Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. Policy to “Serve All Girls”

2 CommentsCurrent Events, ,

The following blog post is by Deborah Beuerman.

Articles published recently announced that boys who would rather live as girls can now be included as members of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.

A transgender girl—a boy who acts like a girl—who is treated as a girl by his family will be accepted as a “girl” by Girl Scouts. This is really not new news.  A 7-year old boy who had been living as a girl since he was 2 was allowed to join a troop in 2012.

Sadly, a policy of inclusion has been in place for many years, with the Girl Scout membership policy simply stating that Girl Scouts is open to all girls.  On the face this sounds good, but such a simple statement without more definition can be broadly interpreted, and can be the basis for removing guiding principles for the organization.  Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low did want diversity in scouting, but the definition of her day was quite different from the “diversity and tolerance” of our day.  While she did not want to exclude any girl because of race, socioeconomic class, or disability, today’s idea of including generally is focused on sexuality.

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Renown Scientists Skeptical of Scientific Research

Current Events,

In a recent Breakpoint commentary, Eric Metaxas writes that renown scientists are beginning to question much of the scientific research being published.

Metaxas writes,

“In late April, researchers published the results of their efforts to replicate 100 of ‘psychology’s biggest experiments.’ They were only able get the same results in 39 of them.

“Commenting on the failure, Daniele Fanelli of Stanford told the prestigious journal ‘Nature’ that ‘reproducibility rates in cancer biology and drug discovery could be even lower.’ She added, ‘From my expectations, these are not bad at all.'”

According to scientists, researchers are increasingly plagued by problems ranging from small sample sizes to conflicts of interest in conducting scientific research.

Metaxas concludes by saying,

“[I]f a lot of the stuff being published is ‘incorrect’ or ‘untrue,’ please refrain from comparing people who question the scientific consensus to Holocaust deniers and flat-earthers.

“A little bit of humility would not be bad at all.”

You can read Metaxas’ entire commentary here or listen to it below.

[audio:http://www.breakpoint.org/images/content/breakpoint/audio/2015/060115_BP.mp3]

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Unpacking Pew’s New Study on Religion in America

2 CommentsChristianity,

This week the Pew Research Center released its latest study on America’s changing religious landscape.

The survey polled Americans in 2007 and 2014, asking them their religious affiliations along with questions about the importance of religion in their lives. The survey is making headlines primarily because it shows an increase in unaffiliated Americans (what some call the “nones”—people who do not identify with any religion) alongside a decrease in Christianity.

But are the stats really that simple? And what does this survey reveal about religion in America?

Not as Simple as it Seems

There is no doubt Pew’s survey is extensive. There is also no doubt the findings are troubling; Christians ought to be troubled by any evidence that people are leaving the faith. However, many are portraying these findings in very simple terms—as if people are simply ceasing to go to church and are turning to atheism. The truth is much more complicated.

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