Atheist parents angry at Brownies for forcing the praise of God ontheir girl

[Ali74]

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/872000-a...-on-their-girl

Did you hear this on the news today? What do you think?

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Maddie has been in the group for the past six months but has yet to take the pledge, as her atheist parents object to the wording.

She was told she had to stick to the exact wording of the group’s promise to become a fully-fledged Brownie.


The pledge reads: ‘I promise that I will do my best, to love my God, to serve the Queen and my country, to help other people and to keep the Brownie Guide law.’

Her parents, Barry and Juliette Willett, are furious the 2nd Crawley Down Brownies troop in West Sussex has refused to alter the wording so their daughter could make the promise.


‘We don’t have a belief in God and our daughter is yet to make her decision,’ Mrs Willett said.

‘It’s a big decision for her to make and it would be offensive for an atheist to say they love God.’


The troop has declined to comment but Girlguiding UK said there was no reason why the Brownie pledge could not be altered.


A spokeswoman said: ‘Not having a defined faith does not preclude membership.’

[Saramateeni]

Hummm... Wonder if CHQ will look at rewording the Promise to something like the Canadian one. I have three helpers who can't go (and would go) into uniform because of having to make it and them not wanting religion in there.

[Brandie]

that's mad the new becoming a Brownie books are even asterisked to say you can change this bit of the promise!

[dizsiebubba]

I think it is so pathetic... it isnt news worthy

[Quantumlottie]

I'm atheist and i just say the same promise and have done whenever i have renewed it. As it says 'my god' i take that as being what i believe in, which is science, and reason and experiment. It's just simpler to say 'my god' than say "the deity or deities I chose to worship or the greater reasons of how the world and life works" its just to fit as many is as few words. I have no problem with the promise and i would (and have) to parents.

Although if GGUK says you can change it and parents are kicking up a fuss then change it and everyone is happy. Although I would avoid changing it as it makes the child stand out from the others, and also it is meant to be the common standard we all work towards and if everyone changes it at their whim what would be the point of having it at all??

[Panda]

‘We don’t have a belief in God and our daughter is yet to make her decision,’ Mrs Willett said.

‘It’s a big decision for her to make and it would be offensive for an atheist to say they love God.’

So she's yet to make her decision, but she's an atheist??? The point of the Promise is that until the moment someone decides they do not believe in a God of any kind, they can continue to make the Promise. Therefore this girl can make her Promise, if her parents don't let their atheist beliefs get in the way!

That's my take on the article anyway.

[RMT]

The troop has declined to comment but Girlguiding UK said there was no reason why the Brownie pledge could not be altered.

So are GGUK not helping the unit? Shouldn't they be saying currently there is not alternative for atheists but we will look into it?

[FPG]

"Pledge"? "Troop"?

Sounds to me like a couple of people desperate for their 15 seconds of fame and little more; it sounds more like their issue not their poor child's.

[FPG]

So are GGUK not helping the unit? Shouldn't they be saying currently there is not alternative for atheists but we will look into it?

Well they're not reviewing the promise so why would they say that? You can hardly expect GGUK to pander to every poorly reported piece of journalism and start jumping on bandwagons. It's made very clear that 'my God' is taken to represent spirituality, whatever that is for an individual.

Though it seems Australia Guide Assoc has started a promise review as part of their centenary.

[Orly]

http://tinyurl.com/3jc7pxb

Seems like a different version of the above article.