Not “cool” enough: being a lady is “out”.
(via Daylife)
The Australian Girl Guides – aka Girl Scouts – not only decided to drop all references and pledges to the Queen, but also to God. [See the article]
Instead, the Australian Girl Guides will “be true to myself and develop my beliefs.”
This latest event is another brick being placed in the wall of selfish ego building. Why pledge allegiance to anything other than yourself? Why feel like there is anything higher, better, or more pure than yourself – you’re a little god. Who needs the actual God?
If you don’t feel like having a higher power to answer to, then why would you respect authority here in the corporeal? Drop the Queen.
“We all absolutely admire her in her jubilee year [said Belinda Allen, the New South Wales state commissioner], but our community comes from many different backgrounds … Being responsible to one’s community is one of the essences of guiding. We espouse that rather than the Queen.”
To unite under one banner and get along together with shared values is far too “old fashioned”, I gather.
“Whether they take down pictures of the Queen or keep them in the halls is totally up to the girls,” she said. “They may decide they still like to have pictures of the Queen but the world has changed and we have to move on.”
Yep. Too old fashioned. So move on to what, exactly?
I thought Girl Guides/Boy Scouts organizations were supposed to teach preparedness, respect, and leadership skills so that children become fruitful adults. Now they’re centering solely on the self, yet trying to serve the community. Huh?
What went wrong?
The 1980s were declared the “Me” generation. That’s my generation, and unfortunately, it was true. More mothers began to go out to work. Fathers were already working, so that left the kids to tend to themselves. That era of children became known as “latch-key kids”. So is it the fault of the 80s era that kids today are now being trained to think only of themselves, as their parents once had to?
The 1960s were a pretty radical era. Overthrow the “Man” and “the system”, show contempt for Western Civilization, and hate pretty much anything that was authority or tradition. Is this their generation’s fault? Is this why so many kids aren’t taught anything even remotely respectful in the home? Why any mention of God or Jesus gets you branded as a redneck?
Whose fault IS it?
The truth is, there are so many elements that have contributed to this crazy world of ours that it is impossible to blame any one factor, any one generation. It takes a village to raise a child, and that village is also pretty good at messing him up.
This latest attempt to disregard authority is such an insult to the Queen. I feel sorry for her. While she’s probably not angry about it, the Queen is more than likely very sad. She enjoyed her time as a Girl Guide when she was a child, and her little sister, Princess Margaret, was even in her own Brownie troop.
And it’s not simply a matter of leaving out the Queen, or leaving out God. It’s the combination of leaving both the Queen and God out of it that speaks volumes. Her Majesty is the Head of State, experienced, well respected, and an icon of propriety. God is the engine that steers the ship, so to speak, a guiding light to many people all over the world. It’s frightening that there are those who would so doggedly dismiss these two elements, believed to be powerfully good, uniting influences, for nothing more than vague modernity.
Mind you, I am not equating the Queen with God. She is as mortal as the rest of us. They are simply both positive authority figures in daily life – one is timeless, the other just appears to be timeless. ;)
That authority is going to disappear completely if we continue to allow our children to be groomed as self-centered egotists. Whomever plotted this “every man for himself” scenario is getting their wish. The groundwork has been laid, and the cement is hardening. Time to bust out the jackhammers.
Recommended:
God and Queen are no longer a guide for girls
Girl Guides and Scouts Are Being Slipped A Micky
Where it all started: 
One of the biggest complaints that one hears is that there are no longer positive role models for young people, especially girls. As an American, I have no attachment to the Queen but I do have respect for her as a person. I also have a daughter and I would be more that happy if she choose the Queen as a role mode. After all, as a young princess the Queen served her country during wartime as a truck mechanic (breaking gender standards). She then went on to be the head of an Empire and has reined with great distinction. Her service to others is beyond reproach. Unlike so many of today’s celebrities, she does not talk the talk…she walks the walk. Wrapped up in her is an educated and successful career woman with a family, selflessly serving her country and its people. To me, this is like saying you do not want your young daughter to respect and admire Mother Teresa. Of course no one would say that because Mother Teresa is not a political figure. But the Queen is and this is all about politics, nothing more.
The big question is who is going to fill the vacuum? Lady GAGA? Kim Kardashian? Some other self-centered, narcissistic, and emotionally imbalanced celebrity? I know very few..very very few.. that can match the Queen as a role model for young girls.
I think the removal of ‘God’ is less a sign of dismissing a higher power, but an attempt to be inclusive to all faiths. As they said, girls from from different backgrounds and not everyone is going to subscribe to the same religion or belief system so why should they promote one defintion of it (i.e. Christianity).
As for the Queen, while she is an admirable woman and girls would do far worse than to look to her as an example, she has no relevance in the day to day lives of her subjects. Therefore pledging allegiance to her, in any way, shape or form, belongs to a bygone era. The age of unquestioning deference is over and removing her from the plege is, if anything, an acknowledgement of that reality.
I don’t see this has a turn towards personal selfish egocentricity. Having faith, integrity, self esteem and confidence in yourself and your abilities is something that should be encouraged and promoted in all children, not just the girl guides. Having that belief would, hopefully, lead to personal responsibility in their actions towards others and a greater desire to help those in the community. The desire to do what’s good and right should transcend a belief any higher power. How else to explain those who do good without it?
Ultimately, I think these changes are an expression of reality. We live in a multi-cultural society with different beliefs and organizations should reflect that if they want to stay relevant in that world.
I understand what you are saying. Someone mentioned in the comments on the article that if scouting needs to go in a new direction, create a whole new group if they are that concerned. Would you perhaps agree that maybe a new version of the Scouts/Guides, separate from the traditional Scouts, would be a better option?
I can appreciate that they are trying to keep things multicultural, but there seems to be an underlying message that the current Scouts are negative, which it isn’t. It is making people who have been involved with the organization in childhood feel that their achievements “serving God and my country/Queen” have been rendered null. It’s kind of demeaning.