is smart enough to realize what these people are doing.?
Ironically, an anti-?abortion website ? unlike the Girl Scouts ? is not answerable to the bishops if it does not identify itself as Catholic.
The Vatican also takes issue with several groups the Scouts endorse, including Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam. Those organizations offer medical and other social services to the poor, but also advocate safe sex and condom use, with the goal of slowing AIDS.
One of the long-running concerns is the Girl Scouts? membership in the 145-nation World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, which, unlike Girl Scouts of the USA, takes a frank stand in favor of sexual education for girls.
The association has said that girls and young women ?need an environment where they can freely and openly discuss issues of sex and sexuality.?
One solution would be for Girl Scouts of the USA to sever its ties with the Girl Guides, but that is where the Scouts group has drawn the line.
?Our relationship to (the Girl Guides) is akin to America?s relationship with the United Nations,? Tompkins said.
No stand on sexuality
Ironically, Girl Scouts of the USA?s strict policy of not taking political and social positions, including on sexuality, birth control and abortion, seems to be one of the things that most vexes its critics, who might prefer that the organization take a position .
?We just don?t take positions,? said Tompkins, referring to the national Girl Scouts organization. ?This annoys people on both sides. They say, ?Why aren?t you doing this or that?? But one of the great things is that we have a lot of flexibility to suit our members. We give the girls the power to take a position. To some, that?s a problem in itself. A lot of the Girl Scouts? critics do not accept our position on these issues.?
The bishops? investigation will have to deal with Girl Scout activities at the local level as well as the national level.
Each of the 112 regional councils of Girl Scouts of the USA is independently registered and can address any issues its members and leaders choose, as long as parents are fully informed .
For example, Girl Scouts of the USA has ?no programming regarding human sexuality,? Tompkins said. ?That just isn?t part of us. Sexuality really isn?t our bailiwick. That?s best shared by the family. But that?s not to say that a local troop won?t choose to do that.?
If a local troop addresses a social issue such as human sexuality, permission slips go home to parents spelling out exactly what is going on and giving them an opt-out for their daughters, Tompkins said.
Rhoades? committee plans to consult with Girl Scouts leaders and with the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, which has been a liason with the Scouts for two years .
The federation?s executive director, Bob McCarty, praised the Girl Scouts for willingness to change some program content.
?I don?t think any of this material was intentionally mean-spirited,? McCarty said. ?I think a lot of it was lack of attention.?
However, McCarty expressed doubt that the Girl Scouts? most vehement critics would be satisfied regardless of what steps are taken.
?It?s easier to step back and throw verbal bombs,? he said. ?It takes a lot more energy to work for change.?
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