Girl Scout calls for boycott of cookies...

[QAF_Rocks]

Thank you for answering. I knew BSA was very strict with their policies, but I wasn't sure about GSA.

No problem! I was an atheist in the Girl Scouts, although I didn't change the word "God" when I said the Promise. I think I remember not saying that part when we recited it as a group, but I didn't know it was possible to change the word. As it is, though, it wasn't a big deal. My troop was chartered through my public elementary school, so we had girls from a variety of backgrounds. I can't remember religion ever being talked about. It was the same at Girl Scout summer camp. Aside from singing "Kumbaya," I don't recall anything religious.

[Dev83]

I was a girl scout from 1st through 11th grade and loved every minute. The only reason I did not finish out high school was because there was no troop with girls my age local :( My sister was involved from Kindergarten through 12th grade as well. We both turned out to be raging feminist liberals, so it must work!

If I am lucky enough to have a daughter she will certianly be a Girl Scout, and I will be buying lots of cookies this year. I love when supporting a good organization is so yummy.

[galaxygirl]

Saw this on Tumblr today:

I'll be getting so many of those Caramel Delight's this year.

[brigid]

Saw this on Tumblr today:

I'll be getting so many of those Caramel Delight's this year.

OMGWTFBBQ, and fuck those motherfuckers.

[demgirl]

This girl's video doesn't make me angry at her, it makes me sad. At 14, she's a product of her parents' beliefs and this screams of an adult setup. If she's still behaving this way at 21, then I'll be pissed b/c at that point, you've made a decision, as an adult with a world of information available, to believe the way your parents taught you. In other news -- the girl scouts are awesome, as an organization, but I really hated being in them. Still, I try to always show support through cookie buying or other donations.

[fundiefun]

It's obvious that her "parents" and other adults in her life put her up to this and being only 14 she still has time to change and grow. When I was her age I had little to no exposure about gay or transgender issues and painted everyone who was gay with a "weird" or "wrong" blanket view. I thankfully grew up and now realize the error of my ways this is probably going to come back and haunt her when she's 18. I saw something about this on facebook and responded with a "time to double my order of girl scout cookies this year".

[thoughtful]

And lo, Alecto came down from her recliner and did say that the buying of Girl Scout Cookies is GOOD for those who follow Alectocookyism...

Amen.

[Rowan]

I read the title for this thread and thought, "Wow, FreeJinger is talking about the cookie boycott going on in my area because the local Girl Scouts are pissed that the council is selling off their camps!" http://www.ohio.com/news/local/cookie-s ... s-1.254264 (link not broken, it's to the article about the "don't sell our camps!" boycott in a local newspaper).

I live in the same area but hadn't heard about this. Spent many a weekend at Camp Sugarbush. Lifetime GS here - 1st through forever (my mom got me the lifetime membership when I got my Gold Award. I always buy cookies from several girls and now am prouder than ever to be a Scout.

[Rosa]

Oh God, I love that "claims to be a Catholic"

Did you know some Girl Scout Boycotters support war and the death penalty while claiming to be Catholic? And attack the persecuted and poor while claiming to be Christian?

[GeoBQn]

The UN has "anti-population goals?" I'm pretty sure if they did that, they would be out of a job eventually , , ,

[snarkbillie]

For those who can't eat GS cookies or just don't want to but still want to support your local GS troop you CAN buy boxes to donate. Some troops (ours) are teamed up with Blue Star Moms to ship GS cookies overseas to military people. Others take the donations and do other things, although I don't know what. It's a good way to get rid of a few dollars for a good cause.

[ADoyle90815]

This was just on my Facebook feed, where someone is calling BS on the alleged Girl Scout. Either way, I'm still going to buy more cookies.

badfiction.typepad.com/badfiction/2012/01/the-anti-girl-scout-jihad.html

[Bookworm89]

Well for the first time in years I'll be buying girl scout cookies. I grew up in Canada and did girl guides which is very similar to girl scouts (only difference, that I know of was that dads couldn't help out so some went to the girl scouts in town because of that) and enjoyed it greatly.

[DarkAnts]

Well for the first time in years I'll be buying girl scout cookies. I grew up in Canada and did girl guides which is very similar to girl scouts (only difference, that I know of was that dads couldn't help out so some went to the girl scouts in town because of that) and enjoyed it greatly.

They are part of the same international organization (World association of girl guides and girl scouts).

[DarkAnts]

This was just on my Facebook feed, where someone is calling BS on the alleged Girl Scout. Either way, I'm still going to buy more cookies.

badfiction.typepad.com/badfiction/2012/01/the-anti-girl-scout-jihad.html

I do find it interesting. I would not be surprised by it.

[m0drnmoonlight]

This was just on my Facebook feed, where someone is calling BS on the alleged Girl Scout. Either way, I'm still going to buy more cookies.

badfiction.typepad.com/badfiction/2012/01/the-anti-girl-scout-jihad.html

Geez, how did I not notice that - the Brownie wings and rainbow bridges always stay with you once you get them; when I went from Junior to Cadette/Senior, my mom had to re-sew them on my vest! There wouldn't be any reason you wouldn't have any on your sash. Like all of you and this blogger, I'm detecting bullshit.

[ChickeyMonkey]

It's interesting how GSUSA has evolved, as an organization, to be so much more inclusive than the Boy Scouts. I had a Boy Scout friend in high school who had completed almost all of the requirements to be an Eagle Scout, then resigned from his troop in protest of the Boy Scouts' attitude toward gay scouts; he later came out as gay himself. Looks like not all that much has changed since then: http://campusprogress.org/articles/boy_ ... _in_court/

My 8-year-old son wants to join the Boy Scouts (well, he just wants to do all the fun things he sees them do and there are even Vietnamese-American chapters) but I won't let him because of their stances on gay scouts and troupe leaders, and on the religious aspect. I can't let my son be a part of an organization that discriminates like that.

There's the Campfire USA, which used to be CAmpfire Girls, but it's now become inclusive of boys, too. On their website I don't see anything really about troupes, but I think I'd have to call and ask about them. Right now he's got a martial arts class that meets M, W, F, and I don't want to be one of those parents who have their kid enrolled into every activity imaginable.

It's a little bit difficult for me because I'm not a "joiner." Yes, I was in Brownies and Girl Scouts, but not for too long. I was on sports teams in school and joined the Spanish Club my senior year (since I decided to not play basketball that year), but that's about it. I understand wanting to do all those fun things, but at the same time, it's a lot of work involved in the whole thing, not just showing up and doing fun things. If only it was that easy!

[Mama Mia]

Campfire is wonderful ! I was the leader of my kids club for several years -- it was great because I had a boy and a girl and they could both be in the group- and there is huge amount of flexibility in activities - so I could adapt everything to fit the large age and interest range of the kids in our group. We were also a troop of really poor kids and I liked that there didn't seem to be the same amount of pressure to buy a bunch of stuff/pay for expensive activities that I sometimes felt when the kids were in girl scouts/cub scouts.

This was almost 20 years ago, and I don't recall anything about their national structure or position on issues -- but there is a big environmental focus which the kids liked.

The worst part was trying to sell Campfire Candy at roughly the same time as the Girl Scouts were selling cookies !

Definitely stocking up on the girl scout cookies this year - screw the diet and attempt at gluten free - I have an actual reason to indulge :D

[ChickeyMonkey]

Campfire is wonderful ! I was the leader of my kids club for several years -- it was great because I had a boy and a girl and they could both be in the group- and there is huge amount of flexibility in activities - so I could adapt everything to fit the large age and interest range of the kids in our group. We were also a troop of really poor kids and I liked that there didn't seem to be the same amount of pressure to buy a bunch of stuff/pay for expensive activities that I sometimes felt when the kids were in girl scouts/cub scouts.

This was almost 20 years ago, and I don't recall anything about their national structure or position on issues -- but there is a big environmental focus which the kids liked.

The worst part was trying to sell Campfire Candy at roughly the same time as the Girl Scouts were selling cookies !

Definitely stocking up on the girl scout cookies this year - screw the diet and attempt at gluten free - I have an actual reason to indulge :D

Thanks, Mrs S2004, your experience helps a lot. I'll see if my son is still interested in joining something like that and then look into it. My city's branch is actually really close to me, go figure. We also don't have much money to spare right now, so that's good to know it's available for kids of all SES. I did see on their website that some of the camps were kind of expensive (for us, anyway), but it didn't really say anything about the individual groups. It would be nice if there was a group or two who was made up of Vietnamese-American kids, because I would like him to get more exposure to that half of his heritage. My husband is lazy in that regard, and doesn't really care much. :roll:

[JesusFightClub]

Awww! I love this thread. I wondered about these Girl Scout biscuits but if they are a reasonably progressive organisation which accepts girls of all sorts...

I was a girl guide (no girl scouts in the UK, I don't think) and it was a mixture of great stuff and crap stuff. I didn't have to sell any biscuits but our lot placed a ridiculous emphasis on "domestic skills" which I am shit at.

The promises are interesting. I remember my Brownie promise. "I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God. To serve the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Brownie Guide Law."

Couldn't sign up to any of that now apart from helping people ;) Alistair Hulett has a great lyric about conscription: "betray your country, serve your class" but if I knew any politics as a youngun and tried that I don't think it would have been acceptable...

Returning to topic, there seems nothing uncomfortable about having a born boy who is trans in a GS/GG environment. If s/he is comfortable there what really would be the problem? There's not a genital check...

[Renting with Raggles]

I was a girl guide (no girl scouts in the UK, I don't think) and it was a mixture of great stuff and crap stuff. I didn't have to sell any biscuits but our lot placed a ridiculous emphasis on "domestic skills" which I am shit at.

I was a girl guide and a girl scout for the few years I lived in America. I got really into it in the US because the camps were better. And I sold the most cookies of anyone in my troop! It's all the same organisation. For some reason the UK & Aussie guides do a lot more traditional handicraft / art stuff and there is more emphasis on 'domestic skills' they now call 'life skills'. Girls who hate art in Australia usually join the boy scouts, which is just the outdoors part. Both guides and scouts were really welcoming; the god/ queen part are optional for kids who don't want to say it. At the Brownie level I suspect it might have been a case of a lazy leader making all the little kids say the same pledge.

Those thin mints are an abomination though, they're only redeemed by the samoas or whatever the godly coconut/ caramel choc ones are.

[longskirtlotsakids]

The blog that calls BS to the girl scout Taylor lists "Keepers at Home" as an alternative group. I just took a look at the thier webpage. How god awful mind-numbing.

But can you expect from a camp that claims "folding a fitted sheet may be one of the hardest things you will ever do?"

[snarkbillie]

My 8-year-old son wants to join the Boy Scouts (well, he just wants to do all the fun things he sees them do and there are even Vietnamese-American chapters) but I won't let him because of their stances on gay scouts and troupe leaders, and on the religious aspect. I can't let my son be a part of an organization that discriminates like that.

There's the Campfire USA, which used to be CAmpfire Girls, but it's now become inclusive of boys, too. On their website I don't see anything really about troupes, but I think I'd have to call and ask about them. Right now he's got a martial arts class that meets M, W, F, and I don't want to be one of those parents who have their kid enrolled into every activity imaginable.

It's a little bit difficult for me because I'm not a "joiner." Yes, I was in Brownies and Girl Scouts, but not for too long. I was on sports teams in school and joined the Spanish Club my senior year (since I decided to not play basketball that year), but that's about it. I understand wanting to do all those fun things, but at the same time, it's a lot of work involved in the whole thing, not just showing up and doing fun things. If only it was that easy!

I was in Campfire as a child. It is a really great organization. My girls are GS now but were in Campfire in the past and we love both. We switched to GS because they had friends in GS that they wanted to see more often. Otherwise we would probably still be active in Campfire. The only thing I didn't like about it was it's not very centrally organized and thus hard to find a group to get started with sometimes.

[snarkbillie]

Thanks, Mrs S2004, your experience helps a lot. I'll see if my son is still interested in joining something like that and then look into it. My city's branch is actually really close to me, go figure. We also don't have much money to spare right now, so that's good to know it's available for kids of all SES. I did see on their website that some of the camps were kind of expensive (for us, anyway), but it didn't really say anything about the individual groups. It would be nice if there was a group or two who was made up of Vietnamese-American kids, because I would like him to get more exposure to that half of his heritage. My husband is lazy in that regard, and doesn't really care much. :roll:

One of the ways to cut down on camp cost is to sell candy, you can get credits towards camp that way. Another thing is that they do have scholarships if you apply early and are accepted then the remainder of camp (after "fair share" from candy and scholarships) is pretty darn affordable for most.

[BlackHawk]

My 8-year-old son wants to join the Boy Scouts (well, he just wants to do all the fun things he sees them do and there are even Vietnamese-American chapters) but I won't let him because of their stances on gay scouts and troupe leaders, and on the religious aspect. I can't let my son be a part of an organization that discriminates like that.

There's the Campfire USA, which used to be CAmpfire Girls, but it's now become inclusive of boys, too. On their website I don't see anything really about troupes, but I think I'd have to call and ask about them. Right now he's got a martial arts class that meets M, W, F, and I don't want to be one of those parents who have their kid enrolled into every activity imaginable.

It's a little bit difficult for me because I'm not a "joiner." Yes, I was in Brownies and Girl Scouts, but not for too long. I was on sports teams in school and joined the Spanish Club my senior year (since I decided to not play basketball that year), but that's about it. I understand wanting to do all those fun things, but at the same time, it's a lot of work involved in the whole thing, not just showing up and doing fun things. If only it was that easy!

I'm an eagle scout and boy scouts was awesome... I learned so much and had a lot of fun. That said, my boys will never join such a thing. I would not put my child in a position to have to question if his parents are any less than someone else's parents. Since I can't be a leader (I'm a raging homo) and my partner can't be a leader (he's a bisexual in a long term gay relationship), that makes us unequal to everyone else. I refuse. I've never heard of Campfire USA... hmm may have to check that out.

I bought my GS cookies this year. In my neighborhood there are about 10 girl scouts, and I buy one box from everyone who comes to our door. It's expensive, but they freeze well and I enjoy them. I didn't know GS was a progressive organization until someone posted the link a while ago of the CO GS that is having a trans child involved. I think that is fucking awesome and gave me an excuse to keep buying GS cookies. Perhaps I will surprise the troops out at Kroger this year by actually buying more from them.

Does anyone know if Samoas (Partner's fave) freeze as well as Thin mints? Are there any that don't freeze well?