News & Politics - 'Wiccans' win place in US military cemeteries

migamoo · 04-24-2007, 02:46 AM

Quote:

'Wiccans' win place in US military cemeteries - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Adherents to the neo-pagan cult Wicca soon will be permitted to place their symbol the pentacle -- a five-pointed star inscribed inside a circle -- on headstones in military cemeteries, US officials said Monday.

After months of legal wrangling, the US
Department of Veterans Affairs agreed to allow Wiccans to place the symbol on headstones, as do adherents to the Christian, Muslim and Jewish and other faiths. The policy change will go into effect in the next few months, officials said.

"VA will be adding the pentacle to its list of approved emblems of belief that will be engraved on government-provided markers," said Matt Burns a spokesman for the federal agency.

The Wiccans, which have tens of thousands of adherents across the United States, were represented by the
American Civil Liberties Union, the rights watchdog group.

"It is deeply unfortunate that grieving families of deceased veterans were forced to undertake a bureaucratic struggle to have their loved ones' wishes honored," said Aaron Caplan, an ACLU attorney who represented the Wiccans in the case.

"All veterans, regardless of their religion, deserve to have their faith recognized on an equal basis," he said.

I say good for them. If other faiths have been allowed to have emblems, they should too.

JohannafromIHJ · 04-24-2007, 07:26 AM

It's about time, too! They've dragged it out for so long.

froggiepopple · 04-24-2007, 10:00 AM

There is something I don't understand. This article preaches about Wiccan Veterans having the religious right to put a pentacle on their headstones, but at the beginning of the article it calls Wiccan a Neo-Pagan cult. I don't see how respecting someone else's religion makes it alright to call their religion a cult.

I am by no means an advocate for Neo-Pagan rights, but when outright lies are spread about any group of people I become angry. Wicca, the religion, does not fit the definition of the term cult.

I am glad they won their case.

Indian Summer · 04-24-2007, 10:16 AM

I'm so out of it today. It took me a minute to realize you weren't saying you like... didn't support Neopagan rights... just that you weren't their advocate, lol. I thought I was going to have to get into yet another debate about religious tolerance and equal rights.

I'm definitely happy they won their case, but it sickens me there even needed to be a case in the first place. Does the government not remember what foundation this country was built on?

froggiepopple · 04-24-2007, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indian Summer (View Post)

I'm so out of it today. It took me a minute to realize you weren't saying you like... didn't support Neopagan rights... just that you weren't their advocate, lol. I thought I was going to have to get into yet another debate about religious tolerance and equal rights.

I'm definitely happy they won their case, but it sickens me there even needed to be a case in the first place. Does the government not remember what foundation this country was built on?

It was my way of saying that I someone who is neither Wiccan nor is advocate for Wiccan rights found the article to be talking out of both sides of the mouth. At first they insult Wiccans by calling their religion a cult and then they talk about Wiccans winning their case.

I definitely believe in equal rights for every religion. This took place in a nation that was founded on those ideals. If we lived in a theology I could see an argument towards why Wiccans should have these rights, but what we don't. No argument in my opinion is effective. A person's personal attitudes towards a certain religion should not grant that person the right to take away rights from any one of that said religion.

Like in my case regardless of my personal feelings on the religion of Wicca, it still doesn't give me the right to think they are less deserving of the same rights that I am.

Indian Summer · 04-24-2007, 10:56 AM

lol, yeah, I get that now. I just stared at your post for a minute like, "...What the hell? Where'd that come from?" before I got it. Oy. Can I blame it on the fact that I hit my head, hard, this morning? Or that I haven't really slept since Saturday? Ech.

Your personal opinions give you the right to think whatever the hell you want. The problem is that the government too often crosses the line between exercising that privilege and forcing their thoughts and opinions on the masses, if that makes sense.

S.A.S.H.A. · 04-25-2007, 04:19 PM

Good for them.

Amazing how much drama can be had over a pentacle of all things.

Sasha

jerkstore · 04-28-2007, 12:03 PM

I'm glad the Wiccans won the right to practice their religion. Freedom of religion is what the USA was founded on.


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