Girlguiding UK created guidelines in June, effective September, to change their pledge by removing references to God in the name of not offending atheists. And radical secularist volunteers like Jem Henderson, a self-described “post-punk feminist poet”, will be on hand to make sure Troops are no longer invoking the name of the Almighty.
Hazel Mitford, Jayne Morrison and Alison Ellison; leaders of the local organization in Harrogate, Yorkshire have said their girls will retain the right to pledge to God and wrote an open letter published in the Harrogate Advertiser. The letter begins “As members of Girlguiding UK and St Paul’s United Reformed Church, Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, we wish to express our dismay at the recent changes to the Guide Promise. In particular we object to the replacement of the already inclusive phrase ‘to love my God’ with ‘to be true to myself and develop my beliefs’ and ‘to serve my country’ with ‘to serve my community’.”
Brian Hunt, Minister at the church where the groups meet, co-signed the letter which also states “Girlguiding has God at its core and anyone who has issue with this is free to start their own organisation. The changes have been brought in by unelected officials and although there was some consultation, over half a million members had no say in the wording of the new promise.”
What has happened is a clear attempt by secular forces to hijack the Guide movement and turn it into some form of junior feminist training centre. The National Secular Society (NSS) which has been a leader in promoting the changes, prompted by convenient complaints from Jem Henderson, is not just about creating religion free organizations but eradicating Christianity altogether. NSS is also notable for its high percentage of homosexual leaders.
Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, is openly supporting the Harrogate Troop saying “If there are others like this group – indeed I would hope that here are many others like it – why should they not be allowed to continue to have a reference to God? If these people really do believe in diversity and this is not just a back door to secular totalitarianism, they should be supported in this.”
Nazir-Ali is diplomatic in his wording when in fact he knows full well that his suggestion that this is ‘a back door to secular totalitarianism’ is not only true but is in fact the principal objective and another opportunity to remove Godly influence from young lives. Additionally the change to ‘serving my country’ is a globalist one-world concept.
The former Bishop’s comments are underscored by the current Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Rev Nick Baines, who accuses the Guides of “evacuating the Promise of meaning and filling it with vacuous nonsense” – adding that new wording “does not create safe little altruistic models of moderation; it opens the door to little Hitlers as well as Snow Whites. Even those glad to see God go must be embarrassed by what has replaced Him.”
Gill Slocombe, who is Chief Guide in UK Girlguiding and significantly responsible for the change, said: “We appreciate that for some it is going to take time to make the adjustment, Whilst all Leaders will need to accept this change as we go forward we will be talking with Leaders who are anxious and working with them to help them resolve any difficulties. We sincerely hope it won't be necessary for anyone to leave the organisation.”
Slocombe’s gutless approach is at the heart of the problem. Her political, passive-aggressive statement makes it clear that the changes are going to be implemented even if not strictly on schedule. She makes it clear that she will let Troop’s leave rather than compromise with them. This is not surprising when you realize that while Slocombe is the face of the Guides, the architect and co-conspirator of change is Chief Executive Julie Bentley, who came from the Family Planning Association (abortion-central), and calls the Guides “the ultimate feminist organisation”.
Jem Henderson meanwhile, who brings in the NSS with her complaints said “We live in a society where [a significant proportion] of people say that they are agnostic or atheist, it is good that the Guiding movement themselves have recognised this. It is just unfortunate that there are little bastions left of people who are actually wrong about the Guiding movement – they think it is based on God but actually it is based on girls.”
Henderson reveals here how intellectually vacated she is. The Guide movement is absolutely based on Godly Biblical principles. Guide law states that a Guide is honest, reliable, trustworthy, helpful, a good friend, polite, considerate, uses her time wisely and learns from her experiences. She respects all living things and takes care of the world around her. When the Powell’s began the Scouts, the Guides male predecessor, it was to promote moral character amongst the young. Nobody envisioned at the time that you would attempt to separate that from faith in God.
Three cheers for Harrogate for standing on principle. Secular forces are on a mission to either change everything Godly into something else or else simply eradicate it; with a combination of social pressure, democratic assault and heavy handed legal leveraging. This is a time to stand or tamely submit and it needs to be realized that there is little in-between position.
