Vote Allows Changes in the Girl Scout Oath
Girl Scouts will be allowed to pledge service to God, Allah, the Creator, or anyone else they want under a measure adopted Saturday at the organization’s national convention.
The measure, which takes effect immediately, keeps the official wording of the Girl Scout promise intact but allows individual Scouts to substitute for God another word or words they consider more appropriate to their spiritual beliefs. It was adopted by a 1,560-to-375 vote.
The Girl Scout promise states: “On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.”
The group’s leaders said the change acknowledges growing religious and ethnic diversity among the nation’s 2.6 million Girl Scouts.
“It’s a very strong statement that Girl Scouts continue to be on the cutting edge, and this is a continuing effort to show that we do have strength in diversity and that we are an inclusive organization,” said B. LaRae Orullian, the organization’s national president.
Debate over the proposal lasted about three hours. Some delegates expressed concern that the word God would be removed from the promise, while others did not want to tinker with tradition.
The Girl Scout promise has been revised several times, but the reference to God has been a constant.
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