July 22, 2009

Creationist Girl Scout Honored

Image courtesy of Answers in Genesis

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If you were a nine-year-old girl in the year 1989 like I was, you might remember the movie Troop Beverly Hills, wherein a star-studded cast of scouts (including Tori Spelling, singer Jenny Lewis, and Margeaux from Punky Brewster) earns badges in accessorizing, shopping, and other mall-related pursuits. I mention this fine film not just because I wanted to (though that was part of it) but because today I heard about another non-traditional scout discipline: creationism.

Answers in Genesis blog reports that the Girl Scouts of America has bestowed its highest honor, the Gold Award, on Wisconsin teen Annie Wichman. Her winning accomplishments: amassing a library of creation literature for her church, building a model of Noah’s ark, and teaching creationism to elementary schoolers. She called her project Alternate Universe.

I’m not convinced that this is an implicit endorsement of creationism on the part of the Girl Scouts of America. According to the Gold Award website, a winning projects is:

…something that a girl can be passionate about—in thought, deed, and action. The project is something that fulfills a need within a girl’s community (whether local or global), creates change, and hopefully, is something that becomes ongoing.

The goal isn’t scientific accuracy. It’s personal fulfillment and community involvement. The teaching component irks me a little, especially if it was part of a science lesson in a public school instead of Sunday school at church. But overall, Wichman’s project seems pretty innocuous.

And it’s unlikely that scouts will soon add creationism badges to their sashes, though given the panoply of activities that can earn you an insignia these days (my favorite: Couch Potato. “Watching TV can be a fun, educational activity, a way to de-stress and relax sometimes. Or it can be a very unhealthy way to pass the time. It all depends on how and what you watch.”) it’s not entirely out of the question.

So: If you were to design a creationism badge, what might it look like? I favor dinosaur with rider.

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“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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