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Wiccan soldier denied honor at cemetery

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Nekusagi

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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060728/NEWS06/607280432/1012
The Washington Post said:
WASHINGTON -- At the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in the small town of Fernley, Nev., there is a wall of brass plaques for local heroes. But one space is blank. There is no memorial for Sgt. Patrick Stewart.


That's because Stewart was a Wiccan, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has refused to allow a symbol of the Wicca religion -- a five-pointed star within a circle, called a pentacle -- to be inscribed on U.S. military memorials or grave markers.
The department has approved the symbols of 38 other faiths; about half of are versions of the Christian cross. It also allows the Jewish Star of David, the Muslim crescent, the Buddhist wheel, the Mormon angel, the nine-pointed star of Bahai and something that looks like an atomic symbol for atheists.
Stewart, 34, is thought to be the first Wiccan killed in combat. He was serving in the Nevada National Guard when the helicopter in which he was riding was shot down in Afghanistan in September. He previously had served in the Army in Korea and Operation Desert Storm. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.
His widow, Roberta Stewart, scattered his ashes in the hills above Reno, Nev., and would like him to have a permanent memorial.
She said the veterans cemetery in Fernley offered to install a plaque with his name and no religious symbol. She refused.
"Once they do that, they'll forget me. They don't like having a hole in the wall," she said. "I feel very strongly that my husband fought for the Constitution of the United States, he was proud of his spirituality and of being a Wiccan, and he was proud of being an American."
Wicca is one of the fastest-growing faiths in the country. Its adherents have increased almost 17-fold from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001, according to the American Religious Identification Survey. The Pentagon says more than 1,800 Wiccans are on active duty in the armed forces.
Wiccans still suffer, however, from the misconception that they are devil worshippers. Some Wiccans call themselves witches, pagans or neopagans. Most of their rituals revolve around the cycles of nature, such as equinoxes and phases of the moon. Wiccans often pick and choose among religious traditions, blending belief in reincarnation and feminine gods with ritual dancing, chanting and herbal medicine.
Federal courts have recognized Wicca as a religion since 1986. Prisons across the country treat it as a legitimate faith, as do the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. military, which allows Wiccan ceremonies on its bases.
"My husband's dog tags said 'Wiccan' on them," Stewart noted.
But applications from Wiccan groups and individuals to VA for use of the pentacle on grave markers have been pending for nine years, during which time the symbols of 11 other faiths have been approved.
Department spokeswoman Josephine Schuda said VA turned down Wiccans in the past because religious groups used to be required to list a headquarters or central authority, which Wicca does not have. But that requirement was eliminated last year, she noted.
The department declined repeated requests from The Washington Post to speak to higher-ranking officials.
Retired Army Chaplain William Chrystal, a United Church of Christ minister who was chaplain of Stewart's National Guard unit, has strongly backed Roberta Stewart's request.
"It's such a clear First Amendment issue, I can't even conceive of why they are not granting it, except for political reasons," he said. "I think the powers that be are afraid they'll alienate conservative Christians if they approve a symbol that connotes witches and warlocks casting spells and brewing potions."
"I don't see how anything that supports witchcraft and satanism can legitimately be called a religion," one reader wrote to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Stewart said she is trying to educate people about Wicca, as well as to fulfill her husband's wishes. "Until he is laid to rest," she said, "I cannot rest."

Well, this just makes me sick... Why the hell can't Wiccans have their pentacles on military monuments anyway? I seriously don't understand how we can rant about being "better than (insert random terrorist threat here) when someone who dies fighting is denied a memorial because their religion isn't orthodox enough.
 
Well, this just makes me sick... Why the hell can't Wiccans have their pentacles on military monuments anyway?
The question was answered in the article you posted. Most people associate Wicca with Satanism. They're completely wrong, of course, but there you have it. It is discrimatory, considering they use symbols of other faiths.

One question: the symbol is described as a pentacle. Is this word interchangeable with pentagram, which is how I've heard it described?
 
While Wicca is bullshit, so is most other crap..

They should let the damn symbol be on his plak.
 
That's absolutely ridiculous. How do these people keep getting political power?

Wicca's the best religion I've ever briefly researched. That is to say, I like it more than Sikhism and Christianity.

A pentacle is a star with a circle around it. A pentagram is just the star.
 
Barb said:
One question: the symbol is described as a pentacle. Is this word interchangeable with pentagram, which is how I've heard it described?
Pentagram points up, pentacle points down (or is the other way around). Supposedly they have two completely different meanings.

But this is wrong.
 
Okay, one, there is no "best" religion. It may be the one that appeals to you the most, but there's no 'best.'

Two, with regards to his--or any--symbol, well, this is a bit more sticky then it first appears. Yeah, his should be allowed--what's wrong with it? But what if a Native American wanted a swastika put on their tombstone? It's a very ancient sign of luck, after all...
 
Actually the swastika is that symbol reversed but no one is observant enough to notice.
 
Barb said:
One question: the symbol is described as a pentacle. Is this word interchangeable with pentagram, which is how I've heard it described?
From what I understand, yes. I have Wiccan friends, so I know a lot about that religion already. The pentagram, pointing up, is a very positive, creative symbol, while downwards, it represents destruction and wasted potential, or something like that.
 
very strange, it's strange that they feel their religious beliefs should be respected over his. His marker, anyway.
 
I've been following this in other communities I vist and I can say that it makes me angry. It also makes me angry since I know I'm virtually powerless to do anything since we have fundies running the government that want everything Christian or the highway...

Paganwiki.org states that a pentagram is just a five pointed star (like your teacher draw on your 5th grade spelling tests when you did good) while a pentacle has the circle around it.
As for point up or down, I know different tradititions give it different meanings...
 
What grates me about this is that his wife made him some sort of posterboy for pagan rights by not agreeing to having just his name on the grave.
 
But Sgt. Stewart's rights aren't only being violated by the government, they're being violated by his widow. The odds of the Department of Veterans Affairs changing their policy because Mrs. Stewart would prefer her husband to have a blank plaque are slim, therefore nothing will come of this except a soldier not honored for serving his country.

Personally, I don't think any of the plaques should have religious symbols on them, but that's just me.
 
It's about taking a principled stand. One person won't change it. But one person could give courage to another person, then another, then another. Eventually, enough will stand up for it to matter. Or the world will explode. Either way, problem solved.
 
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