American Heritage Girls: A Distinction of Honoring God, Country and Community

By Janet Parshall, Special to CP Tuesday, September 24, 2013

A very important organization celebrated their anniversary recently. The American Heritage Girls are now 18 years old. When they started, the group had just a hand full of girls and met in a school facility. Today, they have over 30,000 members – and there is a reason for their remarkable success.

American Heritage Girls was organized to create an alternative to the Girl Scouts, which has systematically been fostering ideas that many families can't support. The stated mission of AHG is to be a character development organization for young women that embraces Christian values and encourages family involvement.

The goal of the group is to build women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country. Note the emphasis on God. That distinction alone separates them out from the Girl Scouts. The Heritage Girl Oath restates that allegiance to God as well.

"I promise to love God,
Cherish my family,
Honor my country,
and Serve in my community."

The Girls Scouts of America have been experiencing mission creep for some time, moving farther and farther away from families who thought the Girl Scouts was about building women of character. The Scouts in this country or GSUSA make up about 25 percent of a group known as the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) with ten million members worldwide. Unfortunately, the association promotes reproductive rights and abortion, in particular.

In May of 2013, WAGGGS was a participant in a conference called WOMEN DELIVER, which called for the improvement in the health and well -being of women and girls worldwide. Sounds good on the surface but considering some of the keynote speakers, we may not all have the same definition of 'health.'

At the conference, keynote speakers included LeRoy Carhart, the infamous late trimester abortionist; Dr. Peter Singer, a philosopher who supports infanticide and euthanasia; and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services. Attendees could go to workshops on eliminating the stigma of abortion and learn why some chose to perform abortions. Exhibitors included Planned Parenthood, Guttmacher Institute and the UN Population Fund. The Girl Scouts have come a long way since Peanut Butter Patties and Thin mints.

GSUSA also belongs to the Coalition for Adolescent Girls, who advocates comprehensive sex education and abortion. It is no surprise that the Journey curriculum, used by Girl Scouts across the country, encourages girls to work with groups like the ACLU, Sierra Club and Population Council.

But American Heritage Girls has, for the last 18 years, remained constant in both mission and message. Part of the promise a girl makes at AHG is to be pure in both mind and body. Their web site says, "an AHG member is called to live a life of holiness, being pure of heart, mind, word and deed, reserving sexual activity for the sanctity of marriage; marriage being a lifelong commitment before God between a man and a woman."

The difference between these two organizations could not be more clear – and the choice is even clearer. The Girl Scouts may have great cookies but the rest of what they are selling is very unappetizing.

Janet Parshall is the host of IN THE MARKET, a nationally syndicated radio program carried on the Moody Broadcasting Network.