Guides, Gods and Goblins… Where are the Girls being guided now?
Guides Gods and Goblins…
Where are the Girls being guided now?
I’ve had some serious reservations about the Girl Guides movement in the past. They often meet in the premises of Christian churches, but their present ethos owes much more to the politically correct culture of the day than to the Christian faith. Whatever their origin may have been, (and they once claimed to have Christian principles) all the talk of sprites, elves, gnomes, fairies, pixies, – the rituals of ‘looking into the pixie pool’ or jumping over the toadstool, betray any pretence of a Christian foundation.
Worse than that, when a girl joins this movement she makes a ‘promise’ – in effect takes an oath, which up until recently was thoroughly syncretistic, but at least it paid lip service to the existence of a God, whoever or whatever you considered that to be. It read…
I promise that I will do my best
To love my God,
To serve my Queen and my Country,
To help other people
And To keep the Guide Law.
Note the subjective nature of the promise. So long as you served your own god, that was ok, – your god didn’t have to be the God of the Bible, The Lord God, Jehovah, – and of course, there is no mention whatsoever of Jesus Christ. Contrast this with the teaching of the Scriptures, where all other gods are false deities, and where only a sincere belief and trust in Jesus will suffice…
Psalm 86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Not only was the promise syncretistic, it was rooted in human self-sufficiency, – for doing one’s best is never enough. That’s why we need Christ.
However, as if neglecting to teach children that they should trust the Saviour and Him alone was not enough, the Guides have gone one step further, and today have announced that they will now remove any reference to God whatsoever from their oath. So it now reads…
I promise that I will do my best:
To be true to myself and develop my beliefs,
To serve the Queen and my community,
To help other people
And
To keep the Guide law.
Of course this development has been welcomed by the aggressive secularist movements. Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association said:
“We wholeheartedly welcome the progressive step that Girlguiding have taken today of making their movement genuinely open to all, including the large number of girls and young women who don’t believe in any god.
( http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jun/18/girl-guides-queen-god-country-promise)
It was to be expected. The Guides have been involved in a downgrade of their previous Christian principles for quite some time. The Daily Mail reports,
‘Last year it hired as chief executive Julia Bentley, former head of an abortion and contraception group. Miss Bentley said when appointed that Guiding ‘is not about itchy brown uniforms and sewing and baking. It is a modern, contemporary, vibrant organisation. ‘Guides are more likely to be investigating a muddy ravine, going overseas to help on an Aids programme, or going to one of our pop concerts.’
Now there is a A REAL CHALLENGE for members of the Guides who are Christians. There is a choice to be made. Can one serve God, and love The Lord Jesus Christ, while at the same time being a member of an organisation. That thoroughly and totally denies Him? Worse, that panders to the secular, anti-Christian culture which now prevails?
And what of churches? Is it any longer possible to offer accommodation to an organisation of this nature, – so godless and bereft of Christian influence? Could a true Christian church hand over its children to a pagan organisation? Can a church allow a trojan horse containing a while regiment of pagan worldviews and secular philosophies to nestle inside its walls? Can a church welcome such blatant deception? Jesus warns us…
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Some might argue that the church can maintain control, for it retains influence over its local activities, but that is at best a misunderstanding, for the Guides is tightly controlled by its own structures, and the church looses control once the girls go off to camp…
Years ago, evangelicals were calling on Christians to disassociate from groups like the masons for their dubious rituals and syncretistic beliefs.
Will they now issue similar calls to those who have membership in the Guides?
The Salty Scrivener 