Atheist or Agnostic Girls Scout Parents

[lexus]

What (if anything) do you do for the My Promise, My Faith pin? Does your daughter just abstain from that particular opportunity?

[dizzycooks]

Perhaps she can explain what it is to be atheist? I don't know much about the pins, but there should be something she could do if that's how she identifies.

[momin2013]

This made me google a bit. I guess the preamble to the constitution of the Girl Scouts of the USA is "We, the members of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, (are) united by a belief in God".? Huh.

This doesn't really seem to jive with atheism/agnosticism. I read the requirements for the pin you're referring to, and I think it might be fairly difficult to find a way to satisfy them. Can she ask her troop leader for advice?

[lexus]

May 15, 2017 13:56:28 GMT -5 momin2013 said:

This made me google a bit. I guess the preamble to the constitution of the Girl Scouts of the USA is "We, the members of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, (are) united by a belief in God".? Huh.

This doesn't really seem to jive with atheism/agnosticism. I read the requirements for the pin you're referring to, and I think it might be fairly difficult to find a way to satisfy them. Can she ask her troop leader for advice?

The Girl Scout Promise: On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

I'm okay with explaining to her that since we don't have a faith community anymore (we went to church until she was three and she went to catholic preschool) we aren't eligible. I just wasn't sure if there is some usual workaround.

[auroraloo]

May 15, 2017 20:29:09 GMT -5 lexus said:

May 15, 2017 13:56:28 GMT -5 momin2013 said:

This made me google a bit. I guess the preamble to the constitution of the Girl Scouts of the USA is "We, the members of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, (are) united by a belief in God".? Huh.

This doesn't really seem to jive with atheism/agnosticism. I read the requirements for the pin you're referring to, and I think it might be fairly difficult to find a way to satisfy them. Can she ask her troop leader for advice?

The Girl Scout Promise: On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

I'm okay with explaining to her that since we don't have a faith community anymore (we went to church until she was three and she went to catholic preschool) we aren't eligible. I just wasn't sure if there is some usual workaround.

Could you teacher to identify what she likes for "God"? I mean, God means different things to different people. It could be mother nature, science, God, Allah, etc? 

[lexus]

May 15, 2017 13:03:39 GMT -5 dizzycooks said:

Perhaps she can explain what it is to be atheist? I don't know much about the pins, but there should be something she could do if that's how she identifies.

That's what I was thinking- we are hardly the first atheists to have a daughter in Girl Scouts. 😜 I'm ok with her not getting one of there isn't an alternative.

[lexus]

May 15, 2017 20:40:49 GMT -5 auroraloo said:

May 15, 2017 20:29:09 GMT -5 lexus said:

The Girl Scout Promise: On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

I'm okay with explaining to her that since we don't have a faith community anymore (we went to church until she was three and she went to catholic preschool) we aren't eligible. I just wasn't sure if there is some usual workaround.

Could you teacher to identify what she likes for "God"? I mean, God means different things to different people. It could be mother nature, science, God, Allah, etc? 

Good point! If nothing else this is a teachable moment about our beliefs (or lack there of).

[nowa]

That line about god in the pledge is the reason I didn't sign DD1 up for Girl Scouts this year. I hate hate that a young child is expected to pledge anything so deep. But she's been asking about it because a bunch of her friends do it. Grrr.

/sorry not helpful.

[momin2013]

I'm in the same boat as you, nowa; that really bugs me, too. Not sure if Boy Scouts has the same thing (I'm guessing it probably does), but I guess we'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it.

[auroraloo]

May 15, 2017 20:46:24 GMT -5 lexus said:

May 15, 2017 20:40:49 GMT -5 auroraloo said:

Could you teacher to identify what she likes for "God"? I mean, God means different things to different people. It could be mother nature, science, God, Allah, etc? 

Good point! If nothing else this is a teachable moment about our beliefs (or lack there of).

You could also teach her to discover her own beliefs. "This is what Daddy and I believe, and here's why. But you get to decide for yourself what you believe."

[nicolewi]

Here's an article about substituting words in the Girl Scout Law. This is from 1993, but seems valid.

www.nytimes.com/1993/10/25/us/girl-scouts-allow-for-religious-diversity-in-pledge.html

My DD is in second grade but I hadn't heard of that pin yet.

[expectantsteelerfan]

May 16, 2017 8:48:30 GMT -5 momin2013 said:

I'm in the same boat as you, nowa ; that really bugs me, too. Not sure if Boy Scouts has the same thing (I'm guessing it probably does), but I guess we'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it.

Boy Scouts definitely has it as well, along with a 'Duty to God' badge elective that they can earn every year.  So far our pack leaders have left that elective to be done at home if you choose to, and nobody realize cares who has what badges at this age, so if we weren't raising our kids religiously I'd just skip it and do something else.  

I hate that those groups are so grounded in religion though.  Even though we are raising our kids Catholic, I am athiest and I think it would be just as easy to teach the 'goodness' of those groups without the religious aspect.

[lexus]

May 16, 2017 8:48:30 GMT -5 momin2013 said:

I'm in the same boat as you, nowa; that really bugs me, too. Not sure if Boy Scouts has the same thing (I'm guessing it probably does), but I guess we'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it.

I had the same hesitation. The pin is not required, it's done at home and you simply have to email the troop leaders to let them know it has been earned before the deadline. I thtink that if you found the right troop it doesn't matter whether or not you are religious.

There are members of the troop that assume we are religious (only two but one is the troop leader) because our girls were all in the same Christian preschool. I haven't made any mention of the fact that we aren't religious because this is the first time it has come up. Katie does seem to believe in God, or at least refers or talks about God sometimes and that is fine with us. We will support her beliefs even if they are different than our own. When she asks questions about religion or God we explain that some people believe x, others believe y and then ask what she thinks. I am going to get a book on children's book on word religions to use as a starting point for this pin.

Thanks for the support!

[McBenny]

We are in year 6 of Girl Scouts and we have never worked on this pin. Just sharing.

[nicolewi]

McBenny, hi! Bring your friends! I lurk on Parenting.