- If there was any group that seemed capable of rising above the culture-wars fray, it's the Girl Scouts. After all, what could be more American than scrumptious treats,capitalism, and crafting? (The cookies are even gluten free!)
- Anti-choice organizations say the Girl Scouts have pulled the wool over honest Americans' eyes for too long. After the organization tweeted out links to "inspirational women" like Kathleen Sebelius and Wendy Davis, an anti-choice group in Wisconsin called for a boycott of Girl Scout cookies. (A "CookieCott, if you will.)
- Way back in 1984, Girl Scout leaders in Detroit eliminated talking about the dangerous duo of abortion and birth control in their program on teenage sexuality. The reason? A local anti-choice group sent a newsletter to its members about the Scouts' plan to indoctrinate their kids, and the cookie cancellations started rolling in.
- But as time went on, the efforts to turn America's girls into "little comrades" continued. In 1993, the Scouts changed their pledge of honor to include Allah or no God at all.
- Fed up with this slide toward moral relativism, a Cincinnati woman founded the American Heritage Girls in 1995, a "Christ-centered" alternative to the Girl Scouts.
- But conservatives continued to assail the Girl Scouts as the "shock troops" of the feminist revolution. The Scouts were encouraging girls to fix their own cars, prevent teen pregnancy, and speak out against domestic violence.
- The good people of central Texas finally rebelled in 2004, after an anti-choice group discovered that a local Girl Scout organization had given a "woman of distinction" award to a Planned Parenthood executive. The parent leaders of two Crawford troops quit in disgust. "You're telling these girls to raise their fingers up to pledge to honor God and country, and yet you're handing out materials saying homosexuality is OK," said Brownie leader Donna Coody, who disbanded her five-member troop.
- Now, Girl Scout boycotts have become a semi-annual event. After a Colorado Girl Scout troop admitted a 7-year-old transgender child, a California teenager accused the organization of dishonesty, and encouraged Christian conservatives to hold off on their Samoa order.
- Last year, radio preacher Kevin Swanson blasted the "wicked" Girl Scouts as agents of lesbianism and abortion.
- An Indiana lawmaker, after "conducting a small amount of web-based research," announced that the Girl Scouts promote sexual activity and encourage girls to look up to communist role models.
- Meanwhile, the Scouts continue to brazenly encourage leadership and self-sufficiency among their followers. The sewing badge is gone, and in 2012, the Girl Scouts unveiled 136 new badges, ranging from financial literacy to comic book design. Next up? A badge for reading Marx.
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