The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (ZHP) has allowed its scouts to omit the word “God” from their scouting oath. The decision was made in May at the 42nd National Congress of the Polish Scouting Association in Warsaw.
According to Notes From Poland, scouts will be offered an alternate oath that has changed the portion where they swear to “serve God and Poland.” The new oath would allow Polish scouts swear service to Poland alone. In their statement announcing the change, ZHP representatives explained their reasoning:
The statement went on to note that the organization’s leadership had been discussing the change since 2014. The ZHP said that the change was “democratically decided” by leadership members and the scout’s instructors. They cited themselves as a “constantly evolving organization” and suggested that the change addresses “issues that are important to its members.”
Clerical response
Not all within the ZHP’s leadership are in favor of the change, however, as the ZHP’s pastoral council has decried the change. Run by seven Catholic priests, the council warned that the move could give rise to atheistic sentiment and can be viewed as “descrimination consisting of open de-Christianisation.” They stated:
Ideology
Poland’s Secretary of State, Jan Dziedziczak, weighed in, calling the move a “bad decision.” Dziedziczak, who is a scouting instructor with the Scouting Association of the Republic (ZHR), the second most attended Polish scouting group, agreed with the priests. He suggested that the removal of “God” from the oath is an ideology of its own. He said in an interview with Radio Poznań:
Trend
The ZHP has defended their position by pointing to other scouting associations that have made similar moves in recent years. In Denmark and Sweden, members are only required to swear to uphold scout law. Switzerland has also made the oath to God optional, and in Australia scouts must only be true to their “spiritual beliefs.”
The Boy Scouts of America has retained its reference to God in its oath: "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."
