Free Republic

"Taking this step means we are creating more inclusive spaces where racialized girls in Canada can feel welcome and proud to belong in Girl Guides. With this change, we hope even more girls will see Guiding as a space where they can just be themselves..."

Bishop Michael Nazir Ali, a Church of England former bishop of Rochester, has condemned a recent move by the British Girl Guides to abolish mention of God in their oath and force a small group of Christian dissenters to conform. Girlguiding UK announced in June that members would no longer mention God or “country” in the oath, but pledge to “be true to myself and develop my beliefs,” and serve the “community”. Although the decision brought in a record 839 complaints, the organisation has refused to back down, saying that mention of God was deterring new members. The change was...

For over one-hundred years, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts have made a promise: A promise to serve, to help, and to keep the Girl Guide/Scout law. The Girl Guides (the British version of the Girl Scouts) have decided to make a change on who they promise to serve. In 1907, Robert Baden-Powell started exploring his idea of what would eventually become the Boy Scouts. By 1909, girls wanted to participate, and decided to crash a Boy Scout Rally to get Baden-Powell’s attention. They did, and one year later his sister Agnes was running the Girl Guides Association. The Girl Scouts...

Girl Guides have thrown their support behind the “No More Page 3” campaign, in a bid to stop the perpetuation of the idea that “women are objects” in a family newspaper. Girlguiding UK has signed the campaign to try and force the hand of Rupert Murdoch, who hinted a few weeks ago that he is considering ending the publication of photographs of topless models on page 3 of The Sun—which he owns, as chief executive of News Corporation. …

Girlguiding UK is considering the removal of any mention of God or the Queen from its oath. In one of the most controversial shakeups in its 102-year history, the organization has launched a consultation that could lead to significant changes to the promise Guides are expected to take when they join. It would be the first major reform for the Guides, which boasts more than half a million members, to be initiated under Julie Bentley, its new chief executive. The former head of The Family Planning Association, who took over in November, ruffled feathers when she described the Guides as...

ONE'S a pub classic, belted out at top volume by tipsy patrons around closing time. The other is a more dignified affair, a favourite of youth choirs and choral groups. Now, as unlikely as it seems, the classic children's ditty Kookaburra and the Men At Work hit Down Under are set to go head-to-head in court amid accusations part of the rock anthem is a rip-off, The Daily Telegraph reports. Music publishing company Larrikin owns the Kookaburra song and claims the melody that accompanies the line "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree" is reproduced in Down Under. The case...

UNITED KINGDOM, July 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The U.K. Girl Guides, an organization that originally promoted traditional Christian values,  has conformed to the modern sex-saturated culture by seeking a new course on "safe sex" practices. According to a report in the UK Times, the program is based on results from a survey of more than 1,000 Girl Guides in the Britain. Attempting to keep in touch with the changing needs of modern women, the survey asked them what life skills they think are most important. For senior Guides, girls aged 16 and over, the hands down top priority was "money...