Posted on 09/02/2007 1:34:34 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Bush apologizes to Wiccan widow
Published: Sept 2, 2007 at 10:16 AM
WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush apologized to a Nevada Wiccan who was left out of a presidential meeting with relatives of soldiers killed in combat.
Rebecca Stewart, who sued to have the Wiccan symbol placed on her husband’s grave marker in a military cemetery, told The Washington Post the president called her to apologize. She said she explained to Bush the faith she and her husband shared.
Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.
Stewart said she heard about the private meeting from her mother-in-law, who was invited. The president visited Nevada to speak at the American Legion convention.
Stewart told the Post she believed she had been excluded from the invitation list because of the lawsuit she filed to have the Defense Department place the Wiccan symbol -- a five-pointed star inside a circle -- on her husband's grave. She won the suit and the government added the Wiccan symbol to 38 others that were previously recognized, including a symbol for atheism.
While other Wiccans are known to be serving in the military, Stewart is believed to be the first to die in combat.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
What exactly made it classless? I found it to be refrishingly candid and direct.
Gosh. A year ago you could have asked, "Are ANY military tombstones now issued by the U.S. Government allowing Wiccan symbols? No."
Meaning what exactly? That Wiccan symbols would never be allowed? Well, guess what?
"If NOBODY is allowed to wear a political campaign button on his military uniform"
I'm not aware that soldiers are allowed to wear the Wiccan symbol on their uniform either. What's your point?
Why can't a soldier be allowed to put the Republican Party symbol on his grave marker if that's what he wants? You got a problem with the first amendment? Free speech for thee but not for me?
"What next, a Notre Dame logo?"
That's my question. I'd like to know why not.
I thought this COUNTRY was about FREEDOM and I thought the very FIRST amendment protected our right to free SPEECH. What, only the speech YOU approve?
Sorry, but Extremely Extreme Extremist is making a good point.
Post 154, which you claim was a threat to ban you, was written by you. Is that also where my alleged hatred of Jews and a war hero was expressed? I know it wasn’t in any of the posts I wrote. The things you’ve falsely accused Christians of saying are only said in the posts of satanists and their supporters.
No it's not MY judgment of speech it is EEE's judgment of religion I object to (which mixing homosexual up with religion is a dumb comparison). Clearly logical thinking is not in your brain pattern.
I got that part. But the first amendment also protects SPEECH. Remember?
I'm asking you. Are you going to censor another man's SPEECH? A man who DIED in combat for his COUNTRY? You would deny this brave man's request after the SACRIFICE he made for YOU?
Tell me you would. Post your hypocrisy on this forum for all to see.
He didn’t apologize for the symbol, but for her being left out of the meeting.
It was the military that added the symbol, not the president.
How is apologizing for failing to meet with the widow of a dead soldier when everyone else was there “losing his way”?
The article refused to call the symbol a pentagram because of the implications brought on by that term, but that is what it is.
Still, I am shocked to say I believe he should be allowed to have it.
Now, the Satanic pentagram with the devil’s face in it? No.
Prez Bush: Don't worry, wiccan work it out!
Thank you. I don't grant these dispensations lightly.
A symbol is a symbol. The first amendment protect religious symbols as well as speech symbols. If you need U.S. Supreme Court cases as proof I will provide them.
I see no reason why grave markers should be limited to religious symbols. I am saying that a good first amendment case can be made for others.
I am also, in my brilliant and subtle way, trying to point out the fallacy of using the U.S. Constitution to support and justify this insanity. This is not a constitutional issue. This is an issue of decency and respect for those who are buried there and their loved ones who come to visit.
But, since we don't have a constitutional amendment for that, you're at a loss to explain how it is that you can favor one symbol but not another.
So you, instead, counter with a childish insult.
You have mastered hatred. That must qualify you among your buddies to define what a good Christian is. You’ve made it clear you’re not pleased with Christians behaving as God commands. That whole opposition to satan thing is a big problem for you.
I’m at FR because I belong here. This is not a satanic forum. Why are you here?
Yes, that’s it. I’m a hateful Satanist. I’ve known your kind for many years. You people are just as anti-American as the miscreants who protest and riot at WTO meetings. A common denominitor for all of you is your own self-centered viewpoint of everything. I’ve also learned that after pointing out your idiotic beliefs (looks like I’m not alone here, huh), it is best to ignore your type. bu-bye.
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