2008 Woodie Awards
Thinking Dangerously: Support our troops - except the heathen ones
Kitty Campbell
Issue date: 10/17/06 Section: Opinions
America is at war. You can't drive two blocks without spotting a car with a yellow or flag-patterned ribbon magnet on the trunk. Even with support for the war in Iraq waning, Americans are still adamant about supporting our troops.
So why is it taking more than a year for a veteran killed in Afghanistan to receive a proper grave marker?
On Sept. 25, 2005, Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed while fighting in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was a Purple Heart recipient, and had also received a Bronze Star. But after his death, the Department of Veterans Administration did not provide his family with the customary headstone bearing a symbol of his religious affiliation - because the Wiccan pentacle is not an "approved" symbol.
For nine years, the National Cemetery Administration, part of the VA, has received requests to add the pentacle (a five-pointed star within a circle) to its list of approved "emblems of belief," which currently includes not only a cross and Star of David, but symbols for Atheism and Humanism, along with multiple Christian denominations and non-Western faiths. I guarantee most Americans haven't heard of some of the 38 faith groups whose symbols are approved - and yet the symbol for Wicca continues to be stalled for inclusion.
The VA has not actually denied the near-decade's worth of requests to approve the pentacle - it has simply let them drift on the bureaucratic sea of paperwork and regulations, repeatedly claiming that consideration of the emblem was pending the revision of their procedures. The procedures were changed in 2001, and again in 2005 - rescinding the 2001 changes and requiring more detailed information. Requests to add the pentacle have been made since 1997 in compliance with existing procedures, with no results. In the meantime, the NCA has approved symbols for six other religions and philosophies.
The most troubling thing about this situation is not that the VA is refusing to honor soldiers who have given their lives for their country - though that should be enough to raise national outcry. What's worse is that this seems to be a passive-aggressive attack on Wicca and Wiccan soldiers specifically. The fact that these soldiers weren't Christian doesn't seem to be the problem, as demonstrated by the array of non-Christian faiths that have earned a place on the approved list. Even atheists are getting a fairer deal than Wiccans. It's obvious the NCA has something against Wicca specifically.
Correspondence from the Memorial Programs Service office of the NCA to inquiring Wiccan groups has shown that discrimination is definitely occurring, though not the type you might expect. There is no name-calling, no accusations of Satanism - just the arrogant implication that Wicca is too decentralized and small to be a "real" religion.
A reply from the Director of the Memorial Programs Service office of the NCA to one Wiccan group's inquiry said, "If there is a demand for a particular emblem and the national organization overseeing that belief submits a request to VA, we will attempt to honor that request. However, it is not feasible for VA to alter its contracts for 350,000 headstones and markers yearly to accommodate requests from organizations with only a few hundred or fewer members, of which a small percentage are eligible veterans."
This condescending dismissal ignores the federal government's own estimate that at least 1,800 Wiccans and those of similar beliefs are on active duty in the U.S. Air Force alone. The 1990 edition of the U.S. Department of the Army's Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains also estimated there to be 50,000 Wiccans in the United States. More recent estimates (2001) show there may be over 307,000 Wiccans and Neo-Pagans in the U.S. Much smaller groups have had their symbols approved, such as the Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii, a Shinto group, added in 2004. The World Factbook in 1998 estimated there to be 55,000 Shinto adherents in North America (not just the U.S.), putting the NCA's 'there are too few of you to be worth it' argument on thin ice.
Another apparent basis of discrimination is that Wicca doesn't have a "national organization overseeing [their] belief" - there is no national "Church of Wicca." The groups requesting the addition of the pentacle had different names, and probably somewhat different descriptions of their faith. But the basic tenets and beliefs of Wicca are as consistent as those within the different denominations of Christianity, and all Wiccans generally agree on what the pentacle symbolizes. It's not as if each separate group was requesting its own symbol - they all wanted the pentacle to become an option.
Fortunately, the state of Nevada, Sgt. Stewart's home state, has seen fit to step up where the U.S. government has failed. The Nevada Office of Veterans' Services announced Sept. 13 that a plaque honoring Sgt. Stewart would be added to the Veterans' Memorial Wall in Fernley, Nev. - pentacle and all. This decision came after the Nevada Attorney General's office advised Veterans' Services that the state has "sole discretion over state veteran cemeteries."
A point scored for states' rights, maybe - but this doesn't change the situation for other Wiccan soldiers and their families who are still waiting for the NCA to approve the pentacle. Then again, maybe the fact that the state had to step in for a fallen soldier to receive the recognition he deserved will shame the NCA into action for the first time in nine years. Or will they need to revise their procedures again?
Circle Sanctuary's Lady Liberty League is one of the Wiccan groups leading the charge to stop the NCA's stalling and get the pentacle added to the list of approved emblems. The story so far can be found at www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle.
Statistics drawn from the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) at: www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/aris_index.htm, and Largest Religious Groups in America: www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html.
Read more from Kitty at her blog:
http://kittycampbell.blogspot.com
So why is it taking more than a year for a veteran killed in Afghanistan to receive a proper grave marker?
On Sept. 25, 2005, Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed while fighting in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was a Purple Heart recipient, and had also received a Bronze Star. But after his death, the Department of Veterans Administration did not provide his family with the customary headstone bearing a symbol of his religious affiliation - because the Wiccan pentacle is not an "approved" symbol.
For nine years, the National Cemetery Administration, part of the VA, has received requests to add the pentacle (a five-pointed star within a circle) to its list of approved "emblems of belief," which currently includes not only a cross and Star of David, but symbols for Atheism and Humanism, along with multiple Christian denominations and non-Western faiths. I guarantee most Americans haven't heard of some of the 38 faith groups whose symbols are approved - and yet the symbol for Wicca continues to be stalled for inclusion.
The VA has not actually denied the near-decade's worth of requests to approve the pentacle - it has simply let them drift on the bureaucratic sea of paperwork and regulations, repeatedly claiming that consideration of the emblem was pending the revision of their procedures. The procedures were changed in 2001, and again in 2005 - rescinding the 2001 changes and requiring more detailed information. Requests to add the pentacle have been made since 1997 in compliance with existing procedures, with no results. In the meantime, the NCA has approved symbols for six other religions and philosophies.
The most troubling thing about this situation is not that the VA is refusing to honor soldiers who have given their lives for their country - though that should be enough to raise national outcry. What's worse is that this seems to be a passive-aggressive attack on Wicca and Wiccan soldiers specifically. The fact that these soldiers weren't Christian doesn't seem to be the problem, as demonstrated by the array of non-Christian faiths that have earned a place on the approved list. Even atheists are getting a fairer deal than Wiccans. It's obvious the NCA has something against Wicca specifically.
Correspondence from the Memorial Programs Service office of the NCA to inquiring Wiccan groups has shown that discrimination is definitely occurring, though not the type you might expect. There is no name-calling, no accusations of Satanism - just the arrogant implication that Wicca is too decentralized and small to be a "real" religion.
A reply from the Director of the Memorial Programs Service office of the NCA to one Wiccan group's inquiry said, "If there is a demand for a particular emblem and the national organization overseeing that belief submits a request to VA, we will attempt to honor that request. However, it is not feasible for VA to alter its contracts for 350,000 headstones and markers yearly to accommodate requests from organizations with only a few hundred or fewer members, of which a small percentage are eligible veterans."
This condescending dismissal ignores the federal government's own estimate that at least 1,800 Wiccans and those of similar beliefs are on active duty in the U.S. Air Force alone. The 1990 edition of the U.S. Department of the Army's Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains also estimated there to be 50,000 Wiccans in the United States. More recent estimates (2001) show there may be over 307,000 Wiccans and Neo-Pagans in the U.S. Much smaller groups have had their symbols approved, such as the Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii, a Shinto group, added in 2004. The World Factbook in 1998 estimated there to be 55,000 Shinto adherents in North America (not just the U.S.), putting the NCA's 'there are too few of you to be worth it' argument on thin ice.
Another apparent basis of discrimination is that Wicca doesn't have a "national organization overseeing [their] belief" - there is no national "Church of Wicca." The groups requesting the addition of the pentacle had different names, and probably somewhat different descriptions of their faith. But the basic tenets and beliefs of Wicca are as consistent as those within the different denominations of Christianity, and all Wiccans generally agree on what the pentacle symbolizes. It's not as if each separate group was requesting its own symbol - they all wanted the pentacle to become an option.
Fortunately, the state of Nevada, Sgt. Stewart's home state, has seen fit to step up where the U.S. government has failed. The Nevada Office of Veterans' Services announced Sept. 13 that a plaque honoring Sgt. Stewart would be added to the Veterans' Memorial Wall in Fernley, Nev. - pentacle and all. This decision came after the Nevada Attorney General's office advised Veterans' Services that the state has "sole discretion over state veteran cemeteries."
A point scored for states' rights, maybe - but this doesn't change the situation for other Wiccan soldiers and their families who are still waiting for the NCA to approve the pentacle. Then again, maybe the fact that the state had to step in for a fallen soldier to receive the recognition he deserved will shame the NCA into action for the first time in nine years. Or will they need to revise their procedures again?
Circle Sanctuary's Lady Liberty League is one of the Wiccan groups leading the charge to stop the NCA's stalling and get the pentacle added to the list of approved emblems. The story so far can be found at www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle.
Statistics drawn from the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) at: www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/aris_index.htm, and Largest Religious Groups in America: www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html.
Read more from Kitty at her blog:
http://kittycampbell.blogspot.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Pamela Freeman
posted 10/18/06 @ 1:43 PM EST
Exceptionally well put Kitty.
Slowly but surely Wiccans (and other Pagans) are waking up to the fact there is a concerted effort in this country to prevent us from having the basic rights that belong to all other citizens. (Continued…)
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