War Widow Holds Service for Wiccan Husband - story and pics

[Kadie]

Michele Lani places flowers on a memorial wall near a wreath symbolizing the Wiccan religion at the Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, Nev., Monday, May 29, 2006. The wreath is next to an empty space reserved for a memorial plaque for Army Sgt. Patrick Stewart who died while serving in Afghanistan but the Department of Veterans Affairs has not recognized Stewart's Wiccan faith or included the symbol on his plaque. Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans, and say their religion is based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons. (AP Photo/Debra Reid)

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/705/im:/060530/480/8c87f73b71b64a169c12d9946883472e;_ylt=AnWAJEQLN6FFk4gYlITqhGbmWMcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGcyMWMzBHNlYwNzc25hdg--


Retired Navy Chaplain Bill Chrystal, left, and Roberta Stewart, right, carry a wreath symbolizing the Wiccan faith at the Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, Nevada, on Monday, May 29, 2006. The wreath was placed near the space reserved for a plaque dedicated to Stewart's husband Sgt. Patrick Stewart who was killed Sept. 25, 2005, while serving in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Debra Reid)


A wreath symbolizing the Wiccan religion is seen placed beside a space reserved for Sgt. Patrick Stewart's memorial plaque at the Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, Nev., Monday, May 29, 2006. Stewart died while serving in Afghanistan but the Department of Veterans Affairs has not recognized Stewart's Wiccan faith or included the symbol on his plaque. Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans, and say their religion is based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons. (AP Photo/Debra Reid)

War Widow Holds Service for Wiccan Husband


By TOM GARDNER, Associated Press Writer
Last update: May 29, 2006 – 9:22 PM


FERNLEY, Nev. (AP) - A war widow who wants the government to put a Wiccan religious symbol on her husband's memorial plaque held an alternative service Monday as a protest, hours before an official Memorial Day ceremony nearby.

"This is discrimination against our religion,'' Roberta Stewart said at the gathering of about 200 at a park east of Fernley for her late husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart. "I ask you to help us remember that all freedoms are worth fighting for.''

A few hours later and a few miles away in this pastoral community east of Reno, official Memorial Day ceremonies were conducted at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

The space reserved for a plaque in Stewart's name on a wall at the cemetery remains blank.

The Department of Veterans Affairs so far has refused to grant the Stewart family's request to have the Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle, placed on the government-issued plaque.

more...
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/461549.html

link to Yahoo! story...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060530/ap_on_re_us/wiccan_soldier_3

[pookieblue]

1. thanks for posting nm

[aquart]

2. It is not the job of Veterans Affairs to cause more grief to a family.

They need to acknowledge all religions, even the ones they call pagan (which only means 'countryside,' after all).

[thecrow]

3. Had the plaque been up and then taken down?

Because that doesn't look like anything else on that wall.
There are lines arond where a plaque would have been an waethering around where the edge appears to have been.
Anybody know?

[Kadie]

8. The only thing I can figure

is that maybe there was a blank plaque there, then they took it down to engrave it.

[hlthe2b]

4. We have a lot of educating to do...

I hope they will soon get the wiccan plaque the soldier and his family deserves. I also hope that they will provide some educational context for visitors who might view the symbol and mistake it for something other than a pagan symbol. Even some othrwise reasonably educated neighbors saw this pic in the paper and mistakenly thought it was a satanic symbol. Otherwise, I fear that vandalism will result.

[Up2Late]

5. I recently heard that something like 600 Wiccan are currently serving...

...or it might be 600 who had already died for the U.S., I can't remember the particulars.

[Kadie]

6. According to the article above, appx 1800 active-duty are Wiccan

snip...
Approximately 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans, according to 2005 Defense Department statistics.

[DarkTirade]

15. Not to mention how many might identify as pagans of other sorts.

Wicca may be the most popular of the pagan religions in the us right now, but there are plenty of others.

[LeftyMom]

9. Probably a much higher number than that

My kid's Dad is wiccan and ex-army, but he never disclosed his religion. He says that was the case for most of the pagan service people he's known, since it only takes one bible-thumper to make life miserable and most people just don't want to risk it. I assume things aren't any better in the current climate.

[Nicole]

7. All or none

They should allow all religious symbols or exclude them all.

[roguevalley]

10. very, very sad.

[paparush]

11. Fucking DOD recognizes like 20+ faiths and creeds and all the

sympbolism held therein. Why in the Goddess's name will they not recognize this couple's belief system? Hell, the Census Bureau recognizes Wiccan.

[BrightKnight]

12. Equal Protection

Wouldn't the 14th amendment be applicable to this situation? Has anyone contacted the ACLU?

[Recursion]

14. Not really

Even a veteran killed in combat doesn't have a Constitutionally protected right to have any arbitrary symbol on a military memorial (on a private memorial, yes). They definitely should include wiccans in their approved symbols list, but the VA does have the authority to limit and regulate what symbols get used.

[Jim Lane]

16. I disagree

The First Amendment prohibits any law "respecting an establishment of religion". In this context, "establishment" refers to a state-supported religion. The Establishment Clause means that government can't discriminate in favor of one religion over another, or in favor of religion over non-religion, or in favor of non-religion over religion.

If the government limited the plaques to name, rank, date of birth, and date of death, and completely prohibited the inclusion of any other symbol or information, that would probably pass constitutional muster, along the lines of your argument. In fact, however, the government allows religious symbols -- some religious symbols. By allowing some but not others, the government is favoring some religions over others, and that's unconstitutional.

What I've read (in a source that's now a dead link) is that this policy is under review and might be changed administratively. If that's a real possibility, it would be much more efficient than a lawsuit.

[Kurovski]

13. K&R(nt)