Posted on 05/30/2006 12:53:17 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
FERNLEY, NV - 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 under Stewart's name on a memorial plaque 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.
Stewart, 34, was killed in Afghanistan on Sept. 25 when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his helicopter. Four others also died. Stewart was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community. Some consider themselves "white" or good witches, pagans or neo-pagans.
"We are here today to honor American religious diversity of all faiths," the Rev. Selena Fox said at the alternative memorial service.
Fox, senior minister of a Wiccan group based in Barneveld, Wis., said Stewart died defending the country that is denying him the right to express his religious freedom.
Jo Schuda, a spokeswoman for the VA, said Friday she did not know when a decision would be made on the request.
Approximately 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans, according to 2005 Defense Department statistics.
In 81 they refused to put Athiest on my tags.
Wiccian was also identified on his dog tags as his religion, something he would have requested.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Mar-02-Thu-2006/news/6149634.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/27/ap/national/mainD8HS48LO0.shtml
http://www.rgj.com/obits/index.php?id=14281
He and his wife's wedding was also a Wiccian ceremony.
Very little to show that she 'chose' this for him, by all accounts, this was his religion too.
It's meant to represent rational thought as opposed to faith in a deity. Science is supposed to be the epitome of rational thought, and an atom is a good symbol of science.
However, it's still a stupid-looking symbol.
Well, there you go then. I asked, you did the legwork for me! :)
As they should. In the end she is the serviceman's next-of-kin and we should give her the benefit of the doubt that she is acting in his best interests. I have no reson to doubt that the man was Wiccan, so I see absolutely no reason why there shouldn't be the religious symbol of his choice on the marker.
The pentagram was used with astrological or religions meaning long before Christianity, and has been used by many cultures since. I'm not sure why Christians discarded it.
LOL. I don't think you even have to visit a conspiracy site. There are people around here who have basically said as much.
"I'm not sure why Christians discarded it."
The more I think about it, it probably is BECAUSE of the mutliple other religions making claim to the symbol that Christianity discarded it.
Opted for symbols fairly unique to Christianity: Sign of Jonah (fish, rising from death in 3 days and reference to miracle of fish); cup; cross, or all three together.
I believe it has to do with the belief that by turning something holy upside down, (inverted pentagram) that it somehow is opposite and therefore, evil.
Kinda sounds like there was a war between the Wiccans.
I believe they just put "None," which is pretty close.
"No preference" was for those damn fence-sitting agnostics.
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No graphics (logos, symbols, etc.) are permitted on Government-furnished headstones or markers other than the approved emblems of belief, the Civil War Union Shield, the Civil War Confederate Southern Cross of Honor, and the Medal of Honor insignias.
VA Home Page / Site Map / Facilities Locator / Privacy & Security Statement / Disclaimer Reviewed/Updated: May 17, 2006 |
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Click this and type 40-1330 in the form search window; when it opens, scroll down and click on the highlighted 40-1330 to get a PDF file to see images>
Probably that and others.
I used to have a Wiccan Chair.
Piece of it came loose.
I pulled on it and pulled on it and the chair became undone.
They can do atheist, humanist, but they can't do wiccan?
I'd call it discrimination.
"Should we question a Christian widow's request for a cross if the fallen soldier might have just been 'indulging her while alive to keep the peace'?"
Sure. It happens. My husband doesn't openly practice his religion, but he's told me I can bury him any way I want to if he goes before me. Just make absolutely certain he's dead before I do so, LOL!
I wasn't denegrating their choice in religion at all. Luckily, we Lutherans have thick skins when others accuse us of things they imagine we're saying. ;)
"mnehrling" cleared it all up. The article was sorely lacking in details; you know the MSM and how they LOVE to leave out the details so it makes the MILITARY look bad. As a vet myself, it bugs the heck out of me.
This IS an AP story, so I have no problems questioning the content or looking for the "agenda." It's not like they don't misrepresent the facts on a daily basis when it comes to sticking it to the military for any reason they can find.
And they had to look long and hard to find a 'Wiccan War Widow' to use her to make the military look bad. How many buried now? 2,460 or so? We've had 55 losses in Wisconsin. No stories about those families and their loss because they're not whining about the military "doing them wrong."
And you know there are more wiccans than members of that group, or some of the other obscure churches on their list.
Ummmm, there is still no set government marker for Wiccans, while there are markers for a myriad of other obscure faiths.
I personally think that should be remedied and have no problem with AP telling me about the oversight.
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