'Wiccans' win place in US military cemeteries (Armed Forces Jedi "Encouraged")

AFP ^ | 04/23/07

[presidio9]

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.

[Wormwood]

My point was that soon they, too, will be equally allowed - and from a legal standpoint, why not?

And if a neo-satanist movement becomes a vocal presence in the armed forces, then of course they should be similarly accommodated.

[Jacquerie]

See post #11, the best one to this thread.

[FormerLib]

Just because some makes up a new religion does not mean we have to recognize it as one.

Some goes for the followers of that L. Ron Hubbard crackpot as well.

[Wormwood]

Just because some makes up a new religion does not mean we have to recognize it as one.

If someone can convince the Department of Veteran's Affairs that their religion merits inclusion, then that should settle it.

If a dead soldier wants to be buried under the Jedi Order, what business is it of mine to complain.

[Polybius]

I guess our disagreement is in where one draws the line at "reasonably comparable." I refuse to give Wicca the respect some of its practitioners seek, or to take it seriously. How many people on the planet do you suppose were practicing Wicca before the 1980's?

How many people were practicing Mormonism when the First Amendment was ratified?

Some angel gave some guy named Smith some Golden Tablets that later disappeared?

To non-Mormons, that sounds pretty silly, doesn't it?

No matter what your religion is, hundreds of millions of people all over the world consider your religion to be a false religion and nothing more than superstitious belief.

The issue here is not respecting a religion that you believe is silly.

The issue here is respecting the religious wishes of U.S. service-members that gave their lives for America.

[Wormwood]

Very well put. Thank you for your post.

[NCLaw441]

You said, in part: If you think any of these people fought and died for Wicca, I have a bridge here in NY that you might be interested in taking off my hands.
***

This is difficult for me. I am Christian, and strong in my faith (or try to be). No soldiers, I imagine, fought and died for Wicca, but for the right of people to worship Wicca, follow Wicca or whatever the hell people do with Wicca, any other religious faith, or no faith. As much as it disturbs me, this is the essence of freedom of religion— that some may exercise it to my disappointment.

[TBP]

I don’t see why this is a problem. We hvae plenty of religions in the armed forces and in military cemetaries already.

[Finalapproach29er]

I wouldn’t want to be buried next to one of these cultists; would you?

[NCLaw441]

You said, in part: If a dead soldier wants to be buried under the Jedi Order, what business is it of mine to complain.
***
I agree, to this extent: The “religious” faith should be genuinely adhered to by the deceased soldier. I would not be in favor of a likeness of Porky Pig on a headstone (except maybe a Muslim headstone in Iraq or Afghanistan).
I don’t know how this should be determined.

[wireman]

I wouldn't want to be buried next to one of these cultists; would you?

When I'm dead, I won't give a rat's ass.

[KoRn]

"I wouldn’t want to be buried next to one of these cultists; would you?"

I doubt you will care.

[Polybius]

I wouldn’t want to be buried next to one of these cultists; would you?

I would be honored to know I was going to be buried next to a soldier that gave his life for America instead of buried next to some of the self-proclaimed born-again Christians out there.

[NCLaw441]

You said: I wouldn’t want to be buried next to one of these cultists; would you?
***

You mean one of those military men that fought for your freedom?

I’d be honored to be buried next to him, even if I find his religion to be abhorrent.

[balch3]

unbelievable.

[ClearBlueSky]

Ahhh- no! The best ones just vanish.
No fuss, no muss.
They can be nags from the afterlife,tho.

[KingLiberty]

Agreed. “I ain’t got no beef” with Wiccans. Some of my best friends have followed Wiccan ceremonial forms (I’m not one for ceremonial religion, not matter what label people put on it), and I’ve attended a party of two that I can’t complain about. By all of this I’m saying that I know wicca is a serious religion—at least to those who follow it—and when a Wiccan goes off to die for his or her country, God Bless Them (or as they would say, Blessed Be).

[HungarianGypsy]

I wouldn’t want to be buried next to one of these cultists; would you?

I don't think it would matter. My body would be buried, but not the rest of me.