Christian Radio Host Won’t Buy Lesbian Girl Scout Cookies
Abortion, lesbianism and...thin mints? They all appear to be part of different sets, but according to a conservative Christian pastor and radio host, a venn diagram would show one similarity: the Girl Scouts of America.
Right Wing Watch reports that conservative Christian radio hosts Kevin Swanson and Dave Buehner of Generations Radio are urging their followers not to purchase Girl Scout Cookies on the grounds that the 101-year-old service organization promotes lesbianism and abortion.
"The individualism of feminism has been devastating to this country. I'd say you ought to say no to the Girl Scout cookies too," said Swanson in a broadcast on his Internet radio station. "I don't want to support lesbianism, I don't want to support Planned Parenthood and I don't want to support abortion, and if that be the case I'm not buying Girl Scout cookies."
According to the Girl Scout website, "Buying Girl Scout cookies is more than just handing over money for a box. It's about the skills and learning a girl gains from interacting directly with you. It's about the experience of running her own cookie business and working with others;" something Generations co-host Dave Buehner finds unacceptable since it will lead to be "a woman who is going to compete with men in the marketplace."
According to RWW, Swanson added that Girl Scouts are creating a generation of independent women who will put a "communist in the White House" and promote the "gay and lesbian agenda" warning that "lots and lots of lesbians" attend Girl Scout conventions."
Generations Radio's recent attack is far from the first crusade against Girl Scout cookies. In 2012, Cathy Cleaver Ruse, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center designated hate group Family Research Council, urged readers in an op-ed piece not to buy the charitable confections, over the group's decision to allow boys as members.
Ruse also claimed that the group had ties to Planned Parenthood and promoted promiscuity among its members.
"The Girl Scouts have been 'pro-choice' for years, but now they've been caught supporting promiscuous sex for girls," he said referring to a United Nations workshop where she claims Planned Parenthood brochures were offered. "The Planned Parenthood sex guide offered at that 'girls only' U.N. meeting offered this advice on Page 11: 'Some people have sex when they have been drinking alcohol or using drugs. This is your choice. ... If you want to have sex and think you might get drunk or high, plan ahead by bringing condoms and lube or putting them close to where you usually have sex.'"
As reported by Philanthropy Today, earlier in 2012, Indiana representative Bob Morris called on his colleagues not to sign a resolution honoring the centennial anniversary of the Girl Scouts. In a letter sent to his fellow representatives that was later published by the Christian Science Monitor, Morris called the Scouts a "radicalized organization" that is affiliated with Planned Parenthood and promotes "homosexual lifestyles."
According to The New York Daily News, The president and CEO of Planned Parenthood's Indiana branch, Betty Cockrum, blasted Morris' accusations as "inflammatory, misleading, woefully inaccurate and harmful." She said that though Planned Parenthood recognizes the Girl Scouts' ongoing contributions to society, they have no formal partnership.
The Girl Scouts sold $786 million in cookies in their 2011-2012 season, according to an organization spokeswoman. Compared to fellow cookie purveyors like Pepperidge Farm and McKee Foods (parent company of Little Debbie), not to mention Oreos, the top brand in the nation, Girl Scouts are competitive according to US News and World Report.