The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) has long been an organization rooted in Americana. Like the Boy Scouts (now Scouting America), GSUSA was originally founded to teach outdoor skills, promote character building, and prioritize attributes like patriotism, service to others, loyalty, honesty, self-discipline, and self-reliance.

This writer was briefly a Brownie Scout, and after dusting off a few mental cobwebs, even I remember the Girl Scout Pledge: "On my honor, I will try to do my duty to God and my country, to help people at all times; and obey the Girl Scout Laws."

Unfortunately, this pledge has changed with the times and now has a more globalist flavor. For example, "help people at all times" was changed to "making the world a better place." So instead of being responsible for our inward communities, the GSUSA has shifted responsibility outward toward a more impossible goal.

This opening to a more globalist perspective has invited those of other religions to Islamify GSUSA and its Americana roots.

For some Muslim families, GSUSA is more like an Islamic girls' club where all the women must wear hijabs, and DEI is not something they put up with. GSUSA is also a way for them to put on the veneer of assimilation without actually assimilating.

The National Islamic Committee on Girl Scouting (NICGS) writes the curricula for some troops and gets Islamic badges, ribbons, and patches approved by GSUSA. This was highlighted and uncovered by journalist Natalie Winters.

Local councils set the curriculum at the regional level, which means the standard for NICGS isn't necessarily different from the standard for Christian churches that have their own committees and curricula. However, the rub comes in with a project titled "All About Islam," which was created as part of the Girl Scout Bronze Award and is not sponsored by the NICGS. This program is not hosted separately from the GSUSA's national website, meaning it is promoted to any Girl Scout around the country. The Bronze Award requires Girl Scouts at different age levels to learn about all five pillars of Islam. It also has optional activities such as partial fasting.

This is a strange and pointed straying from the faith-neutral position that GSUSA claims to have. The only comparable patch is "My Promise, My Faith," where girls can learn about their own faiths — it's not religion-specific.

However, such religious favoritism was years in the making. According to the Post Millennial, "The Girl Scouts website profiled a North Carolina Muslim troop that formed following the targeted killing of three Muslim college students in 2015. The troop held an Open Mosque Day to invite the community in and answer questions. The Girl Scouts website celebrated their work bringing Islam into their broader community."

Is GSUSA featuring Christian troops in the same manner? Is it praising Christian girls for evangelizing their communities? That answer is likely no.

Choosing to elevate Islam is ironic, to say the least. A religion that commands young girls to cover their hair at extremely young ages because of the male gaze seems antithetical to the GSUSA mission.

GSUSA responded to the controversy, saying:

Girl Scouts is proudly for every girl. Contrary to misinformation circulating online today, Girl Scouts is not a religious organization and does not teach religion. For more than a century, we've welcomed girls of every faith and background. Our national My Promise, My Faith pin invites girls to connect the Girl Scout Law with their own faith. Any other faith-based patches are developed by independent faith organizations, not GSUSA, and participation in these programs is always optional.

This statement highlights the root of the problem: GSUSA has fallen into the trap of pluralism. The organization was founded by a Christian, Juliette Gordon Low, and was built on Christian values. But now that it stands for anything — from walking in Pride parades to hosting informational booths on "Palestine" — it stands for nothing.

GSUSA has made itself another skinsuit in the Left’s game of gutting our institutions.