Catholic Bishops Scrutinize the Girl Scouts
May 11, 2012 7:16 PM Subscribe
In the wake of criticism of nuns in the U.S. (previously), the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops is launching an inquiry scrutinizing the Girl Scouts, looking at "possible problematic relationships with other organizations" and "problematic" program materials.
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is basically a single Yahoo news link grar filter post that has already turned into people talking about pedophile priests. If the story needs to have a MeFi post made about it, please make a more thorough and less provocative one. Thank you. -- jessamyn
Has the Roman Catholic Church ever hired a PR firm?
posted by BrotherCaine at 7:27 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by BrotherCaine at 7:27 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm sorry, but the Catholic Church's cookies are just awful.
posted by Roentgen at 7:28 PM on May 11, 2012 [47 favorites]
posted by Roentgen at 7:28 PM on May 11, 2012 [47 favorites]
There is no better source than yahoo news, with gigantic flash overlays?
posted by benzenedream at 7:29 PM on May 11, 2012
posted by benzenedream at 7:29 PM on May 11, 2012
I'm sorry, but the Catholic Church's cookies are just awful.
posted by Roentgen
Well, yeah - the body of some carpenter who's been dead for some 2000 years is bound to taste a bit rancid.
posted by blaneyphoto at 7:29 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Roentgen
Well, yeah - the body of some carpenter who's been dead for some 2000 years is bound to taste a bit rancid.
posted by blaneyphoto at 7:29 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I thought the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts had similar attitudes towards pederasty.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:29 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by KokuRyu at 7:29 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Ok, it really seems like the right-wing has lost its collective mind. Anti-girl scouts? Anti-teacher?
Apple pie is going to be so f#cking surprised.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:30 PM on May 11, 2012 [8 favorites]
Apple pie is going to be so f#cking surprised.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:30 PM on May 11, 2012 [8 favorites]
I am liking the Girl Scouts more and more these days, based almost entirely on hearing about who else doesn't like them.
posted by hepta at 7:31 PM on May 11, 2012 [22 favorites]
posted by hepta at 7:31 PM on May 11, 2012 [22 favorites]
Oh for fucks sakes.
Let the girls alone. My daughter is a brownie and soon to be a junior, and she loves every second of it. Everyone's got to make every fucking thing political.
posted by ShawnString at 7:33 PM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
Let the girls alone. My daughter is a brownie and soon to be a junior, and she loves every second of it. Everyone's got to make every fucking thing political.
posted by ShawnString at 7:33 PM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
The whole purpose of the Girl Scouts is to empower young women to think for themselves and make the world a better place. Since when does the Catholic Church have a problem with...
Oh yeah, right.
posted by PlusDistance at 7:35 PM on May 11, 2012 [13 favorites]
Oh yeah, right.
posted by PlusDistance at 7:35 PM on May 11, 2012 [13 favorites]
I already bought cookies this year to support the Girl Scouts' support of a transgendered member. I'll buy extra next time around.
posted by Celsius1414 at 7:36 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Celsius1414 at 7:36 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Man, the Church is just digging a deeper and deeper hole for itself.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:38 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Ironmouth at 7:38 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
looking at "possible problematic relationships with other organizations" and "problematic" program materials.
Not coincidentally, these phrases call to mind ones the church has used to refer to cooperation with law enforcement in the first instance and sworn statements in the second.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 7:39 PM on May 11, 2012
Not coincidentally, these phrases call to mind ones the church has used to refer to cooperation with law enforcement in the first instance and sworn statements in the second.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 7:39 PM on May 11, 2012
It's almost as if they don't realize that without parishioners there would be no such thing as the Catholic Church…
posted by ob1quixote at 7:40 PM on May 11, 2012
posted by ob1quixote at 7:40 PM on May 11, 2012
This isn't the first attack by the right wing on the Girl Scouts
posted by double block and bleed at 7:43 PM on May 11, 2012
posted by double block and bleed at 7:43 PM on May 11, 2012
Celsius1414: "I already bought cookies this year to support the Girl Scouts' support of a transgendered member. I'll buy extra next time around."
(Allow me to show my age and use my Tommy Flanagan voice.) That's why I eat my weight in Samoas each year -- I'm making a political statement. Yeah, that's the ticket.
But seriously, it's really hard to see how the Catholic Church has been around for so long, since they keep making the kind of rookie level PR mistakes one associates with newly minted reality TV stars and 2012 Republican presidential wannabes.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:43 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
(Allow me to show my age and use my Tommy Flanagan voice.) That's why I eat my weight in Samoas each year -- I'm making a political statement. Yeah, that's the ticket.
But seriously, it's really hard to see how the Catholic Church has been around for so long, since they keep making the kind of rookie level PR mistakes one associates with newly minted reality TV stars and 2012 Republican presidential wannabes.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:43 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's like these Bishops have nothing better to do than go around and make complete asses of themselves
posted by edgeways at 7:45 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by edgeways at 7:45 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Over the past few years, my Catholic friends have been leaving the Church. Most of them can no longer manage the cognitive dissonance required to be a member of an organization that is directly linked to God, yet is rooted in the Middle Ages and actively hides the worst types of crimes committed by its priests.
In a way, what the Church is doing is admirable. Rather than bowing to modernity, they are doubling down on antiquated rhetoric and support of positions that most sane people find abhorrent. They believe they are right in the face of an avalanche of evidence to the contrary.
Like the GOP, this is a function of hard liners encouraging attrition in the ranks until only the "true believers" remain. Also like the GOP, the Church has failed to look at the long term effects of this strategy. They will be left with an older, more conservative flock that will not be replaced once the "true believers" die off.
Both entities do not seem to grasp that you can only slow civilization's progress, not stop it in its tracks by digging your heels into quicksand. Both entities will eventually adapt or die. I hope it's the latter.
posted by reenum at 7:48 PM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
In a way, what the Church is doing is admirable. Rather than bowing to modernity, they are doubling down on antiquated rhetoric and support of positions that most sane people find abhorrent. They believe they are right in the face of an avalanche of evidence to the contrary.
Like the GOP, this is a function of hard liners encouraging attrition in the ranks until only the "true believers" remain. Also like the GOP, the Church has failed to look at the long term effects of this strategy. They will be left with an older, more conservative flock that will not be replaced once the "true believers" die off.
Both entities do not seem to grasp that you can only slow civilization's progress, not stop it in its tracks by digging your heels into quicksand. Both entities will eventually adapt or die. I hope it's the latter.
posted by reenum at 7:48 PM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
I eagerly await the nun / girl-scout schism. Direct community action and lots of cookies!
(although I know it is heresy, I actually dislike GS cookies)
posted by edgeways at 7:52 PM on May 11, 2012
(although I know it is heresy, I actually dislike GS cookies)
posted by edgeways at 7:52 PM on May 11, 2012
What is the relationship between Girl Scouts and the Catholic Church?
I'm seriously confused as to why the policies of the Girl Scouts has anything to do with anyone other than girl scouts?
I'm sure this is about giving guidance to Catholics about whether or not the Girl Scouts are sympatico with church teachings, but the headline gives an impression that the Bishops are giving, and are qualified to give, some kind of general assessment of the organization. I call Bullshit on that!
It's like Rick Warren announcing he's gonna look into a university Evolutionary Biology department and evaluate their policies; why should anyone else care?
posted by PJLandis at 7:57 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm seriously confused as to why the policies of the Girl Scouts has anything to do with anyone other than girl scouts?
I'm sure this is about giving guidance to Catholics about whether or not the Girl Scouts are sympatico with church teachings, but the headline gives an impression that the Bishops are giving, and are qualified to give, some kind of general assessment of the organization. I call Bullshit on that!
It's like Rick Warren announcing he's gonna look into a university Evolutionary Biology department and evaluate their policies; why should anyone else care?
posted by PJLandis at 7:57 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
There was an interview with Gladys Padros-Soler of the Girl Scouts on CBC/As it Happens tonight.
posted by sneebler at 7:58 PM on May 11, 2012
posted by sneebler at 7:58 PM on May 11, 2012
It isn't really accurate to call the Catholic Church right-wing. Their ideologies were formed before the left/right political spectrum was around.
posted by XMLicious at 7:59 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by XMLicious at 7:59 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Well, if the Vatican wants to keep hitting the self-destruct button in hopes that it will change into the...awesomeness button, keep on keepin' on is all I can say.
posted by rtha at 8:00 PM on May 11, 2012
posted by rtha at 8:00 PM on May 11, 2012
It isn't really accurate to call the Catholic Church right-wing. Their ideologies were formed before the left/right political spectrum was around.
OTOH, if it quacks like a duck...
posted by acb at 8:02 PM on May 11, 2012
OTOH, if it quacks like a duck...
posted by acb at 8:02 PM on May 11, 2012
What is the relationship between Girl Scouts and the Catholic Church?
There isn't one. While the Girl Scouts are nominally deist -- "We, the members of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, (are) united by a belief in God…. We believe that the motivating force in Girl Scouting is a spiritual one." -- they are not associated with any particular religion.
See: http://www.girlscouts.org/for_adults/volunteering/faith_organizations.pdf
Mostly this could be too bad for girls from Catholic families, but the Catholic church has no authority and probably very little influence over the Girl Scouts of America.
posted by endless_forms at 8:05 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
There isn't one. While the Girl Scouts are nominally deist -- "We, the members of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, (are) united by a belief in God…. We believe that the motivating force in Girl Scouting is a spiritual one." -- they are not associated with any particular religion.
See: http://www.girlscouts.org/for_adults/volunteering/faith_organizations.pdf
Mostly this could be too bad for girls from Catholic families, but the Catholic church has no authority and probably very little influence over the Girl Scouts of America.
posted by endless_forms at 8:05 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I just hope this doesn't result in idiots barring their daughters from joining the Girl Scouts, or making them quit.
posted by bleep at 8:07 PM on May 11, 2012
posted by bleep at 8:07 PM on May 11, 2012
The article notes that there are quite a number of parish-sponsored troupes, so in that respect they're affiliated. Not supporting those morons - just a quick rtfa moment.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:09 PM on May 11, 2012
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:09 PM on May 11, 2012
It isn't really accurate to call the Catholic Church right-wing. Their ideologies were formed before the left/right political spectrum was around.
I'd be friggen ecstatic if the American Catholic Church was half as publicly engaged and politically active on the front of economic justice as they have been on reproductive rights denying and now girl scout bashing. I know there was a little whiff of something when they criticized Ryan's budget asshatery, but that is the first and last I've heard in years.
Turn it over to the nuns already.
posted by edgeways at 8:12 PM on May 11, 2012
I'd be friggen ecstatic if the American Catholic Church was half as publicly engaged and politically active on the front of economic justice as they have been on reproductive rights denying and now girl scout bashing. I know there was a little whiff of something when they criticized Ryan's budget asshatery, but that is the first and last I've heard in years.
Turn it over to the nuns already.
posted by edgeways at 8:12 PM on May 11, 2012
How does the Catholic Church feel about the Red Sox this year?
I think there's a verse in Deuteronomy that can be read as saying that God hates knuckleballers.
Seriously, I was working at trying to be funny but really I agree with the sentiment upthread that The Church has no business opining on a secular organization. There are a million dillion secular organizations in the US alone. It's not part of The Church's charter to pick through all their materials looking for thoughtcrimes.
posted by newdaddy at 8:13 PM on May 11, 2012
I think there's a verse in Deuteronomy that can be read as saying that God hates knuckleballers.
Seriously, I was working at trying to be funny but really I agree with the sentiment upthread that The Church has no business opining on a secular organization. There are a million dillion secular organizations in the US alone. It's not part of The Church's charter to pick through all their materials looking for thoughtcrimes.
posted by newdaddy at 8:13 PM on May 11, 2012
OTOH, if it quacks like a duck...
What kind of quacking does condemning the "idolatry of the market" and calling for redistribution of wealth sound like? As the author of that piece points out, progressives in the U.S. don't even have the balls to openly call for redistribution of wealth at this point.
If you insist on banging the square peg of the Catholic Church into modern American politics it's an eledonkeyphant-platypus or something. With enormous globus crucigers.
posted by XMLicious at 8:15 PM on May 11, 2012
My Buddhist wife works for a Catholic social agency dealing with youth programs in schools. She's been with them a total of seven or eight years. Up until this year, it was a comfortable fit. She wasn't happy with some of the restrictions she faced on what she could/couldn't talk about with her clients, but she felt as if, on balance, she could still do good work and be as effective as she could working for a secular agency.
In the past several months, though, I understand the tone has become a lot more rigid. Some Catholic staff have become weirdly defiant about their Catholicism — as if they're some sort of hounded minority in an agency where priests routinely show up to talk to staff and management signs off all its internal memos with "In Christ." They seem to have largely bought into the idea that there's a war on their faith and they're talking from inside a bunker. It sounds like a lot of pressure is coming from conservative donors, who have become very vocal about things that had been non-objectionable up to now. For a faith-based agency, the tone has become somehow even more moralistic.
Locally, I don't see how they can continue along this path when they're competing for a shrinking pot of social services money with secular agencies that are less of a hassle to work with. More broadly, it all seems fundamentally un-Christian. The Christianity I was raised in didn't involve drawing lots of lines in the sand and launching inquiries because someone heard a blog linked to a page that had links to something objectionable, or because an organization was "associated with" someone who wasn't doctrinally correct. Doesn't seem like there's much of anybody left to preach the gospel to when you rule out all the sinners.
posted by mph at 8:16 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
In the past several months, though, I understand the tone has become a lot more rigid. Some Catholic staff have become weirdly defiant about their Catholicism — as if they're some sort of hounded minority in an agency where priests routinely show up to talk to staff and management signs off all its internal memos with "In Christ." They seem to have largely bought into the idea that there's a war on their faith and they're talking from inside a bunker. It sounds like a lot of pressure is coming from conservative donors, who have become very vocal about things that had been non-objectionable up to now. For a faith-based agency, the tone has become somehow even more moralistic.
Locally, I don't see how they can continue along this path when they're competing for a shrinking pot of social services money with secular agencies that are less of a hassle to work with. More broadly, it all seems fundamentally un-Christian. The Christianity I was raised in didn't involve drawing lots of lines in the sand and launching inquiries because someone heard a blog linked to a page that had links to something objectionable, or because an organization was "associated with" someone who wasn't doctrinally correct. Doesn't seem like there's much of anybody left to preach the gospel to when you rule out all the sinners.
posted by mph at 8:16 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Look, girl scouts grow up to become teenagers who are attracted to teenaged boys.
Same with Catholic priests.
I'm just saying resource contention over scarce resources brings conflict...
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:18 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
I think there's a verse in Deuteronomy that can be read as saying that God hates knuckleballers.
I swear I remember something in there about "do not suffer the knuckleheads," but that's probably wishful thinking.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:19 PM on May 11, 2012
I swear I remember something in there about "do not suffer the knuckleheads," but that's probably wishful thinking.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:19 PM on May 11, 2012
BETTER DEAD THAN FED by delicious commie cookies
posted by Flunkie at 8:20 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Flunkie at 8:20 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
« Older Under everything, just another human being, I... | In West Virginia, money grows on trees Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
She complains about some program materials adopted by the Girl Scouts in recent years. One example she gave: a patch honoring Hispanic labor organizer Dolores Huerta, whose shortcomings — in the eyes of some Catholics — include a 2007 award from Planned Parenthood.
Seriously?. Fuck this noise
posted by crayz at 7:27 PM on May 11, 2012 [5 favorites]